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:: PC Perspective . News
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.:Latest News
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Chipset
At the request and repeated insistence of NVIDIA, we decided to retest
our performance results above; NVIDIA said they had seen no problems
with the Hybrid Power over the mGPU as dramatic as we saw here. We
retested all three titles at got some slightly different results; at
least on the one title that stood out:
From these results you can see that Crysis and Call of Duty performance remained the same as in our original tests posted on launch day. The World in Conflict results show a dramatic change though - rather than have a 50% decrement in performance going from having the monitor connected to the discrete GPU to having the monitor connected on the integrated GPU we saw performance nearly identical in both situations. It turns out that the root of our problem was with the WiC 1.0.0.7 patch and how it handles resolution changes and really had nothing to do with NVIDIA's Hybrid Power implementation at all. Our apologies to our readers for the mix up, but we are glad to have the actual results seen above. Read the full review and updated conclusion and analysis.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Graphics Card
We all admit that having SLI'd GeForce 9800 GX2s gives you the best performance currently, but not many of us have $1200 to drop on a pair of cards. The Tech Report, undaunted by the number of cards they would need to look at has accepted the challenge of finding the best price versus performance on the graphics market today. There are even good mid range SLI setups to consider.
"Last time we attempted to quantify the value propositions of a large cross-section of competing products, we concentrated on microprocessors. Ever since then, we've wanted to explore the same concept with graphics cards. Thanks to our latest round of graphics card reviews, which culminated with the massive GeForce 9 series multi-GPU extravaganza last month, we've ended up with enough benchmark data to paint a fairly complete picture of today's mid- to high-end GPU market. Armed with this information, we've taken another crack at quantifying value, this time by looking at what sort of GPU power you get for your dollar. The results are interesting, if nothing else. Read on to see what we found." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Big Bruin | Subject: Memory
Thanks to ever increasing clock rates, and lower latencies than DDR3; DDR2 is still going strong. One of your newest choices is the Kingston HyperX 2GB PC2-9200 kit a pair of 1Gb DIMMs. The default clock speed of 1150MHz is strange, but hitting 1200MHz is awfully easy, as you can see at Big Bruin.
"Getting the Kingston HyperX 2GB PC2-9200 DDR2 memory kit up to the stock speed of 1150MHz was tricky only because it is an odd speed that I couldn't quite dial in with the settings found in the test system's BIOS. But getting into that general range required minimal effort, and even overclocking to well above 1200MHz was pretty much plug and play." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: General Tech
Razer's Destructor Professional Gaming Mat claims some rather impressive improvements in mouse movement when you use it. Think Computers concurs, they found that when they used to mat, they actually had to reduce their mouse's sensitivity. Check out the pad it's self, it's carrying case, and ponder over their warning; "excessive rubbing of the mousepad will result in numbing in the fingers."
"The Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat is certainly something gamers should look into buying. Razer's test showed an increase in tracking of 37% with laser mice and 25% compared to other gaming-grade surfaces. This surface is of the highest quality. Razer claims it as the Razer Fractal surface for high-precision gameplay. Something that you probably haven't seen with any other gaming-grade mousepad is a protective carrying case, which comes included with the Destructor. Perfect for on-the-go gamers." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tweaknews | Subject: System
The VL System M-Play Blast is a combo LCD display and remote control perfect for an HTPC system that doesn't have either set up in it's case. It gives you a lot more freedom to choose an HTPC case, as you are no longer limited to picking up a case that has them already included. Check out the software suite and hardware over at Tweaknews.
"I always enjoy being surprised by a product and the M-Play Blast was one such device. Not only did it exceed my expectations, it thoroughly impressed me. If you are looking for a remote setup for your media center and want something that looks at home with your VCR and other entertainment systems then the retro look of the M-play Blast should be right up your alley." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: OCIA | Subject: General Tech
Crossover cables and the simple bit of networking setup you need to seems to have become too much work. The USB Fever USB 2.0 Computer Copy Cable makes it much easier. Drop by OCIA and see if you want to add this $20 doohickey for your mobile repair toolbox.
"For most computer savvy users, transferring data between two computers is relatively easy. If you have a network set up, you can share data between two computers. Alternatively, you can simply use a flash drive... but that might not be very efficient if you are transferring a large amount of data. But, for those users who aren't as "skilled" with computers, this can present quite a problem. I have seen countless people burn CD after CD of data to transfer to their laptop, which of course is time-consuming and wasteful." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Case and Cooling
Not to say that the Antec Signature 850W is a bad PSU, in fact it is far from it. The problem lies in it's marketing; you might expect a Signature Series to be the best a company can provide. Instead, with an MSRP of $299 this Antec PSU is not certified for either SLI or Crossfire and it's voltage varies almost all the way to the edges of the ATX specs. It is good, but not as good others AnandTech has reviewed.
"We saw the Signature series for the first time at CES 2008 in Antec's suite, and some of the details caught our attention. We were shown a dual-layered power supply with a PWM controlled fan and a DC-to-DC conversion for the lower voltage rails such as 3.3V and 5V. A few weeks ago, Antec sent us a message saying that we would be getting the first unit of this power supply to test. Hot off the production line, it finally arrived this week. Antec is perhaps better known for their cases, which have some very nice acoustic and design concepts and are built for midrange to high-end enthusiasts. With the Signature series, Antec wants to leave its mark on the PSU market and enhance their reputation for quality power. Antec took a long time to develop this power supply and it will form, with the TruePower Quattro series, the arrowhead of Antec's line-up of power supplies. There are currently 650W and 850W versions in this series, and we will review the larger one today. The 650W version will also be of interest to the market as 650W units are mostly used for the midrange PCs that dominate the market in terms of volume." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
Ryan has polished off his review of the new nVIDIA chipset for AMD processors, the 780a, specifically the ASUS M3N-HT. Go read the full review, so that when the PC Perspective Podcast is posted, you can follow along with our discussion of hybrid SLI and onboard graphics turning off discrete graphics cards completely, and taking over for the less 3D intensive applications, such as anything that is not gaming. That way you will have some great questions to leave for us on the podcast voicemail; which we can play and answer during the next podcast we record.
"The drawbacks to the Hybrid Power though outweigh the positives in this current implementation. First, only the 9800 GTX and the 9800 GX2 graphics cards are supported with the 780a SLI chipset - that leaves a whole host of NVIDIA users with 9600 GTs, 8800 GTS and GT cards that probably think they have the right to Hybrid Power technology since their cores are based on the same that rests under the hoods of the 9800 GTX and GX2. Also, the REAL KILLER here is that NVIDIA is promoting the nForce 780a SLI chipset as an enthusiast platform, and pushing Hybrid Power with these high end cards, yet the fact that the motherboard GPU can only output at 1920x1200 resolutions is not-so-cleverly hidden." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: Case and Cooling
Thermaltake's M9 has a lot to attract users, from it's low price to well done air cooling and tool-less installation. It would be nice to see a removable motherboard tray as well as the ability to add more fans, but if you need more serious cooling, you can always fit on a pair of more powerful 120mm fans. See how this case looks, empty and full, over at Overclockers Club.
"One word describes my feelings about the Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS - fantastic! It performed very well in my tests, looks awesome, and the included 120mm fans manage to push a good amount of air while remaining very quiet. The tool-less drive bays and expansion slot retainers were very well made - I didn’t even break one! From top to bottom, this is my favorite mid tower so far, and its very reasonable price makes it an even more attractive option." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tech Knowledge Arena | Subject: General Tech
Tech Knowledge Arena takes a close look at the effect four cores has on gaming in their new review. They pit the 3.0GHz C2D E6850 against the 3.0GHz C2Q QX6850, while keeping all other components the same, and then started in game benchmarks. See if the extra ~$1000 really does get you serious performance, or is you are better off picking up a higher clocked dual.
"One of the biggest misconceptions about CPU manufacturers increasing the number cores, is that the performance of the CPU increases by the same measure. Is this really the case? Are you going to see any real world performance differences by spending five times the amount of money on an Extreme Edition CPU? We will not only show you real world and synthetic benchmark figures but we'll show you what the CPU cores are doing during these tests." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: General Tech
Looking to see what the next generation of the internet's backbone might look like? Try checking out the Large Hadron Collider, which
"requires large data flows between specific sites - 2-hour periods with 8 gig flow across the network". Academic and institutional networks have always been at the forefront of speed and the average enthusiast may start to see the benefits of the work they have pioneered. Read what Ars Technica thinks we could be seeing soon, and just how the universities manage such high speeds on the existing internet infrastructure.
"As we recently reported, the Internet's backbone should be able to scale to handle the sheer volume of traffic that it's expected to face in the foreseeable future. But a number of factors complicate any analysis based on the simple volume figures. Many services, such as VoIP and streaming video, create expectations of guaranteed bandwidth that may be tough to maintain in the face of vast volumes of spam and P2P traffic; everything may get there, but not necessarily when we'd like it to. Meanwhile, problems with the "last mile" networks can obscure the capacity of the network backbone. The academic world has faced similar issues for a while, and will soon be facing a flood of data from the biggest news in physics, the activation of the Large Hadron Collider. The data gathered at the LHC, located at CERN outside of Geneva, will be distributed to a worldwide grid of computer clusters for analysis, which will require sustained transfers well in excess of 10 Gigabits per second. To get a sense of how the academic world is solving its networking needs and what that might mean for the future of general networking, we spoke with executives at Internet2 and the European network provider DANTE." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Intel Press Room | Subject: Mobile
KIRKLAND, Wash. and OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - May 7, 2008 - Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company.
The new company, which will be named Clearwire, will be focused on expediting the deployment of the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network to provide a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions. The new Clearwire expects to dramatically enhance the speed and manner in which customers access all that the Internet has to offer at home, in the office and on the road. Sprint and Clearwire also announced today that five innovative technology, content and communications leaders – Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) through Intel Capital, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMSCA, CMCSK), Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), and Bright House Networks – have collectively agreed to invest $3.2 billion into the new company. The investment by the five strategic investors will be based on a target price of $20.00 per share of Clearwire's Common Stock, subject to a post-closing adjustment. This adjustment is based upon the trading prices of new Clearwire common stock on the NASDAQ Market over 15 randomly selected trading days during the 30-trading day period ending on the 90th day after the closing date. The price per share will be based upon the volume weighted average price on such days and is subject to a cap of $23.00 per share and a floor of $17.00 per share. In addition, Trilogy Equity Partners, led by wireless veteran John Stanton, will invest directly in the new Clearwire's common stock. Upon completion of the proposed transaction, Sprint will own the largest stake in the new company with approximately 51 percent equity ownership on a fully diluted basis assuming an investment price of $20.00 per share. The existing Clearwire shareholders will own approximately 27 percent and the new strategic investors, as a group, will be acquiring approximately 22 percent for their investment of $3.2 billion, both on a fully diluted basis assuming an investment price of $20.00 per share. Sprint and Clearwire also announced a series of commercial agreements with the strategic investors, including 3G and 4G wholesale agreements.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: TweakTown | Subject: General Tech
Even with the controversy surrounding Creative, their products are still popular. The Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1
is one such product, and it is up for review on TweakTown. Auzentech has licensed the technology from Creative, so this card is not going to cause the uproar that the ASUS card recently has. Read on to see how well the XFi has been implemented on this card.
""From a technical point of view we understand that Auzentech has fully licensed Creative Labs’ X-Fi chip onto their own proprietary circuit board design. So what does that mean? Well it means arguably the world’s fastest and most advanced audio processing at the average consumers reach right now, with upcoming driver support for Dolby Live, DTS interactive and since we have a Creative chip, the very latest in EAX surround technology. My first impressions were good with a very noticeable notch up from the low-end after swapping from the Xonar. Not only did the low-end sound a lot beefier, it had a lot more character to it; more warmth and depth."" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: Storage
Phoronix compared a pair of 4GB Secure Digital High Capacity cards, one from OCZ and one from Crucial. They used hdparm to compare performance, and each clocked in around 13MB/s, with the OCZ being a tiny bit faster. Since they both cost the same, and the performance difference is unnoticeable,
the lifetime warranty on the on the Crucial SDHC really stands out.
"Have you been searching for a Secure Digital card that is able to accommodate all of the pictures you take on your next vacation or looking for more storage on your Internet tablet? If so, you have likely come across the latest Secure Digital High Capacity cards that overcome the earlier 2GB capacity limitation of traditional Secure Digital cards. However, there are just so many SDHC cards on the market and they are all priced similarly from different manufacturers, so what should you choose? At hand today in this weekend review are two 4GB SDHC cards from OCZ and Crucial." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
[H]ard|OCP's take on the 780a based ASUS M3N-HT is that it needs a bit more work before it's ready for Prime Time. That is not to say this chipset and board do not show promise; they certainly do, but a bit more work needs to be done before this board can show off what it is capable of. As [H] will be getting a new BIOS later today, you can be guaranteed the ASUS BIOS team is hard at work trying to solve some of the issues mentioned in their article.
"ASUS comes out swinging with their latest NVIDIA chipset based AMD offering, the M3N-HT Deluxe. Based on the AMD version of the NVIDIA nForce 780a chipset, the board packs a lot of promise." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: General Tech
Well, not so good for those vendors who are stuck with plenty of P35 and X38 boards, Intel will be introducing the 4 series at Computex. Even worse news is that the Q45 and Q43 will be targeted directly at enterprise level customers, so resellers won't be able to sell them P35 boards as a way to try and recoup loses. On the other hand, what DigiTimes says is great news for the enthusiast; the PCI Express bug has been fixed and these boards should offer some nice performance.
"Intel will officially launch its 4-series chipsets at Computex 2008, while motherboard makers will start shipping products in the third week of June, according to sources at motherboard makers. Initial 4-series chipset shipments will consist of the P45 and P43, for which the previously reported PCI Express compatibility bug has been fixed already. However, the G45 and G43 IGP versions will be delayed for another 2-3 weeks while Intel works to correct issues with VC1 hardware decoding and to increase the graphics core frequency to 800MHz. Enterprise-based Q45 and Q43 chipsets are also to see a 2-3 weeks delay due to system instabilities found in the current B2 versions when VT-d is active. A3 versions of the chipsets are expected to start shipping in the second week of July. Intel declined the opportunity to respond to this report saying it cannot comment on unannounced products" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Intel Press Room | Subject: Processor
May 5, 2008 - Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics and TSMC today announced they have reached agreement on the need for industry-wide collaboration to target a transition to larger, 450mm-sized wafers starting in 2012. The transition to larger wafers will enable continued growth of the semiconductor industry and helps maintain a reasonable cost structure for future integrated circuit manufacturing and applications.
The companies will cooperate with the semiconductor industry to help ensure that all of the required components, infrastructure and capability are developed and tested for a pilot line by this target date. Historically, manufacturing with larger wafers helps increase the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost. The total silicon surface area of a 450mm wafer and the number of printed die (individual computer chips, for example) is more than twice that of a 300mm wafer. The bigger wafers help lower the production cost per chip. Additionally, through more efficient use of energy, water and other resources, bigger wafers can help diminish overall use of resources per chip. For example, the conversion from 200mm wafers to 300mm wafers helped reduce aggregate emissions per chip of air pollution, global warming gasses and water, and further reduction is expected with a transition to 450mm wafers. "There is a long history of innovation and problem solving in our industry that has delivered wafer transitions resulting in lower costs per area of silicon processed and overall industry growth." said Bob Bruck, vice president and general manager, Technology Manufacturing Engineering in Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group. "We, along with Samsung and TSMC, agree that the transition to 450mm wafers will follow the same pattern of delivering increased value to our customers." Intel, Samsung and TSMC indicate that the semiconductor industry can improve its return on investment and substantially reduce 450mm research and development costs by applying aligned standards, rationalizing changes from 300mm infrastructure and automation, and working toward a common timeline. The companies also agree that a cooperative approach will help minimize risk and transition costs. "The transition to 450mm wafers will benefit the entire ecosystem of the IC industry, and Intel, Samsung, TSMC will work together with suppliers and other semiconductor manufacturers to actively develop 450mm capability," said Cheong-Woo Byun, senior vice president, Memory Manufacturing Operation Center, Samsung Electronics. In the past, migration to the next larger wafer size traditionally began every 10 years after the last transition. For example, the industry began the transition to 300mm wafers in 2001, a decade after the initial 200mm manufacturing facilities (also known as "fabs") were introduced in 1991. Keeping in line with the historical pace of growth, Intel, Samsung and TSMC agree that 2012 is an appropriate target to begin the 450mm transition. Given the complexity of integrating all of the components for a transition of this size, the companies recognize that consistent evaluation of the target timeline will be critical to ensure industry-wide readiness. "Increasing cost due to the complexity of advanced technology is a concern for the future," said Mark Liu, TSMC's senior vice president of Advanced Technology Business. "Intel, Samsung, and TSMC believe the transition to 450mm wafers is a potential solution to maintain a reasonable cost structure for the industry." The three companies will continue to work with International Sematech (ISMI), as it plays a critical role in coordinating industry efforts on 450mm wafer supply, standards setting and developing equipment test bed capabilities.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: techPowerUp! | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Cooler Master Real Power M850 850W PSU has a lot going for it. It has six 12V lines, a power efficiency above 80% and produces just over 20dB of noise. You can also got your hands on it for less that $200, which belies the quality of power it supples; which is good, and the amount of modular cabling you get. techPowerUp has no problems recommending it, but they are confused by the same thing I am ... there's no power button!
"Cooler Master's Real Power M850 power supply is one of the first power supplies that has six 12V rails. This should be enough power for all your SLI or CrossFire needs. Like many other PSUs today, the M850 comes with a high gloss reflective case and a large number of connectors." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hexus | Subject: Motherboard
The motherboard market has gone through some big changes in the last few quarters. We have seen entire chipsets appear and hit end of life (officially or unofficially) for both AMD and Intel processors. The newer chipsets do offer some new features, but the releases just haven't been as awe inspiring as even a few years ago when chipsets lived a lot longer, and the next installment had huge benefits. The latest nVIDIA chipset is up for a preview at HEXUS, the 780a and they even have a board to show you, the MSI K9N2 Diamond.
"The nForce 780a SLI chipset is one of NVIDIA's first significant updates to its AMD-based chipsets since the nForce 590 SLI and provides features such as integrated graphics with Hybrid Power functionality. Though Hybrid Power only functions when compatible NVIDIA cards such as the GeForce 9600 GT or 9800 GX2 are in use, it allows users to save power by disabling any compatible discrete graphics cards when they're not required. With added ammunition in the form of AMD's quad-core Phenom X4 and tri-core Phenom X3 processors, as well as the option of GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards running in Hybrid Power mode, could this be the platform to put AMD's own 7-series chipset to the test?" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
Ryan just finished reviewing the EVGA UV Plus+, an external graphics adaptor with a nice look and size. It is a little box that acts as a virtual GPU, even to the point of having DDR memory on board. It can't really handle Crysis, but it has no problems display the Vista Aero interface, so it does have at least some power inside it. It will also support up to seven displays, making it far more handy for those users who need to have enormous amounts of screen real estate.
"I tested the UV Plus+ out for several hours on this configuration as well as on another desktop system and did not run into any problems. The secondary display was always correctly recognized and easily configured. The speed of the display was JUST noticeably slower than the primary display attached to the video card but even though I could notice it if I tried, it did not affect my productivity at all. I ran Vista on both test systems, one 32-bit and one 64-bit, without seeing any problems with the Aero interface that of course requires 3D acceleration. The GPU was more than capable of handling the necessary processing for both displays." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: Case and Cooling
Not everyone wants or needs a heatsink that stands 8" tall, or weighs two pounds. In some systems, it is absolutely overkill, and in others there is no way a large performance heatsink could fit. Overclocker's Club reviewed the Thermolab Micro Silencer, aimed at smaller systems or for those builders that want a cooler that can beat the Intel stock fan in performance, and do it quietly. There isn't really any room for overclocking, but that isn't everyones first plan when they get a new system.
"As you can see, this cooler was outperformed by the other heatsinks, except for the Nano Silencer, in each test. When you take a look at the size difference between the Micro Silencer and the other heatsinks it was compared to, it should not have been able to beat them or even come close. However, again taking a look at its size, it is able to remove the heat off of the processor better than the stock cooler provided by Intel." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
Wii style motion sensing may be the next big thing and an Israeli company called Prime Sense may be the ones to help push it out. The Inquirer looks at the technology behind this, a motion sensor that can sense human motion without the need to attach anything to that human, or having them wave a stick around. Gaming is certainly one application for this, but the company is also talking about replacing remote controls as well as getting into surveillance and
automotive controls.
"A COMPANY CALLED Prime Sense has wrapped up its second round of funding, bagging a whopping $20.4 million from the American venture capitalist firm, Canaan Partners. The cash is a huge boost to the firm which had already managed to raise $9 million from Gemini and Genesis partners in its first round of funding. Prime Sense's technology has created a device that lets computers see the world around them in three dimensions, deriving spatial understanding of their surroundings in the same way as humans do with their eyes." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: General Tech
One of the loudest discussions going on right now in the PC community and in our forums is about Creative. The volume of posts caused by Creative's reaction to Daniel_K's driver mod that managed to get XiFi cards working in Vista is large, and similar. The tone is one of indignation and a resolve to not buy Creative products, a decision made easier considering the frustration caused by the XiFi series.
Over in the Storage forum, one members reaction to the price of solid state drives is to build their own, with the help of some cheap compact flash cards. It fits right in with this discussion about the future of platters as a storage device. There is also this incredibly handy link for car owners out there, although it doesn't have much to do with PCs, unless you are Electric Bill.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: I4U News | Subject: Mobile
LapLogic Aerogel Extreme LapDesks are handy little pads filled with Aerogel that protect your lap from the heat coming off of your laptop. They won't help cool the notebook, and might even make it warmer, but you will be protected. I4U were also impressed by the surface, which did not let the laptop slide around at all, and it's made with Aerogel!
"Today we are taking a look at a pair of notebook desks from LapLogic. Both the Aerogel Extreme and the Aerogel Extreme Wide have the same features and do a great job of keeping the heat from your notebook from bothering you. Both versions of the LapDesk are ridged and the Aerogel insulation works very well. I used the LapDesk's with several notebooks for longer than would normally be comfortable without any issues. I even used a Gateway gaming notebook in my lap for a long time and heat was not an issue. I felt none of the heat form the notebooks through the LapDesk's." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Display
If you are looking for a nice big monitor, then AnandTech is the place to visit. They've gather five 24" widescreen LCDs, three are TN panels aimed at consumers and two are S-PVA panels which will appeal more to graphical designers. None of these panels are cheap, either in construction or in price, but gaming at 1920x1200 has some other steep entry requirements.
"Most people like to get as much information as possible when it's time to purchase and new, relatively expensive item. Unless you have money to throw around, you typically don't want to overpay for something that underperforms. That's where roundups of a product category can be particularly useful; unfortunately, it's not always easy to get all of the products in one place in order to put together such a roundup. What started as a review of a couple new 24" LCDs eventually grew into what you see here: a comparison of five of the most recent 24" LCDs to hit the market... that we were able to acquire. Note the qualification at the end of that sentence; there are still plenty of 24" LCDs that we have not yet reviewed, but for now we'll take what we can get. Besides, trying to put together all of the information for this article took enough time as it is." Here are some more Display articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Madshrimps | Subject: Processor
Well, it turns out there is a major design flaw in the Intel Q9300 ... it can only hit a 500MHz FSB. Horribly disappointing, isn't it?
Head on over to see the final answer to the equation Q9300 + nVentiv Mach2 Phase-Change cooler + MADSHRIMPS = ... "The Intel entry level Quad Core CPU based on 45nm is the Q9300, in this article we try to push it as far as our subzero cooling and motherboard allows it. Running default at 2.5Ghz, how high will the CPU climb? Read on to find out." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Phoronix | Subject: Case and Cooling
It has almost been a month since VIA announced their Strategic Open Source Driver initiative and Phoronix is unimpressed. So far there is a binary-only Chrome 9 driver for two distros ... and the webpage it's self. The forums aren't working and VIA seems to be planning to design it's own bug tracker, as opposed to using existing ones as AMD chose to do. Seems like they weren't quite ready to go live when they made the announcement.
"Last month we reported on VIA's new open-source driver efforts that was announced at the LF Austin Summit. This new strategy involves VIA providing the open-source community with NDA-free hardware specifications, code, and other resources -- in a similar fashion to what ATI/AMD and Intel have been doing for some time now. However, not everyone has been satisfied by this announcement and their new Linux website isn't yet exactly useful. We explore the VIA Linux situation in this article as well as sharing what two open-source developers have to say."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Thermaltake | Subject: Case and Cooling
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 2008 - After the success of "Armor+ Series" engineers at Thermaltake has worked around the clock to improve and innovate another and better chassis. Armor+ Series was launched at Computex 2007 a super tower allowing consumer to fully utilize the advance graphic technology. Today Thermaltake announced a new member of the Armo+, "Armor+ MX" a middle tower chassis with countless advance features.
The company once featured "Armor+ MX" chassis during CES 2008 in Las Vegas, it was immediate caught hundreds of attention. This one special chassis has never before available among this wide and competitive PC industry. Thanks to Thermaltake the Armor Plus MX will be available on the first week of MAY 2008 throughout major retailers and e-tailers, price has been set at $139 MSRP. What is so special about this middle tower chassis? From the size and features it's all special. Convertible top for refilling coolant on your water cooling kit, Tool-less installation from optical drive to hard drive to PCI. Superior cable management allowing consumer eliminates cable cluster around components, multiple air intakes and exhaust to minimize recycling heated air inside the chassis. The Armor+ MX also come with Four Removable 3.5" HDD Trays, Five 5.25" Optical Bays and Seven Expansion PCI slots – All equipped with "Tool-less" feature. Cooling Capability - oversized 230MM side fan just to overcome your toasty graphic cards, 120MM Blue LED fan in front cools off four HDD and 120MM high performance rear fan exhausting pre-heated air in the chassis. "High-performance line of chassis has long been considered to belong in a full-tower form factor category," commented David Hwang, President of Thermaltake. "With the introduction of Armor+ MX, the versatility and performance characteristics can now be found in a much smaller and manageable package."
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Extremetech | Subject: General Tech
Five speaker systems are under review at ExtremeTech, Logitech's Z Cinema and G51, the Bose Computer MusicMonitor, Razer's Mako and the Boston Acoustics MM 226. Only the G51 is a 5.1 system, the others are a set of two, some coming with a subwoofer as well. None will make an audiophiles short list of speaker systems, but for a PC they cover a wide gamut of possible uses. Perhaps the most innovative design in the set is the Makos, which use Cat5 cable for their speaker connections.
"Can you hear that? It's the sound of your computer...not sounding right. For all the effort we put into analyzing the sound hardware in our PC—sounds cards and integrated audio—the music, movies, and games you play will only ever sound as good as your speakers are capable of. There's no point in having decent audio hardware if the sound is squeaking out of a pair of really cheap "came with the computer" speakers from three years ago. Speakers aren't the hot topic they were several years ago, when Creative, Logitec, and Klipsch battled to produce the biggest and baddest 5.1 audio systems you could plug into your beige box, but they're no less important. Whether you have the room and budget for just a simple stereo pair or a full surround sound getup, a good speaker set will increase your computer enjoyment immeasurably. If you want to hear what you may have been missing, check out these five reviews of recent PC audio systems." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Motherboard
The Asus Rampage Formula and Intel DX48BT2 are up for review at The Tech Report. Both are x48 chipset based, with the Rampage Formula using DDR2 and the Intel using the newer DDR3, offering a chance to compare the performance of RAM on similar chipsets. You can also compare the strengths and flaws in two very different implementations of the same chipset.
"Although Intel's processors and chipsets have long been embraced by PC enthusiasts, the company's motherboards have largely been ignored. Years ago, it was easy to see why. Intel motherboards didn't come with the tweaking and overclocking options that we crave, and that was understandable, since we never really expected Intel to endorse overclocking. However, times have changed, and so has Intel's tune. The firm now has several products targeted specifically at enthusiasts, including the new DX48BT2 "Bonetrail 2" motherboard that comes loaded with many of the features we'd expect from a modern, high-end mobo. Based on Intel's flagship X48 Express chipset, Bonetrail's second coming faces stiff competition from Taiwanese mobo makers with far more street cred in the enthusiast space—credibility that, for the likes of Asus, is well deserved. Asus one of the biggest players in the motherboard market, and it's been catering to enthusiasts for as long as I can remember. Asus has embraced the X48 Express, as well, most recently with its Rampage Formula motherboard. The Rampage Formula and DX48BT2 effectively target the same market, albeit with one DDR2 memory and the other with DDR3. For once, however, Intel is the underdog. Read on to see if the processor giant can beat Asus at its own game." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
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