Take the PC Perspective Survey - Win Prizes!

Subject: General Tech | May 24, 2012 - 09:38 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: survey, ocz, giveaway, corsair, contest

Every once in a while take an opportunity to learn about YOU, our faithful fans of PC Perspective.  Today is one of those days as we have setup a small survey to help point us in the right direction for the future of the website.  We can learn a lot from your help with this:

1. We learn about you.
2. We learn what you want to read on PC Perspective.
3. We learn what you don't want to read on PC Perspective.
4. We learn what you want to see as the future of PC Perspective.

As you can see, YOU have a lot of power over what is going to happen here, so wield it wisely.  If you write in the comments section that we should fire Josh then we'll probably do it probably not do it. 

Other than the obviously great feelings you'll receive from helping out your friends at PC Perspective, we decided that to entice you to spend the 5 minutes on the survey that it will require we are going to offer up a handful of prizes as well!

1 x OCZ 128GB Vertex 4 SSD

1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Military Green Chassis

1 x Gigabyte Z77 G1.Sniper M3 Motherboard

All you have to do to win one of these great prizes is:

1. Fill out our survey.
2. Wait for us to pick you as a winner.

Man, we pride ourselves on making our contests and sweepstakes easy, but this is ridiculous!  The competition is open to ALL people around the world though you can ONLY enter one time!  The survey will run through the 8th of June, so get your entries in!

Good luck and thank you so much for being a part of PC Perspective!

Continue on to the survey for your chance to win and support PC Perspective while doing it!

Windows 8 gives a little more attention to multiple monitors. Oh look -- a feature for traditional PCs.

Subject: General Tech, Displays | May 24, 2012 - 08:22 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: windows 8, multi monitor

PC Mag highlights enhanced support for multiple monitor systems in the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview. It is like Microsoft has finally thrown a bone to the desktop and to a lesser extent, the laptop. Some features that were mentioned in the article have been around for a while, however.

If you have given the gift of a multiple monitor setup -- do not expect a take-backsies without a fight.

Chloe Albanesius of PC Mag wrote an article which outlines what enhanced support multiple monitor users will experience if they move to Windows 8. A refreshing suspend of the ctrl-alt-deleterious news. Or maybe Microsoft was just afraid of being attacked with vestigial display cables?

Just think of the possibilities of per-monitor backgrounds… a shrine just for Josh...

The article opens with a description of the author’s triple monitor setup. Oddly enough my layout is very often an exact mirror image of her layout, horizontally. I would not be surprised if that choice was due to my left-handedness -- very amused, but not surprised.

Windows 8 will make it easy to load different backgrounds for each monitor but earlier versions were capable of that for as long as I could remember. The trick is to create a single very large background image in a program like Photoshop or The GIMP. This very large image must have the same dimensions as the sum of your monitor resolutions horizontally by the sum of your monitor resolutions vertically. The top left of that image is the top left of your “primary” monitor. Fill in the backgrounds wherever the desired monitor falls on that grid -- making sure to put whatever is above and to the left of the top left corner of the primary monitor at the extreme right and bottom. Set that background to “tiled” and you are set.

Notice how I never said that making it easier would be unwelcomed rather just that it was already possible.

The more important features include the ability to enable the taskbar on each monitor and customize how icons will appear for each display. That, combined with enabling corner context support for each monitor should help alleviate some of the juggling over real estate on the primary monitor.

You should be able to see all the changes for multiple monitor users in the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview.

That is, of course, unless Microsoft ends up starting from scratch before they launch -- again.

NVIDIA Tegra 3 gets boost with LTE Support, 30 Devices this year

Subject: Mobile | May 24, 2012 - 08:05 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: wayne, tegra 3, tegra, nvidia, LTE, icera, grey

In the middle of 2011, NVIDIA acquired a small company by the name of Icera, a maker of baseband and RF technologies that would eventually allow the company to integrate the two into a single chip.  As LTE-capable devices from Verizon, AT&T and even Sprint have been announced and ship, no NVIDIA Tegra-powered phone or tablet has been able to support the feature with the lone exception of the ZTE Mimosa X in February of this year.  

Today NVIDIA officially announced support and validation from AT&T on their new and growing LTE network for the Icera 410 LTE multimode chipset.  This will finally allow Tegra + LTE devices to be sold and available in the US and other markets when product manufacturers integrate the two processors in future designs.

As to when we will see those designs, we aren't quite sure but nothing was announced during the NVIDIA investors day today.  All we know now is that they will be coming "through this year and next."

“Validation with AT&T is an achievement that paves the way for NVIDIA Icera-powered LTE devices on the AT&T network through this year and next,” said Stan Boland, senior vice president of Mobile Communications at NVIDIA.
 
The NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE modem delivers lightning-fast web browsing, video streaming and multiplayer gaming to tablets and clamshell devices. It is the first Icera modem to implement 4G LTE in NVIDIA’s software defined radio baseband processor. Together with its multimode radio transceiver, the chipset offers 4G LTE at category 2 data rates (up to 50 Mbps) as well as 4G HSPA+, 3G and 2G compatibility.

What we DID learn at the NVIDIA investors meeting is that Mike Rayfield, GM of Tegra business unit, things we'll see as many as 30 Tegra 3 based devices for sale this year.  

NVIDIA has 30 devices planned for the year. So far, we've seen just two. Of those 30 devices, some 15 will be planned for sub-$200 pricing. That's certainly the sweet spot for impulse purchases.

NVIDIA's also looking to make inroads into the Chinese market, with 18 of those 30 tablets targeted for the Asian nation. By comparison, NVIDIA only released five devices in China in 2011, Rayfield said.

The big name to know for the rest of the year is Kai. That's the low-cost, high-performance system that NVIDIA is crowing about these days, and it's what will help bring prices down while keeping prices at a more affordable level. Will there be higher-performing tablets? Sure. But will they be $200?

Producing a number of devices, like 30, is impressive but without context the fact means very little.  How many of these devices are going to tablets and how many are phones?  How many will be running the Microsoft Win RT operating system for ARM due out in fall?  

Speaking of Icera though, NVIDIA also showed the roadmap for LTE integration including the upcoming Icera i500 LTE controller for high-end phones and tablets with newly planned integration directly on the Tegra core in a new chip called "Grey".  This new processor will run parallel with the planned 2013 release of "Wayne" though it will be targeted at smartphones and lower end tablets; Wayne is planned to find its way into higher end tablets and the onslaught of clamshells we'll see with Windows RT.

There is a lot more to learn and we expect see more news come our way as we approach Computex in Taipei!

Green is the new blue for Intel -- pledges more eco friendly

Subject: General Tech, Processors, Mobile | May 24, 2012 - 06:01 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Intel

Intel has released a report about their environmental efforts in terms of manufacturing efficiency, waste, and the efficiency of their products themselves. Their 2020 mobile and data center product line is expected to use 25-fold less power than their 2010 product line. Intel is hoping to use less water and consume 1.4 TWh less energy between 2012 and 2015 in their manufacturing with no chemical waste to landfill by 2020.

It is not easy been green.

… But, especially now, Intel can afford to try.

The chip manufacturer has set some goals for themselves to decrease their impact on the environment. These plans were published in their 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report (pdf), released last week. The plan highlights goals extending out as far as 2020.

It would seem that for Intel foresight is also 2020.

Yes, those puns were terrible, I admit it.

One of the forefront issues raised is alterations to their supply chain. Their raw materials have been addressed -- not just for eco-friendliness -- but also for human rights violations. By the end of 2012 Intel intends to validate that all tantalum would be “conflict-free” with the other three minerals verified by the end of 2013.

On the topic of environmental impact Intel is also intending on reducing their electrical and water usage at their manufacturing plants. A total of 1.4 TWh of energy is expected to be reduced from 2012 through 2015. Intel is also lauding their solar initiatives although they fell short of committing to any specific future endeavors in clean energy in this report.

Lastly, Intel claims that their mobile and data center products will consume 25-fold less power than their 2010 counterparts. Obviously such a statement falls more under gloating than a vow to promote sustainability but it is respectable none-the-less.

Another look at ASUS' reference Ivy Bridge notebook, the N56VM

Subject: Mobile | May 24, 2012 - 03:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: n56, mobile, laptop review, laptop, Ivy Bridge, asus

You are likely already familiar with the ASUS N56VM from Matt's review, if not you really should check it out.  He was not the only one to receive this laptop to test out though, as The Tech Report also recently published a look at this powerful notebook.  The new Core i7-3720QM really stands out and tops the performance charts, while the Nvidia GeForce GT 630M helps this notebook stand out for moderate gaming duties.  They were disappointed with the battery life as it is not noticeably improved from the previous generation, however it will get a lot more done in the time that it has a charge to run on.

"Join us as we take a 15.6" notebook with a quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU and discrete GeForce 600M graphics through our mobile test suite."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• Samsung Series 7 (NP700G7C-S01US) Review @ TechReviewSource
• ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 Android Tablet Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Asus G75VW-DS71 Review @ TechReviewSource
• ASUS Zenbook Prime (UX21A) Review: The First of the 2nd Gen Ultrabooks @ AnandTech
• Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Mobile CPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• The Archos G9 Tablet Reviews: Fast Enough @ AnandTech
• Genius Ring Presenter Wireless Device @ Pro-Clockers
• Cooler Master ARC Macbook and iPad Stand @ Benchmark Reviews
• WiMAX vs. LTE: Should You Switch? @ TechReviewSource
• HTC One X Android Smartphone Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Android to the Maxx, DROID Razr Maxx @ LanOC Reviews
• Blackberry Curve 9320 @ The Inquirer
• HTC One V @ The Inquirer

Podcast #203 - ASUS N56VM notebook, XFX 7850s and 7870s, Thunderbolt on Windows and more!

Subject: General Tech | May 24, 2012 - 02:59 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: xfx, thunderbolt, podcast, msi, Ivy Bridge, Intel, asus, amd, 7870, 7850, 680

PC Perspective Podcast #203 - 05/24/2012

Join us this week as we talk about the ASUS N56VM notebook, XFX 7850s and 7870s, Thunderbolt on Windows and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

• iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano

Program length: 1:12:55

Program Schedule:

1. Introduction
2. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
3. http://pcper.com/podcast
4. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
   
5. 0:02:00 You talked about all the cool stuff last week!
   1. GK110
   2. NVIDIA GRID
   3. AMD Trinity
   4. GTX 670
6. 0:13:30 Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000 watt PSU
7. 0:16:20 ASUS N56VM Ivy Bridge Notebook - our reference system
8. 0:17:30 XFX HD 7870 and HD 7850 Black Edition
9. 0:28:25 Unreal Engine 4 Screenshots
10. 0:31:00 AMD to stop making "needlessly powerful" CPUs
11. 0:42:00 NVIDIA is not recalling Kepler
12. 0:45:00 Thunderbolt for Windows from ASUS and MSI announced
13. 0:48:30 Josh's Banana Phone - VIA $49 Android PC
14. 0:51:30 Seagate to purchase LaCie
15. 0:56:30 The discrete graphics card is not dead
16. 1:02:00 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
    1. Ryan: Pegasus R4 Thunderbolt External Storage
    2. Jeremy: DeLorean Hovercraft or levitating bed? Or I could go old school.
    3. Josh: Some Thieving Goodies from Way Back
    4. Allyn: Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 - alignment for SSDs integral with partition moves / resizes / etc
17. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
18. http://pcper.com/podcast   
19. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
20. Closing

The Ice Wind Pro is a breeze to install

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 24, 2012 - 01:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Deepcool, Ice Wind Pro, heatsink

One neglected feature of heatsinks has always been the ease of installation, which has become much worse now that many heatsinks are so heavy they require a backplate to prevent its weight from damaging your socket or motherboard.  For those who would prefer a heatsink that can be installed without needed to access the back of the motherboard, or even removing the board from its case, DeepCool's Ice Wind Pro might be a good choice.  At 650g it is light compared to many other models and the handy bracket offers more than enough support for that weight.  Of course there are some downsides to such a light cooler, check out how well it could cool a CPU over at Overclockers Club.

"The thing that impressed me the most about this cooler, believe it or not, was its installation process. The 100% tool-free, in-case, no-rear-access-required installation went through like a breeze. It took only minutes to go from having no cooler to having this one installed. It's the first of its kind that is done this way and I hope other manufacturers take a step for lighter-end coolers that can get away without a heavy-duty mounting mechanism. The cooler's build quality is top notch, which follows in the steps of previous DEEPCOOL heat sinks that I have had the opportunity to review."

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

CASES & COOLING

• Thermaltake Frio OCK Review @ HCW
• SilenX EFZ-120HA5 @ Kitguru
• Thermaltake Frio Advanced and Frio Extreme Review @ OCC
• Deepcool/Logisys Gammaxx 300 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Alpenfohn Matterhorn PURE @ Kitguru
• Cooler Master TPC 812 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
• be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech
• Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro Liquid Cooling System @ Pro-Clockers
• Kingwin Duro Bearing Silent Series Fans @ Pro-Clockers
• MSI Nighthawk Case/Chassis Review @ TechwareLabs
• Mainstream System Cases from Corsair: Carbide Family @ X-bit Labs
• Corsair 550D Case Review @ OCC
• BitFenix Shinobi XL Chassis @ Kitguru
• Cubitek Mini-ICE CB-ICI-B104 @ Bjorn3D
• Corsair Vengeance C70 Case Review: Going for the Gamers @ AnandTech
• Corsair Obsidian 550D @ techPowerUp
• MSI Stealth Case Review @ Hardware Secrets
• BitFenix Shinobi XL Computer Chassis Review - Is Bigger Always Better @ SSD Review
• Corsair Vengeance C70 @ OC3D
• Cooler Master Silencio 450 Case review @ Rbmods
• Enermax Staray ECA3175-BL Mid-Tower Case Review @Hi Tech Legion
• Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case Review @ TechwareLabs
• SilverStone FT03 Mini Review: We'll Make You Fun Size @ AnandTech
• NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition Video @ OC3D

Comay's Venus line of SSDs is designed for paranoid techs

Subject: Storage | May 24, 2012 - 01:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ssd, comay, ups, sandforce, SandForce SF-2281

The Comay Venus Pro 3 comes in seven sizes, ranging from 30GB to 480GB and is powered by a SandForce 2281 controller.  Those specs are not very unique, what makes the Comay special is the super-capacitor on the PCB which ensures that no data will be lost in the event of a power outage.  It is not quite a UPS in the normal sense but it will provide power for long enough to ensure all data is written from the cache to disk before it powers down.  As well there is onboard overload protection to ensure that power spikes cannot damage your drives.  Both of these features are sought after by Enterprise clients, almost more so than the performance, which you can read about at SSD Reviews.

"Just over a month ago, we conducted an analysis of what we thought to be the Comay Venus Pro 3 and, only after the review, were informed that we were actually looking at the Venus 3, an SSD that was not only branded incorrectly, but was also a special configuration for a specific customer. It appears our orders were mixed up. Comay apologized for the mix up and promised that we would be receiving a Venus Pro 3 soon enough where we could validate some vicious ‘SandForce Driven’ performance first hand."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

• Corsair Accelerator 60GB SSD Cache Drive Review @ Hardware Canucks
• The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned and Improved @ SSD Review
• MyDigitalSSD BP3 512GB SATA III Solid State Drive @ Tweaktown
• Data Memory Systems Celerity 6G Plus 120GB Solid State Drive @ Tweaktown
• OCZ Vertex 3 - 3.5 120GB SSD @ Funky Kit
• Corsair Accelerator 30GB & 60GB Review @ Neoseeker
• Comay Venus Pro 3 128GB Solid State Drive @ Tweaktown
• OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB Review @ HCW
• Plextor M3 Pro 256GB SSD review @ Hardware.Info
• Corsair Performance Series Pro (256GB) @ AnandTech
• Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB @ Legion Hardware
• OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD Review and 1.4RC FW Comparison - SSD Steroids for Your Vertex 4 @ SSD Review
• Patriot Memory SuperSonic Boost 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ NikKTech
• Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ NikKTech
• Kingston Wi-Drive 16 GB @ techPowerUp
• A Tale Of Two Thunderbolt Storage Devices: Seagate's GoFlex Desk and Western Digital's Thunderbolt Duo @ AnandTech
• Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home Network Storage System Review - NAS At Its Finest @ SSD Review
• Synology DS3612xs 12-bay NAS review @ Hardware.Info
• WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo 4TB review @ Hardware.Info
• Thecus N4200ECO 4 Bay NAS Enclosure @ Kitguru
• QNAP TS-419P II @ techPowerUp
• Thecus N4100EVO 4-bay NAS review @ Hardware.Info
• Icy Dock MB994SP-4SB-1 Full Metal Quad Bay 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Backplane Review @ eTeknix

TET, ePO and SSO... McAfee and Intel's Cloud

Subject: General Tech | May 24, 2012 - 12:19 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: mcafee, Intel, cloud

Intel's purchase of AntiVirus vendor McAfee has been feeding rumours and speculation for about 10 months now and while we have plenty of buzzwords and a feeling that they are looking at securing Cloud Computing only recently have we seen anything concrete.  The first product to give us insight into their actual plans has arrived on the market bearing an awkward name, McAfee Management for Optimized Virtual Environments AntiVirus.  This is essentially antivirus and antimalware specifically designed to be used in virtualized server environments which are connected to and providing services to a large amount of geographically separate devices ... aka 'The Cloud".  It is possible that they have a product which will be able to prevent the spread of an infection by leveraging the strictly partitioned nature of virtual servers and data stores, something that will be very important for anyone providing SaaS (Software as a Service) to clients. 

The Register also points out that in order to fully benefit from this AV product you will need a relatively new Xeon for your servers to support Trusted Execution Technology and a Sandy/Ivy Bridge processor for client side machines.  That means hardware upgrades which Intel's sales team would be more than happy to talk to you about.

"What Intel is planning is a cloud-to-desktop security strategy, mixing hardware and software features in a federated framework designed to make cloud computing safer, locking down the desktop and, coincidentally, giving IT managers another reason to specify Intel's systems during the next upgrade cycle."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Google 7-inch tablet PC to ship in June with initial volume of 600,000 units @ DigiTimes
• Building an x-ray machine and letting everything go to your head @ Hack a Day
• Boffins develop nanoscale vacuum tube running at .46 THz @ The Register
• Extreme Overclocking Session III ( EOS ) Event 2012 @ Madshrimps
• Win a Unique Custom Modified PC from Sapphire @ TechwareLabs
• Win a ZOTAC Z68-ITX WiFi Supreme motherboard @ Hardware.Info

Windows 8 Metro browser will have some Flash support

Subject: General Tech, Systems, Mobile | May 23, 2012 - 10:46 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: WOA, windows 8, flash

Microsoft has backed down, to some extent, from their “plug-in free; web standards only” position for the Metro-half of IE10. Some, but not all, Flash content will be able to play in the Metro browser. This change should be included in the Windows 8 Release Preview expected to be released in early June.

You may turn your back on Adobe but you’ll be back in a Flash.

Rafael Rivera has published a post on his Within Windows blog which he co-authored with Paul Thurrott about Flash integration with the Metro web browser. Until recently Microsoft was passionately against anything other than web standards in their Metro browser. Plugins are still not allowed in the application but that does not exclude Microsoft from embedding Flash into the browser directly.

I guess Silverlight is not popular enough…

(screenshot credit: Within Windows)

Adobe actively supports Microsoft’s efforts and has provided the source code to facilitate the integration into Metro Internet Explorer 10.

Security will rest somewhat on Microsoft’s ability to patch their software in time but will also be supported by a whitelist system. Flash for Internet Explorer 10 will only be supported on certain websites in certain ways. Unless your website is listed as requiring Flash for compatibility reasons then your website will not have access to the platform.

I am not really sure whether there is a cut or dry answer to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing I can say for certain is that Microsoft gives the impression that they had a strong and clear vision for Windows 8 and since completely abandoned their plan.

It follows the rumors of what happened to Vista: a bunch of years working on a secure memory management architecture that was scrapped at the last minute requiring over half of the OS to be rewritten in C++.

We all know how great that turned out.

Graphics Card (GPU) Stock Check - May 23rd, 2012

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 23, 2012 - 05:43 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: stock check, radeon, nvidia, HD 7970, hd 7950, hd 7870, hd 7850, hd 7770, hd 7750, GTX 690, gtx 680, gtx 670, geforce, amd

Due to popular request, I am going to try to keep our readers up to date on the current availability of graphics cards and pricing on the market.  With the recent price drops from AMD, the frequent out-of-stock status of the GTX 680 cards and the release of the GTX 670, I thought this would be a great summary of the current situation.

NVIDIA's highest end offering, the GTX 690

We will try to post new updates weekly or maybe more frequently as we see fit.  Newegg is our partner of choice for this today, so let's see what we have.

AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series

Radeon HD 7970 3GB - In Stock
Starting at $469

Radeon HD 7950 3GB - In Stock
Starting at $389

Radeon HD 7870 2GB - In Stock
Starting at $329

Radeon HD 7850 2GB - In Stock
Starting at $249

Radeon HD 7770 1GB - In Stock
Starting at $129

Radeon HD 7750 1GB - In Stock
Starting at $109

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 600 Series

GeForce GTX 690 4GB - No Stock
Starting at $999

GeForce GTX 680 2GB - No Stock
Starting at $499

GeForce GTX 670 2GB - In Stock
Starting at $399

In short, nearly two weeks later, nothing has changed.  For NVIDIA neither the GeForce GTX 690 can be found nor can the GTX 680 - a card that launched more than two full months ago.  To say we are disappointed in the capability for NVIDIA to keep up their end of the bargain would be an understatement and explains why we STILL have not used the GTX 680 card in our Hardware Leaderboard!!  The GTX 670 remains in stock though with four models available at Newegg including an overclocked MSI model for hte $399 MSRP.  Considering this might be our new favorite GPU, that is good news at least. 

AMD is still doing great on availability with the Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7950 widely available for the price of $469 / $389 with a set of three free games including DiRT Showdown and Dues Ex: Human Revolution.   

If you are looking for our latest graphics reviews to judge the performance of the above cards, here you go:

• GeForce GTX 670
• GeForce GTX 690
• GeForce GTX 680
• MSI R7970 Lightning
• Radeon HD 7870 and HD 7850
• Radeon HD 7770 and HD 7750
• Radeon HD 7950
• Radeon HD 7970

MSI Launches Z77A-GD80 Motherboard With Thunderbolt

Subject: Motherboards | May 23, 2012 - 05:15 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: Z77, thunderbolt, msi, motherboard

The MSI Z77A-GD80 motherboard that was first shown off at CES 2012 has officially launched today. The new motherboard is based on the Z77 chipset and supports Intel’s latest 22nm Ivy Bridge processors as well as the new Thunderbolt interface (a demo of Thunderbolt can be found here).

The MSI board further utilizes their “Military Class III” components, UEFI / Windows GUI ClickBIOS II firmware, and their automatic overclocking OC Genie II software. The board also features four DIMM slots for up to 32GB of DDR3 2800MHz memory, three PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-E 3.0 x1 slots, four SATA II and four SATA III. It also supports two-way SLI or three-way Crossfire for multi-GPU setups and has an additional USB 3.0 header for expansion cards or front panel ports.

Rear IO includes 4 USB 2.0 ports, a combination PS/2 mouse/keyboard port, digital and optical audio outputs, HDMI, Gigabit LAN, two USB 3.0 ports, VGA output, and 6 port analog audio output.Last but not least the Thunderbolt port, resting under the VGA output. MSI is pushing the new transfer technology hard in the press release because of the super fast transfer rates (theoretically up to 10Gbps).

Unfortunately, there is no word on pricing or availability for this motherboard (yet). Stay tuned to future updates as more information is released. More photos of and specification details for the new Thunderbolt equipped motherboard can be found here.

The discrete graphics card is in no danger

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 23, 2012 - 03:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: jon peddie, sales, gpu

Jon Peddie's newest report on the state of the graphics card market has arrived and while the news is not good it is nowhere near as bad as it could have been.  The graphics card market had a very large hurdle to deal with over these last few quarters which is why the total market declining 0.8% from last quarter and a 3.38% decline from Q1 2011 is not terrible news.  The impact came from the flooding in Thailand, which has been causing lowered sales for most of the PC market this year.   With hard drives being in such short supply the number of systems that could be built by vendors dropped dramatically, those systems which were built were noticeably more expensive than before the flood as the price of hard drives doubled in some cases.  With less systems being built and sold there was less demand for GPUs from the vendors, thankfully the industry has recovered from the shortage and we are seeing prices and supplies returning to their normal levels.

When you break it down by company, only AMD saw growth from last quarter, though at a 0.3% increase it was not so much growth as simply holding their ground.  NVIDIA has stopped reporting on their IGP sales which, believe it or not, still sell in Asia and so saw a drop of 4.5% from last quarter.  Some of that decline will be due to the change in reporting but the lack of Kepler stock has certainly hurt their sales as well.  Intel saw a decline of 1.3% from the previous quarter again likely due to the influence of the hard drive shortage reducing the number of systems which were sold. 

When you look at only discrete cards, the sales increased 2.7 % from the last quarter but were down 11% from this time last year, thanks to the GPU now present on both AMD and Intel processors.  With Llano and Trinity as well as SandyBridge and Ivy Bridge we saw the arrival of onboard graphics which provided enough horsepower that many casual users no longer need a discrete GPU.  Previous generations of IGPs and onboard graphics cores struggled to play HD video without stuttering and they were essentially useless if they were called upon to power even casual games.  The new generations of processors can not only handle HD video but are quite capable of light gaming duties.  They also made possible tablets and extremely small laptops, aka Sleekbooks and Ultrabooks, which provided good enough performance for many users and these small form factors have little space for discrete GPUs.  As both AMD and Intel's processors have a graphics core they count towards the total graphics card market share which is good news for them but not for NVIDIA who count on add in card sales exclusively.  On the plus side, when you examine add in card sales for laptops alone, NVIDIA actually saw a gain of 5%.

 Check out more of the results at Jon Peddie Research.

Seagate Pursuing Controlling Interest In LaCie

Subject: General Tech | May 23, 2012 - 02:58 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: storage, Seagate, LaCie, buyout

Seagate announced today that they will be pursuing a controlling interest in LaCie. The two companies deal in complementary areas of the storage industry with Seagate manufacturing drives and LaCie developing mobile and desktop drive enclosures and NAS solutions. In order to achieve a controlling (more than 50%) interest in the company, Seagate has offered to purchase all of Philippe Spruch’s–LaCie’s Chairman and CEO–shares. In addition to shares from an unnamed affiliate, such a buy would net Seagate 64.5% of outstanding shares of LaCie stock. Seagate is offering the LaCie shareholders €4.05 (approximately $5.09 USD) for their stock, and may be increased to as much as €4.17 should Seagate get 95% of LaCie shares and voting rights within 6 months of closing.

The merging of Seagate and LaCie logos (hehe).

After acquiring a controlling interest, they would then work to buy back all other otustanding shares with a cash offer. The initial purchase of stock is still pending governmental approval. Ricol Lasteyrie & Associates has been appointed as an independent expert by the board of directors for LaCie to examine the offer and determine whether or not to accept. Should it go through, Philippe Spruch would join Seagate as the president of Seagate’s consumer storage division. He would have the current Seagate vice president Patrick Connolly and LaCie deputy general manager Pierre van der Elst reporting to him. At this time, Seagate has not disclosed how much the former LaCie employees would be paid to work for Seagate. If all the appropriate governing bodies “okay” it, the buyout is expected to happen in the third quarter of 2012 (Q3 2012).

Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO was quoted in the press release in stating: “Seagate has a strong commitment to the growing consumer storage market and bringing the most dynamic products to market. LaCie has built an exceptional consumer brand by delivering exciting and innovative high-end products for many years. This transaction would bring a highly complementary set of capabilities to Seagate, significantly expand our consumer product offerings, add a premium-branded direct-attached storage line, strengthen our network-attached storage business line and enhance our capabilities in software development."

The combination of Seagate and LaCie seems odd a first, because LaCie does not manufacture their own drives (so it’s not a hard drive patent portfolio Seagate is after); but they are actually complementary services. While Seagate has the hard drive storage down, LaCie has a lineup of drive enclosures and NAS boxes. By combining the two, Seagate can manufacture the drives and the enclosures themselves. Seagate does currently have a few enclosures but their expertise is primarily in the drive technology itself. The opposite is true to Lacie, so the two companies coming together is a good thing for Seagate. One thing that LaCie has done that instantly benefits Seagate is focusing on high end and premium drive enclosures. While Seagate has focused on low and midrange drive enclosures, LaCie has solely focused on high end. This is beneficial because Seagate can integrate those higher profit margin premium LaCie products into their lineup without the need for extensive research and development. Whether it will also result in an improved product lineup and/or cheaper products for consumers remains to be seen, but it has the potential to be a good thing.

Other than an internet connection, what hardware do you need for Diablo III?

Subject: General Tech | May 23, 2012 - 02:50 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, diablo iii, blizzard

TechSpot wanted to see what effect your graphics card has on your experience while slaughtering mobs of baddies in Diablo III.  First they removed any chance of a CPU bottleneck by building a test bed using an i7-3960X and then they gathered over two dozen GPUs to test with, ranging from a Radeon HD 6450 to a GTX 680 and almost everything in between.  At lower resolutions all but the slowest seven cards and Intel's HD4000 were able to give 60fps or more but at 2560x1600 only half of the cards they tested could make 60fps or better.  It is interesting to see that the GTX680 and HD7970 offer the same performance at the upper end of the resolutions they tested but you should expect that to change as drivers mature.

"While we disagree with making single player components online-only, there isn't much mere mortals like us can do about it. What we can do, however, is beat the hell out of Diablo III with today's finest hardware. Blizzard has somewhat of a reputation for making highly scalable titles that run on virtually any gaming rigs, so that's largely what we expect from the developer's latest offering..."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Hands On: XCOM – Enemy Unknown Part 2 @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition PC Review @ eTeknix
• Sniper Elite V2 @ Tweaktown
• Warlock: Master of the Arcane Review @ Techgage
• Dragon’s Dogma review @ The Inquirer
• From Dust Now Playable From Browsers @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Starhawk (PS3) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven.
• Mortal Kombat (PS Vita) Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Dragon's Dogma Review (XBOX 360) @ HardwareHeaven
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier (XBOX 360) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven

Reasonably priced memristors may be coming soon thanks to a botched LED experiment

Subject: General Tech | May 23, 2012 - 01:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: hp, memristor

Over two years ago we heard about a project at HP to design a memristor, a possible future replacement for non-volatile flash memory.  The actual resistance of a memristor component can be changed, allowing it to be used as an effective storage medium due to the incredibly short time that it takes for the medium to be written to or read.  That speed was measured in picoseconds when last we heard about advances with this storage medium, just before Christmas.  One of the main hurdles that HP has been facing with adoption of the memristor was the price, but thanks to a failed experiment designing silicon oxide LEDs that may no longer be a problem.  The Register reports on the experiment which seemed to have developed unstable LEDs but when one of the designers investigated the problem further he realized the film they had created predicatably flipped between conductive and non-conductive states as power was applied.  HP's memristors may be arriving sooner than we had thought.

"The HP-popularised memristor device is a form of ReRAM – resistive RAM – and is fairly expensive to make. Metal oxide-based ReRAM technology promises to combine minimum memory speed with NAND non-volatility and be able to provide higher capacities than NAND, which is thought will cease to be usable as process geometries go down past 10nm. ReRAM dies will need less electricity to run and will take up less space than equivalent capacity NAND."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• New Linux Kernel Adds X32 ABI, Btrfs Updates @ Linux.com
• Apple, RIM didn’t infringe Kodak patents @ The Register
• Viper flight simulator (a la Battlestar Galactica) finished @ Hack a Day
• Windows XP update fails in infinite .NET patch loop @ The Register
• Intel pushes new battery solutions to reduce ultrabook cost @ DigiTimes
• Core Wars: Inside Intel's power struggle with NVIDIA @ The Register
• Interview with Raspberry's Founder Eben Upton @ TechSpot
• Intel Support For OpenCL On Linux With Ivy Bridge @ Phoronix
• GTC (GPU Technology Conference) 2012 "Updated" @Hi Tech Legion
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 Review @ TechReviewSource
• How I prepared for MOA Americas Qualifier @ Ninjalane

So... Bungie Jumping back into the PC?

Subject: General Tech | May 22, 2012 - 08:27 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Bungie, Lawsuit, Activision

Contracts between Activision and certain developers are public evidence thanks to litigation between Activision and the former Infinity Ward executives. It turns out Bungie, of Halo fame before they left Microsoft to partner with Activision, is developing their titles for the PC after their first Xbox-exclusive release. The proposed style of game has “massively-multiplayer client-based mission structures with persistent elements”.

… truth be told I have been disappointed with their games after Halo 2 when they focused on fan lip service...

But as a result of recent litigation involving their publisher we have found out that Bungie is working on a massively-multiplayer game with persistent elements. According to the contract published as evidence we will see certain versions are planned to be developed for the PC supposedly in-house.

This is the first time since the 90’s where Bungie has developed a game for the PC in-house -- excluding the small assistance which Bungie provided to Microsoft Game Studios and Pi Studios for Halo 2 Vista.

Yeah… the comments for this post won't surprise me...

(Photo: Bungie, Inc.)

If you wish to see a little behind-the-scenes of game publishing then you might like to check the contract out. A lot of amusing information such as royalty rates and bonuses are not-too-buried within the legalese. The formatting makes it actually quite human legible to skim through for the most part.

Even if Activision is ultimately successful in their lawsuit against former executives West and Zampella it would certainly be one of their most annoying victories -- at best. They lose if they win and they very lose if they lose.

Now if only Heart of the Swarm release date was important for the trial…