Rumors About Upcoming NVIDIA GTX 680M Emerge

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 16, 2012 - 10:40 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: nvidia, gtx 680m, gpu, mobile, kepler

Videocardz.com managed to get their hands on some rumored details about an upcoming NVIDIA mobile graphics card–the GTX 680M. According to rumors, the mobile chip will be launched at Computex 2012 in Taiwan next month.

There aren’t many details about the mobile chip, but it is set up to be a scaled down version of it’s Kepler based GTX 680 desktop counterpart. The GTX 680M will have approximately half as many CUDA cores at either 744 or 768 cores depending on the source. Either way, the card keeps the same 256-bit memory interface and can support SLI configurations. In addition, the 680M will be able to have up to 4GB of GDDR5 memory. Reportedly, it can use as much as 100 Watts of power.

When paired with an Intel Core i7 3720QM processor, the GPU was able to get a score of 4,905 points in 3DMark 11’s Performance present benchmark. It is supposed to be as much as 37 percent faster than the GTX 670M, which is not surprising considering that chip has only 336 CUDA cores and is clocked at 598 MHz (no word yet on what the GTX 680M will be clocked at).

No matter what the GTX 680M turns out to be, you can bet it will only be found in the highest end gaming notebooks where performance is more important than battery life. Until then, feel free to brush up on your Kepler architecture knowledge by visiting our GTX 680 (desktop) review.

Netgear Announces New 802.11ac Gear, Launches New Router

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2012 - 09:57 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: wifi, router, networking, netgear, 802.11ac

Following up on the announcement by Buffalo Technology, Netgear has released their own 802.11ac wireless router, the R6300. (PC Perspective recently ran a giveaway for the R6300 which you can read about here). In addition to the flagship 802.11ac router, Netgear announced a slimmed down version–the R6200–and the A6200 WiFi USB dongle.

The Netgear R6300 is their highest end wireless router supporting the 802.11ac WiFi standard. It supports 802.11ac speeds up to 1300 Mbps (450 Mbps over wireless n) and is backwards compatible with the 802.11 a/b/g/n standards. It also has two USB 2.0 ports that can be used to share hard drive and printers across the network. Further, the “5G WiFI” router is powered by a Broadcom chipset, which should open the door to third part firmware(s).

In addition to the above router, Netgear has announced the R6200 wireless router. It is compatible with the upcoming 802.11ac standard, but at reduced speeds. It features approximately 900 Mbps transfer rates over the “ac” standard and up to 300 Mbps over the 802.11n standard. The router is backwards compatible with all the older consumer standards (a/b/g/n), and it features a single USB 2.0 port to share a printer or hard drive to computers on the LAN.

Last up in the announcement is the Netgear A6200. This device is a USB WiFi dongle that supports the 802.11ac standard as well as existing a/b/g/n networks. It claims to deliver enough speed for HD streaming of videos, though Netgear has not stated if it will be able to take advantage of the full 1300 Mbps theoretical maximum connection. The WiFi adapter features a swiveling antenna and a docking station for use with desktop systems.

The other neat feature that the new routers support is the Netgear Genie application, which allows users to monitor and control the network using an application on their computer or smartphone (iOS and Android). They also feature Netgear MyMedia, printer sharing, guest network access, a DLNA server, parental controls, and automatic WiFi security.

The Netgear R6300 router is available for purchase now with an MSRP of $199.99. The R6200 router and A6200 WiFi dongle will be available for purchase in Q3 2012 with suggested retail prices of $179.99 and $69.99 respectively.

Microsoft Signature Will Clean Your Windows Install For $99

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2012 - 06:31 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: Windows 7, windows, microsoft signature, microsoft

Microsoft’s Signature program is a Microsoft Store and online service where the company resells OEM partners’ computers without all the traditional bloatware programs. The company puts a clean install of Windows on the hardware, installs Microsoft applications–including Microsoft Security Essentials, Live Movie Maker, and Live Mail–and optimized the OS for that particular machine’s hardware. This Signature install of Windows has only been available to users that purchased a new computer from Microsoft–until now.

According to Ars Technica, Microsoft is now offering to turn any OEM PC running Windows into a Signature edition of the operating system for a one-time fee of $99. DIYers and enthusiasts are likely to scoff at the nearly hundred dollar price tag for popping in a Windows 7 install disc and doing a clean install, but the Signature service is most certainly not aimed at the technically savvy market to begin with. Rather, this is a service for ordinary computer users to get the most performance out of their computer while avoiding the numerous “optimize my PC” scams and malware-programs-masquerading-as-Windows-utilities minefield. Doing a clean install and then optimizing the OS can take at least an hour (though enthusiasts can generally shave that time down quite a bit), and a straight fee of $99 is a lot less than consumers are likely to find elsewhere (especially since that includes 90 days of tech support). And that’s where I think this program is okay, and even a good thing. Most OEM systems come pre-loaded with a bunch of unwanted programs and trial offers that serve no real purpose besides making the OEM more money. There is also the issue of security. The majority of OEM systems come pre-loaded with some form of trial antivirus (usually Norton), and customers are notorious for not upgrading to the paid edition after the trial period or replacing it with (better) free antivirus applications. For $99, Microsoft will take the OEM machine and spruce it up to be the operating system that it should have been running in the first place. Besides price, the other barrier to this catching on is that customers need to bring the PC into a Microsoft Store (which are few and far between).

That statement is where many users are not pleased with Microsoft. They believe that Microsoft should exert more control over what OEMs are allowed to do with its operating system. Certainly, that is the ideal solution, but Microsoft is not Apple and they do not have the same level of control over the resulting hardware and what is bundled into the OS after it is purchased by OEMs. The Signature program is at least a step in the right direction and making the best of the situation. Also, it is an optional service that consumers are free to shop around to find a better price (or learn how to do it themselves by checking out guides online). It may not be the best thing, but at least Microsoft recognizes that there is a problem and is offering an alternative.

I’ll admit that I reacted unfavorably when I first read about the program, especially since it seemed so expensive for what comes as second nature to me. But not everyone wants to muck around in settings and for those with more money than time the Signature program is not a bad deal. It’s not for me, but I can see situations where it will work well. What are your thoughts on the program; do you see it as useful or is Microsoft way off base here?

Coolermaster's new vapourware, the TPC-812 heatsink

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 16, 2012 - 05:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: coolermaster, TPC-812, heatsink, heatpipes

Coolermaster's new TPC-812 goes beyond the heatpipes which we have all become familiar with and adds in vapour chambers as well.  The vapour chamber works similarly to a heatpipe but instead of heat only being able to travel away in one direction, the chamber allows heat to be dissipated in to directions.  Unfortunately in order to properly work it needs to remain quite small in size so while it can quickly spread out heat it needs help from something else to keep that heat moving away.  The cooler was fairly noisy when FrostyTech ran the fan at full speed but also offered among the most effective cooling performance and when they dialed the fan back its performance ended up in the middle of the pack but for someone using a moderately powerful CPU and wanting less noise it should move enough heat to remain effective.

"Vapour chambers and heatpipes work on the same principle, the difference is that vapour chambers are planar thermal devices that conduct heat in two dimensions. The two 19x3mm vapour chambers on the Coolermaster TPC-812 heatsink are double-stacked (one vapour chamber on top of three heatpipes), much like the Xigmatek Aegir. Since vapour chambers are planar devices this represents a more efficient application that piling tubular heatpipes on top of tubular heatpipes. Coolermaster's TPC-812 is the first CPU heatsink to pass our test bench employing both vapour chambers and heatpipes in one package."

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

CASES & COOLING

• Zero-Infinity Free-Flow+ @ OC3D
• CoolerMaster TPC 812 CPU Cooler @ Bjorn3D
• Deepcool/Logisys Gammaxx 400 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Coolermaster Hyper 412 SLIM Cpu Cooler @ Rbmods
• SilenX EFZ-120HA5 Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
• Cooler Master TPC 812 Vapor Chamber CPU Cooler @ Tweaktown
• Xigmatek SD1283 Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers
• Corsair Hydro H100 Self Contained Watercooling Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
• NZXT Switch 810 Review @ OCC
• Noctua NH-C14 Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech
• Cubitek HPTX ICE Review: How Far Aluminum Can Go @ AnandTech
• Lian Li PC 100 “The Hammer” @ LanOC Reviews
• NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition Case Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Antec GAME ONE Midi Tower Review @ NikKTech
• Cubitek HPTX ICE Frozen Solid Chassis @ Tweaktown
• NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition (Gunmetal) Full-Tower Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• NZXT Phantom 410 Special Edition Mid-tower Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• NZXT Switch 810 Full-Tower Chassis Review @ Techgage
• Thermaltake Level 10 GTS Snow Edition Review @ OCC

Live: First NVIDIA Kepler GK110 GPU Details

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 16, 2012 - 05:14 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, GTC 2012, gk110

We are posting live from the "Inside Kepler" talk at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference with details on the new GK110 GPU.  Here is what we know so far:

• 7.1 billion transistors
• 15 SMX (modified) units
• 2880 available CUDA cores
• Greater than 1 TFLOP FP64 (double precision) compute
• 384-bit GDDR5 memory bus

The block diagram for the GK110 GPU

We will update this post with more photos and information as we have it!

Diagram of the updated SMX for GK110

Don't expect to see this GPU until at least  Q4 of this year.

Check out our full Kepler GK110 deep-dive article we just posted!  

Runcore Launches SSD With Physical Data Destruction

Subject: Storage | May 16, 2012 - 03:50 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: ssd, sata 2, runcore, data destruction

For people worried about their personal information (or spies) RunCore has developed a new SSD that will make sure no one can steal your data. The InVincible SATA II solid state drive comes with two brightly colored buttons for different levels of data destruction. Pressing the green button will initiate the “intelligent destruction” mode wherein the drive will be wiped out and the data overwritten with zeros. And if that is not enough, users can press the red button to activate a physical destruction mechanism. In the physical destruction process, a high electrical current is delivered to the NAND flash chips causing them to burn and crack. Good luck recovering your data after that (though it’s not as flashy as Thermite)!

Just keep your cat away from the red button if you know what’s good for your hardware!

In terms of performance, the RunCore SSD is capable of up to 240MB/s reads and 190MB/s writes. The drive features a SATA II interface, and it is available with either MLC or SLC NAND flash. The internals are placed in a green 2.5” form factor case and–in addition to SATA data and power cable connections–it also comes with one red and one green button connected to the drive by two wires. The new solid state drive is now official, but pricing and availability have yet to be announced. More information on the drives can be found on the RunCore website, and you can see the data destruction in action in the video below.

This A-10 can't kill tanks but it does beat a Bulldozer

Subject: Processors | May 16, 2012 - 02:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: trinity, radeon, igp, gpu, APU, amd. A10-4600M

AMD's A10-4600M APU has finally arrived, showing off an enhanced Piledriver core and a new Northern Islands based graphics core.  This is a big step up from Llano in terms of general processing power but not a huge improvement over Bulldozer chips, though the raised clock speed does help it in general tasks.  Unfortunately the AMD still chip lags far behind the performance of Intel's mobile i5 processors and while the graphics are certainly more powerful on Trinity they still aren't up to an impressive level of performance.  The Tech Report liked the high end A10-4600M but think that Trinity's low power chips are really going to shine in inexpensive ultraportable machines.

You can also check out Matt's review of Llano in a reference laptop from AMD for more information.

"AMD has pulled the curtains back on Trinity, its next-generation APU, which features new Piledriver CPU cores and Northern Islands-derived integrated graphics. Join us as we outline Trinity's architecture and run it through a whole host of benchmarks, from old staples to OpenCL-accelerated apps and "inside the second" gaming tests."

Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:

Processors

• AMD Launches New Trinity APU @ TechwareLabs
• The AMD Trinity Review (A10-4600M): A New Hope @ AnandTech
• AMD A10 'Trinity' APU review @ Hardware.Info
• AMD Launches New 2012 A-Series APU (Trinity) @ Bjorn3d
• AMD Trinity Preview @ Neoseeker
• AMD Trinity A10-4600M APU Review: Jumping the Shark? @ VR-Zone
• AMD Trinity: Going Mobile with a New APU @ Hardware Canucks

The new MSI GD65, this time in Z77 flavour

Subject: Motherboards | May 16, 2012 - 01:36 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: msi, z77a-gd65, lga1155

MSI's Z77A-GD65 comes with a nice set features including THX TruStudio PRO, Lucid’s VirtuMVP, active phase switching, and HDMI 1.4 along with support for both SLI and CrossFireX.  It supports PCIe 3.0 on its three 16x slots, running 8x, 4x, 4x or 8x, 8x, 0x which should still offer enough bandwidth for multiple GPU based systems.   Overclocking Ivy Bridge on this board was not difficult, ignoring the voltage and heat issues common to all Ivy Bridge processors and overall [H]ard|OCP has found the Z77 to be one of the better designed chipsets recently released and like that it doesn't exhibit the growing pains many others  have felt on initial release.  MSI took that solid design and pushed it further, something we've come to expect from their GD65 series motherboards.

"MSI has been on a roll with its motherboards as of late. It’s because of this that our expectations for MSI’s foray into the world of Z77 chipset based motherboards are so high. MSI’s "GD65" series of motherboards have been an especially solid value and the Z77A-GD65 looks to be no different."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• Gigabyte address Z77X-UD5H @ Kitguru
• ASRock Z77 Professional Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• MSI Z77A-GD65 (Z77) Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• ECS Z77H2-AX Black Extreme Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Components @ Benchmark Reviews
• Gigabyte Z77-D3H (Z77) Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H @ Funkykit
• A First Look at Thunderbolt on Windows with MSI's Z77A-GD80 @ AnandTech
• ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe @ AnandTech
• ECS Z77H2-AX Golden Edition Review @ OCC
• Intel Z77 Motherboard Review with Ivy Bridge - ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI @ AnandTech
• ECS X79R-AX Deluxe Review @ Neoseeker
• BIOS Option Of The Week - CPU Direct Access FB @ TechARP
• Gigabyte Sniper M3 Review @ Bjorn3D
• Gigabyte A75M-D2H and A75-UD4H Motherboard Review @ OCC

NZXT Releases Switch 810 Special Edition Cases

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 16, 2012 - 12:28 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: switch 810, special edition, nzxt, cases, atx

Popular case manufacturer NZXT has announced a special edition of it’s Switch 810 computer case. After listening to customer feedback, the company has decided to make the case available in two new colors. Gunmetal and Matte Black are the two new darker themes of the Switch 810.

In a recent press release, NZXT stated that the two new available colors are its way of showing their fans that they do listen to and value feedback.

Specifically, “Without our community’s valuable feedback and criticisms, our products would not be as unique as they are today. We always aim to maintain customer satisfaction through providing high quality products at great prices, which is why we decided to release the Special Edition to feature two of the most demanded color palettes from our loyal fans: Matte Black and Gunmetal.”

The Switch 810 is a full tower ATX case constructed of steel and plastic materials. It features support for up to 10 fans, six internal hard drives, up to an E-ATX motherboard, and plenty of room for custom liquid cooling solutions. The case also provides cable management cut-outs and tool-less drive bays.

The new Special Edition Switch 810 is available for purchase now from NZXT in either Gunmetal or Matte Black colors for $179.99 USD. When we reviewed the original version of the Switch 810, we gave it the PC Perspective Gold Award for its included enthusiast features and good execution. You can find our full review (including video) here.

Take a break from Diablo 3 to look behind the scenes

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2012 - 12:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, diablo iii

Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN was given the chance to sit down with the senior world designer and the lead technical artist of Diablo 3.  One of the topics of discussion will be near and dear to those who played the previous games in the series, co-op multiplayer, which really defined the game for those who tried it.  Somehow button mashing in tandem was much more enjoyable than the already great single player experience and the development team spent a good deal of effort bringing that experience to Diablo 3.  They also talk about the difficulties of including enough lore to keep players who want some depth to the story of the game but ensuring that those players who don't care for a back story don't feel it is getting in the way of their game.  At no time were rainbows or unicorns discussed.

"Diablo III is now a thing that you’re capable of owning and (hopefully) playing. Just before the launch, when those network problems were yet to freeze Hell over, I sat down with senior world designer Leonard Boyarsky and lead technical artist Julian Love to keep them company as queues formed in the streets outside. Along the way, I discovered that having an ex-Troika chap on your game means that ‘lore’ is a very important word indeed, that the distant roguelike heritage hasn’t been forgotten and that technological progression doesn’t necessarily alter design principles."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Eyefinity/Surround Analysis of Rayman Origins @ Widescreen Gaming Forum
• Botanicula PC Review @ eTeknix
• Diablo III Midnight Launch and Signing Gallery @ HardwareHeaven
• ins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Beta @ Benchmark Reviews
• Inside the Atari 2600 @ Hardware Secrets
• Lucid PC Review @ eTeknix
• A Chat With Rocket, Creator Of Day Z @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN!

Gigabyte USA Announces Gigabyte eSports LAN

Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2012 - 06:22 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: LAN party, lan, gigabyte, gaming, case mod contest

Popular motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co. recently announced the Gigabyte eSports LAN (GESL), which is its first eSports event in North America. The even includes a BYOC (bring your own computer) LANFest, tournament competitions in Starcraft II and League of Legends, a case mode competition, presentations, and an event raffle. The competitions each feature various prizes for winning including Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3 motherboards, graphics cards, RAM, and other computer hardware. Starcraft II and League of Legends further offer $11,000 and $10,000 prize pools respectively.

The event will be held at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California from June 15th to June 17th, 2012. In additon to Gigabyte, the eSports event is co-sponsored by Kingston and Cooler Master, among others. The LAN competitions will be broadcast in HD for free during the event for those that can’t attend in person. Alternatively, users can purchase spectator badges for $15 USD. There will also be an event raffle during the GESL that will give away various pieces of computer hardware and company swag to attendees.

Further, the case mod contest will showcase systems from participants of the BYOC LANFest or spectators, of which five winners will be chosen. They will receive computer hardware and coverage in CPU Magazine should they win.

More information on the event can be found at the Gigabyte eSports LAN website (thegesl.com).

Buffalo First To Market With 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi Router

Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2012 - 05:38 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: wireless, router, networking, ethernet bridge, buffalo, 802.11ac

Netgear and Buffalo have been working hard to build and get to market new wireless routers based on the 802.11ac (pending ratification) standard. PC Perspective recently ran a giveaway for the Netgear 802.11ac router, but it seems that Buffalo has managed to beat them to market with their new gear. In fact, Buffalo yesterday released two 802.11ac devices with the AirStation™ WZR-D1800H wireless router and WLI-H4-D1300 wireless Ethernet bridge. Both devices are powered by Broadcom’s 5G WiFi chips (what Broadcom refers to 802.11ac as–the fifth generation of consumer WiFi) and based around the IEEE standard that is set to become an official standard early next year.

The Buffalo 802.11ac Router (left: front, right: rear view)

The router and Ethernet bridge both support the upcoming 802.11ac standard as well as the current 802.11 b, g, and n standards so they are backwards compatible with all your devices. They also support all the normal functions of any other router or bridge device–the draft support for 802.11ac is what differentiates these products. The router stands vertically and has a router reset and USB eject buttons, one USB 2.0 port, four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, and one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port. Below the WAN port is a power button and DC in jack. The Buffalo Ethernet bridge allows users to connect Ethernet devices to a network over WiFi. It looks very similar to the router but does not have a WAN port or USB port on the back. It also does not act as a router, only a bridge to a larger network. The largest downside to the Ethernet bridge is pricing: (although out of stock now) Newegg has the bridge listed for the same price as the full fledged router. At that point, it does not have much value–users would be better off buying two routers and disabling the router features on one (and because the Broadcom chipset should enable custom firmwares, this should be possible soon).

The Buffalo 802.11ac Ethernet Bridge (left: front, right: rear view)

What makes these two devices interesting though is the support for the “5G WiFi” 802.11ac wireless technology. This is the first time that the Wireless connections have a (granted, theoretical) higher transfer speed than the wired connections, which is quite the feat. 802.11ac is essentially 802.11n but with several improvements and only operating on channels in the 5GHz spectrum. The pending standard also uses wider 80 Mhz or 160 MHz channels, 256 QAM modulation, and up to eight antennas (much like 802.11n’s MIMO technology) to deliver much faster wireless transfer rates than consumers have had available previously. The other big technology with the upcoming WiFi standard is beamforming. This allows wireless devices to communicate with their access point(s) to determine relative spatial position. That data is then used to adjust the transmitted signals such that it is sent in the direction of the access point at the optimum power levels. This approach is different to traditional WiFi devices that broadcast omni-directionally (think big circular waves coming out of your router) because the signals are more focused. By focusing the signals, users get better range and can avoid WiFi deadspots.

Hajime Nakai, Chief Executive Officer at Buffalo Technology stated that “along with Broadcom, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to innovation by providing a no-compromise, future proofed wireless infrastructure for consumers’ digital worlds.”

The Buffalo AirStation™ WZR-D1800H router and WLI-H4-D1300 Ethernet bridge are available for purchase now for around $179.99 USD. The Ethernet bridge is listed as out of stock on Newegg; however, the router is still available (and the better value).

ZOTAC announces ZOTAC GeForce GT 630, GT 620 and GT 610 series

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 15, 2012 - 05:26 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: zotac synergy, zotac, nvidia, gt 630, gt 620, GT 610, GK104, geforce, fermi

Zotac has released ten different graphics cards today, three GT 630s, three GT 620s and four GT 610s if you count the PCI version.  Enjoy all the benefits of the new Kepler architecture without the price of the GTX 680 or 690. These cards are a mix of GF108, GF119 and GK107, essentially rebrands of previous GT series cards as opposed to new ones like NVIDIA would prefer you believed.

They range from this 4GB GT 630 Synergy Edition which will give you the ability to handle multiple monitors in a work environment.

To this 1GB PCIe 1x GT 610 model for low power, low profile applications where a 16x slot just won't fit.

HONG KONG – May 15, 2012 – ZOTAC International, a global innovator and channel manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards and mini-PCs, today expands the successful ZOTAC GeForce 600 series with new value offerings. The ZOTAC GeForce GT 630, GT 620 and GT 610 series deliver a savory taste of Microsoft DirectX 11 technologies for an outstanding visual computing experience.

“ZOTAC is pleased to bring the GeForce 600 series to value shoppers seeking a superior visual experience discrete graphics brings to computing,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. “By installing one of our ZOTAC GeForce GT 630, GT 620 or GT 610 series graphics cards, users can experience faster video and image processing and perfect high-definition video playback with a simple upgrade.”

The ZOTAC GeForce GT 630, GT 620 and GT 610 series are available in a variety configurations with 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB memory options in PCI Express 2.0 x16, PCI Express x1 or PCI interfaces, and active or passive cooling configurations to cater exclusively to all user computing needs.

It’s time to play with ZOTAC and the GeForce GT 630, GT 620 and GT 610 series.

General details

• ZOTAC Expands successful GeForce 600 series
• ZOTAC GeForce GT 630 series
  • 96 processor cores
  • 1GB, 2GB and 4GB memory configurations
  • 128-bit memory interface
• ZOTAC GeForce GT 620 series
  • 96 processor cores
  • 1GB & 2GB memory configurations
  • 64-bit memory interface
• ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 series
  • 48 processor cores
  • 512MB, 1GB & 2GB memory configurations
  • 64-bit memory interface
• NVIDIA 3D Vision capable
• NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
• DirectX 11 technology & Shader Model 5.0
• OpenGL 4.2 compatible
• Hardware-accelerated Full HD video playback
• Blu-ray 3D ready
• Loss-less audio bitstream capable

NVIDIA Introduces World's First Virtualized GPU, Accelerating Graphics for Cloud Computing

Subject: Shows and Expos | May 15, 2012 - 04:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: NVIDIA VGX, nvidia, GTC 2012, virtual graphics, virtual machine

One of the more interesting announcements so far at the GTC has been NVIDIA's wholehearted leap into desktop virtualization with NVIDIA VGX series of add on cards.  Not really a graphics card and more specialized than the Tesla, GPU VDI will give you a GPU accelerated virtual machine.  If you are wondering why you would need that consider a VM which can handle an Aero desktop and stream live HD video where the processing power comes not from the CPU but from a virtual GPU.  They've partnered it with Hypervisor which can integrate with existing VM platforms to provide virtual GPU control as well as another piece of software which allows you to pick and choose what graphics resources your users get.

SAN JOSE, Calif.—GPU Technology Conference—May 15, 2012—NVIDIA today unveiled the NVIDIA VGX platform, which enables IT departments to deliver a virtualized desktop with the graphics and GPU computing performance of a PC or workstation to employees using any connected device.

With the NVIDIA VGX platform in the data center, employees can now access a true cloud PC from any device – thin client, laptop, tablet or smartphone – regardless of its operating system, and enjoy a responsive experience for the full spectrum of applications previously only available on an office PC.

NVIDIA VGX enables knowledge workers for the first time to access a GPU-accelerated desktop similar to a traditional local PC. The platform’s manageability options and ultra-low latency remote display capabilities extend this convenience to those using 3D design and simulation tools, which had previously been too intensive for a virtualized desktop.

Integrating the VGX platform into the corporate network also enables enterprise IT departments to address the complex challenges of “BYOD” – employees bringing their own computing device to work. It delivers a remote desktop to these devices, providing users the same access they have on their desktop terminal. At the same time, it helps reduce overall IT spend, improve data security and minimize data center complexity.

“NVIDIA VGX represents a new era in desktop virtualization,” said Jeff Brown, general manager of the Professional Solutions Group at NVIDIA. “It delivers an experience nearly indistinguishable from a full desktop while substantially lowering the cost of a virtualized PC.”

The NVIDIA VGX platform is part of a series of announcements NVIDIA is making today at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), all of which can be accessed in the GTC online press room.

The VGX platform addresses key challenges faced by global enterprises, which are under constant pressure both to control operating costs and to use IT as a competitive edge that allows their workforces to achieve greater productivity and deliver new products faster. Delivering virtualized desktops can also minimize the security risks inherent in sharing critical data and intellectual property with an increasingly internationalized workforce.

NVIDIA VGX is based on three key technology breakthroughs:

• NVIDIA VGX Boards. These are designed for hosting large numbers of users in an energy-efficient way. The first NVIDA VGX board is configured with four GPUs and 16 GB of memory, and fits into the industry-standard PCI Express interface in servers. ·
• NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor. This software layer integrates into commercial hypervisors, such as the Citrix XenServer, enabling virtualization of the GPU.
• NVIDIA User Selectable Machines (USMs). This manageability option allows enterprises to configure the graphics capabilities delivered to individual users in the network, based on their demands. Capabilities range from true PC experiences available with the NVIDIA standard USM to enhanced professional 3D design and engineering experiences with NVIDIA Quadro or NVIDIA NVS GPUs.

The NVIDIA VGX platform enables up to 100 users to be served from a single server powered by one VGX board, dramatically improving user density on a single server compared with traditional virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions. It sharply reduces such issues as latency, sluggish interaction and limited application support, all of which are associated with traditional VDI solutions.

With the NVIDIA VGX platform, IT departments can serve every user in the organization – from knowledge workers to designers – with true PC-like interactive desktops and applications.

NVIDIA VGX Boards
NVIDIA VGX boards are the world’s first GPU boards designed for data centers. The initial NVIDIA VGX board features four GPUs, each with 192 NVIDIA CUDA architecture cores and 4 GB of frame buffer. Designed to be passively cooled, the board fits within existing server-based platforms.

The boards benefit from a range of advancements, including hardware virtualization, which enables many users who are running hosted virtual desktops to share a single GPU and enjoy a rich, interactive graphics experience; support for low-latency remote display, which greatly reduces the lag currently experienced by users; and, redesigned shader technology to deliver higher power efficiency.

NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor
The NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor is a software layer that integrates into a commercial hypervisor, enabling access to virtualized GPU resources. This allows multiple users to share common hardware and ensure virtual machines running on a single server have protected access to critical resources. As a result, a single server can now economically support a higher density of users, while providing native graphics and GPU computing performance.

This new technology is being integrated by leading virtualization companies, such as Citrix, to add full hardware graphics acceleration to their full range of VDI products.

NVIDIA User Selectable Machines
NVIDIA USMs allow the NVIDIA VGX platform to deliver the advanced experience of professional GPUs to those requiring them across an enterprise. This enables IT departments to easily support multiple types of users from a single server.

USMs allow better utilization of hardware resources, with the flexibility to configure and deploy new users’ desktops based on changing enterprise needs. This is particularly valuable for companies providing infrastructure as a service, as they can repurpose GPU-accelerated servers to meet changing demand throughout the day, week or season.

NVIDIA Pioneers New Standard for High Performance Computing with Tesla GPUs

Subject: Shows and Expos | May 15, 2012 - 03:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: tesla, nvidia, GTC 2012, kepler, CUDA

SAN JOSE, Calif.—GPU Technology Conference—May 15, 2012—NVIDIA today unveiled a new family of Tesla GPUs based on the revolutionary NVIDIA Kepler GPU computing architecture, which makes GPU-accelerated computing easier and more accessible for a broader range of high performance computing (HPC) scientific and technical applications.

The new NVIDIA Tesla K10 and K20 GPUs are computing accelerators built to handle the most complex HPC problems in the world. Designed with an intense focus on high performance and extreme power efficiency, Kepler is three times as efficient as its predecessor, the NVIDIA Fermi architecture, which itself established a new standard for parallel computing when introduced two years ago.

“Fermi was a major step forward in computing,” said Bill Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at NVIDIA. “It established GPU-accelerated computing in the top tier of high performance computing and attracted hundreds of thousands of developers to the GPU computing platform. Kepler will be equally disruptive, establishing GPUs broadly into technical computing, due to their ease of use, broad applicability and efficiency.”

The Tesla K10 and K20 GPUs were introduced at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), as part of a series of announcements from NVIDIA, all of which can be accessed in the GTC online press room.

NVIDIA developed a set of innovative architectural technologies that make the Kepler GPUs high performing and highly energy efficient, as well as more applicable to a wider set of developers and applications. Among the major innovations are:

• SMX Streaming Multiprocessor – The basic building block of every GPU, the SMX streaming multiprocessor was redesigned from the ground up for high performance and energy efficiency. It delivers up to three times more performance per watt than the Fermi streaming multiprocessor, making it possible to build a supercomputer that delivers one petaflop of computing performance in just 10 server racks. SMX’s energy efficiency was achieved by increasing its number of CUDA architecture cores by four times, while reducing the clock speed of each core, power-gating parts of the GPU when idle and maximizing the GPU area devoted to parallel-processing cores instead of control logic.
• Dynamic Parallelism – This capability enables GPU threads to dynamically spawn new threads, allowing the GPU to adapt dynamically to the data. It greatly simplifies parallel programming, enabling GPU acceleration of a broader set of popular algorithms, such as adaptive mesh refinement, fast multipole methods and multigrid methods.
• Hyper-Q – This enables multiple CPU cores to simultaneously use the CUDA architecture cores on a single Kepler GPU. This dramatically increases GPU utilization, slashing CPU idle times and advancing programmability. Hyper-Q is ideal for cluster applications that use MPI.

“We designed Kepler with an eye towards three things: performance, efficiency and accessibility,” said Jonah Alben, senior vice president of GPU Engineering and principal architect of Kepler at NVIDIA. “It represents an important milestone in GPU-accelerated computing and should foster the next wave of breakthroughs in computational research.”

NVIDIA Tesla K10 and K20 GPUs
The NVIDIA Tesla K10 GPU delivers the world’s highest throughput for signal, image and seismic processing applications. Optimized for customers in oil and gas exploration and the defense industry, a single Tesla K10 accelerator board features two GK104 Kepler GPUs that deliver an aggregate performance of 4.58 teraflops of peak single-precision floating point and 320 GB per second memory bandwidth.

The NVIDIA Tesla K20 GPU is the new flagship of the Tesla GPU product family, designed for the most computationally intensive HPC environments. Expected to be the world’s highest-performance, most energy-efficient GPU, the Tesla K20 is planned to be available in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The Tesla K20 is based on the GK110 Kepler GPU. This GPU delivers three times more double precision compared to Fermi architecture-based Tesla products and it supports the Hyper-Q and dynamic parallelism capabilities. The GK110 GPU is expected to be incorporated into the new Titan supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the Blue Waters system at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“In the two years since Fermi was launched, hybrid computing has become a widely adopted way to achieve higher performance for a number of critical HPC applications,” said Earl C. Joseph, program vice president of High-Performance Computing at IDC. “Over the next two years, we expect that GPUs will be increasingly used to provide higher performance on many applications.”

Preview of CUDA 5 Parallel Programming Platform
In addition to the Kepler architecture, NVIDIA today released a preview of the CUDA 5 parallel programming platform. Available to more than 20,000 members of NVIDIA’s GPU Computing Registered Developer program, the platform will enable developers to begin exploring ways to take advantage of the new Kepler GPUs, including dynamic parallelism.

The CUDA 5 parallel programming model is planned to be widely available in the third quarter of 2012. Developers can get access to the preview release by signing up for the GPU Computing Registered Developer program on the CUDA website.

Corsair Enhances GS Series Power Supplies

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 15, 2012 - 03:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: corsair, 80 Plus Bronze, PSU, modular psu

FREMONT, California — May 15, 2012 — Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced major upgrades to the GS Series line of high-performance power supply units (PSUs). A new improved design boosts energy efficiency, enabling the new GS Series PSUs to achieve 80 PLUS Bronze certification while also providing quieter, fanless operation at low power loads. The newly enhanced models are available in three wattage models: the GS600, GS700, and GS800.

GS Series power supplies are designed for PC builders who want an affordable, reliable, and efficient power supply that offers visually stunning, customizable looks to match their PC. The power supplies feature user-switchable red, white or blue LED lights that can also be turned off if desired. Further customization is possible with swappable color insert rings which are available for purchase from the Corsair website.

The 80 PLUS certification program was created by utility and computer companies to drive the creation and adoption of more energy-efficient power supplies for desktop computers and servers. Corsair GS Series power supplies now have an upgraded architecture that achieves 80 PLUS Bronze certification to provide up to 85% energy-efficiency under typical usage conditions, resulting in lower energy bills and less heat.

As with all Corsair power supplies, GS Series PSUs offer class-leading voltage stability and ultra-low ripple and noise specifications, for long component life. The 140mm temperature-controlled fan also ensures that GS Series power supplies remain quiet as well as cool. Plus, by operating fanless at load levels below 20% of the model's wattage rating, each GS Series PSU significantly reduces noise levels.

"The GS Series line has been popular with PC enthusiasts who demand quiet, good-looking, and affordable power supplies they can count on,” said Ruben Mookerjee, VP and General Manager for Components at Corsair. “Now we are proud to deliver the next evolution in the GS Series PSU line, with higher-levels of energy efficiency and a new striking, customizable industrial design."