SECO Introduces mITX GPU Devkit for CUDA Programmers

Subject: General Tech | April 12, 2013 - 02:08 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: SECO, nvidia, mini ITX, kepler, kayla, GTC 13, GTC, CUDA, arm

Last month, NVIDIA revealed its Kayla development platform that combines a quad core Tegra System on a Chip (SoC) with a NVIDIA Kepler GPU. Kayla will out later this year, but that has not stopped other board makers from putting together their own solutions. One such solution that began shipping earlier this week is the mITX GPU Devkit from SECO.

The new mITX GPU Devkit is a hardware platform for developers to program CUDA applications for mobile devices, desktops, workstations, and HPC servers. It combines a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage (eMMC) on a Qseven module with a Mini-ITX form factor motherboard. Developers can then plug their own CUDA-capable graphics card into the single PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot (which actually runs at x4 speeds). Additional storage can be added via an internal SATA connection, and cameras can be hooked up using the CIC headers.

Rear IO on the mITX GPU Devkit includes:

• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
• 3 x USB
• 1 x OTG port
• 1 x HDMI
• 1 x Display Port
• 3 x Analog audio
• 2 x Serial
• 1 x SD card slot

The SECO platform is a proving to be popular for GPGPU in the server space, especially with systems like Pedraforca. The intention of using these types of platforms in servers is to save power by using a low power ARM chip for inter-node communication and basic tasks while the real computing is done solely on the graphics cards. With Intel’s upcoming Haswell-based Xeon chips getting down to 13W TPDs though, systems like this are going to be more difficult to justify. SECO is mostly positioning this platform as a development board, however. One use in that respect is to begin optimizing GPU-accelerated code for mobile devices. With future Tegra chips to get CUDA-compatible graphics cards, new software development and optimization of existing GPGPU code for smartphones and tablet will be increasingly important.

Either way, the SECO mITX GPU Devkit is available now for 349 EUR or approximately $360 (in both cases, before any taxes).

Deal for April 11th - HP ENVY dv6t-7300 15.6" Quad Edition @ $600

Subject: General Tech | April 11, 2013 - 03:49 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

Today's deal is a fairly powerful HP laptop, the ENVY dv6t-7300 which has a Core i7-3630QM Processor @ 2.4GHz, 8GB DDR3 and a 5400RPM 750GB HDD.  If you are willing to pay a bit more you can get a full 1080p screen instead of the usual 1366 x 768 and a GT635M for a grand total of $825. 

To get cheapest ENVY dv6t-7300 Quad Edition laptop, follow these steps to use $50 coupon code:

1. Start here at HP Home direct store
2. Click Customize button
Note: free upgrades if any are applied automatically
3. Click View Summary button at the top, Add to cart
4. Apply coupon code: MU1743 during checkout

This deal: $799.99 - $150 off - $50 coupon code = $599.99 with $9.99 shipping.

OR

To get ENVY dv6t-7300 Quad Edition laptop with 1080p LCD and 2GB GeForce GT 635M Graphics, use $50 coupon code, follow these steps:

1. Start here at HP Home direct store
2. Select Customize button
3. Select NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M Graphics with 2GB of dedicated video memory +$75
4. Select 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080) +$150
5. Click View Summary, Add to cart
6. Apply coupon code: MU1743 during checkout

Big Flashy news from Samsung

Subject: General Tech | April 11, 2013 - 02:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: tlc, Samsung, flash memory, 10nm

A process shrink to 10nm wasn't enough for Samsung, they also doubled the density of their MLC flash storage to 128Gbits at a physical size of 170.6mm².  They claim write speeds of up to 18MB/sec and 400Mbit/s bandwidth through their toggle interface.  Even better news for consumers is that this should be even cheaper than current MLC flash which will help continue to drive the price of SSDs down.  Samsung didn't tell The Inquirer when we can expect to see these in devices but it should not be too long from now that we are doing longevity testing on this new Flash.

"MEMORY MAKER Samsung has announced that it is producing 128Gbit 3-bit multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash chips for solid-state disk (SSD) drives"

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• SSH an ill-managed mess says SSH author Tatu Ylonen @ The Register
• 10 Hot New Linux-Ready Embedded ARM Modules @ Linux.com
• Microsoft: Here's some cash, channel. PLEASE sell Office 365 @ The Register
• TRENDnet AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Router (TEW-812DRU) Review @ Madshrimps
• ACTi D32 review: 3MP outdoor IP security camera @ Hardware.info
• Win a speedy Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SSD @ Tweaktown
• Win a Cyberpower X7-100 Fangbook @ Kitguru

Podcast #246 - ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard, more Frame Rating, DirectX 12 and more!

Subject: General Tech | April 11, 2013 - 01:26 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: video, xeon, thunderbolt, roccat, quadro, premiere, podcast, opencl, nerdytec, Ivy Bridge-E, haswell, frame rating, firepro, falcon ridge, DirectX 12, couchmaster, ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe, amd

PC Perspective Podcast #246- 04/11/2013

Join us this week as we discuss the ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX motherboard, more Frame Rating, DirectX 12 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 Malventano

This Podcast is brought to you by MSI!

Program length: 1:01:46

1. Winner last week? Mike McLaughlin!! Congrats!
2. 0:02:40 Win the Roccat Kone+ Gaming Mouse
3. Week in Review:
   1. 0:04:50 ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard
   2. 0:11:00 Frame Rating: GTX 660, HD 7870, HD 7790, GTX 650 Ti BOOST
4. 0:24:00 NerdyTec COUCHMASTER
5. News items of interest:
   1. 0:27:25 AMD and Adobe show OpenCL Support for Premiere
   2. 0:29:37 Haswell has USB 3.0 issues
   3. 0:32:45 The end of DirectX...?
   4. 0:37:30 Falcon Ridge Thunderbolt 20 Gbps shown
   5. 0:42:00 Intel talks upcoming Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E Xeon
6. 0:47:00 Hardware/Software Picks of the Week:
   1. Ryan: Bioshock Infinite
   2. Jeremy: I can't believe they did it but yes, you can play it
   3. Josh: Almost 1 TB...
   4. Allyn: Ultra Brush dust remover
7. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
8. http://pcper.com/podcast
9. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
10. Closing/outro

IDF: Intel Announces Upcoming Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E Xeon Processors

Subject: General Tech | April 10, 2013 - 04:14 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: xeon-ex, xeon-ep, xeon, server, Intel, HPC, haswell

Intel officially announced its next-generation Xeon processors at IDF Beijing today. The new lineup includes the Haswell-based Xeon E3 1200 V3 family on the low end, and the Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon E5 and Ivy Bridge-EX Xeon E7 aimed at the mid-range general purpose and high-end HPC markets respectively. Intel did not disclose pricing or details on the new chips (such as core counts, cache, clockspeeds, number of SKUs etc.). However, the x86 chip giant did state that the new chips are coming later this year as well as teasing a few tidbits of information on the new Xeon chips.

The upcoming Xeon E3 processors will be part of the Xeon E3 1200 V3 family. These chips will be based on Haswell and are limited to one socket per board. Thanks to the Haswell architecture, Intel has managed to reduce power consumption by approximately 25% and increase video transcoding performance by about 25%. There will be at least one Xeon E3 1200 V3 series chip with a 13W TDP, for example.

Intel is also releasing a new media software development kit (SDK) for Linux and Windows machines that will provide a common platform for developers. It has allowed Intel to maximize the use of both the CPU and GPU for HD video transcoding as well as increasing the number of simultaneous video transcodes over previous generations. The new Xeon E3 1200 V3 (Haswell) chips will be available sometime before the end of 2013.

The next-generation Xeon E5 chips will be based on the 22nm Ivy Bridge-EP architecture. They will be positioned at general purpose computing in data centers (and possibly high-end workstations), and will be limited to 2 sockets per motherboard. The new Xeon E5 processors will incorporate Intel Secure Key and OS Guard technologies. OS Guard is the evolution of the company's existing Intel Execute Disable Bit security technology. Intel is also including AES-NI (AES-New Instructions), to improve the hardware acceleration of AES encrypt/decrypt operations. These mid-range Xeon chips will be available in Q3 2013.

Finally, the top-end Xeon E7 processors will be based on the 22nm Ivy Bridge-EX architecture. The upcoming processors are intended for high performance server and supercomputing applications where scalability and performance are important. The Ivy Bride-EX chips are compatible with motherboards that will have between 4 and 8 sockets and up to 12TB of RAM per node. Further, Intel has packed these processors with new RAS features, including Resilient System Technology and Resilient Memory Technology. The RAS features ensure stability and data integrity in calculations are maintained. Such features are important in scientific, real-time analytics, cloud computing, and banking applications, where performance and up-time are paramount and any errors could cost a company money. Intel has stated that the new Xeon E7 CPUs will be available in the fourth quarter of this year (Q4'13).

While I was hoping for more details as far as core count, clockspeeds, and pricing, the approximate release to market timeframe for the chips is known. Do you think you will be upgrading to the new Xeon chips later this year, or are your current processors fast enough for your server applications?

More information on the upcoming Xeon chips can be found in this Intel fact sheet (PDF).

Deal for April 10th - HP Pavilion 27xi 27" 1080p IPS @ $240

Subject: General Tech | April 10, 2013 - 01:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

Looking for big pixels at a reasonable price?  Check out todays deal from LogicBuy, the HP Pavilion 27xi 27" 1080p IPS LED-backlit display.  At $240 it costs as much as many smaller IPS displays and buying several of them will not bankrupt you.  For people running a pair of GTX680's these might not be the best choice but many lower priced cards can handle the 5760 x 1080 resolution which opens up multi-monitor gaming for more people.

HP Pavilion 27xi 27" 1080p IPS LED-backlit Display

HP Home is offering massive 27-inch HP Pavilion 27xi IPS-panel, LED-backlit LCD Monitor (model no. C4D27AA#ABA) for $239.99 with FREE shipping. Use $100 coupon code: MT41314 to get final price.

Project Eternity sure has pretty backgrounds

Subject: General Tech | April 10, 2013 - 01:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, project eternity, obsidian

Obsidian's new RPG Project Eternity has some gorgeous backgrounds as you can see from the YouTube trailer below.  It was on Kickstarter and garnered three times the amount of money that they required to get the project going so we will be seeing this game sooner or later, you can still toss some coins at them by visiting their main page which is accessible from Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN's preview.  The design team describes the game as a mix of the dungeon crawling of Icewind Dale, the depth of NPC personality of Baldur's Gate and a story as gripping as Planescape.  Currently the Slacker Backer is worth $29 and will get you a copy of the game from Steam or GOG.

"My old-school RPG gland’s been engorged with excitement for many reasons lately, but the past few weeks have seen Torment race to the front of the pack – and not just because it’s chock full of twisted sights and sounds not of this world. In something of a revolution, it also moves. Like, its pictures just sort of do things, without the assistance of a flip book, finger puppets, or any of the other traditional methods. So imagine my elation when I discovered that Project Eternity will, in fact, employ similar motion gremlins to sow the glorious song of movement into its lush mountains, valleys, and plains."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Today's mid-range graphics cards in BioShock Infinite @ The Tech Report
• See Space Hulk See Space Hulk See Space Hulk See @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• That Looks Painful: A Thief Teaser "Trailer" @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Bioshock Infinite Tested, Benchmarked @ Techspot
• Gaming's favourite platters get another stir of the pot @ The Register
• Tomb Raider @ LanOC Reviews
• Hands On: Divinity – Original Sin @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• BioShock Infinite Benchmarked with AMD EyeFinity at 5760x1080 @ Tweaktown
• Tomb Raider PC @ eTeknix
• First Impressions of Trion Worlds’ Defiance @ Techgage
• Modern shooters and the atrophy of fun @ The Tech Report
• Valve Publishes Packages For Their Linux Distribution @ Phoronix
• Sleeping Dogs Benchmarked with AMD EyeFinity at 5760x1080 @ Tweaktown
• Disney shuts down Lucasarts games company @ The Inquirer
• BioShock Infinite Review – Leaving the World Awestruck @ Techgage
• Activision, Raven Release 2 Star Wars Games Under GPL @ Slashdot
• BioShock Infinite @ Kitguru
• Strike Vector Has Transforming Cowboy Space Planes @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Decor Never Changes: Metro – Last Light’s World @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• LEGO City Undercover Wii U @ Tweaktown

Intel Racks up another IDF Keynote

Subject: General Tech | April 10, 2013 - 12:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Project Scorpio, Intel, idf 2013, idf, Avonton

Intel talked about their Project Scorpio at IDF, similar to HP's Project Moonshot which has just become available.  Instead of a new Atom server being a complete system installed in a rack there will be a housing into which self contained server modules can be added and will communicate with the other modules via fabric switch.  That way you can pick how many modules you need based on your usage and purchase only that many, with upgrades being as easy as sliding in another module and configuring it.  Lego for admins!

They also showed off information on the new Avonton Atom as well as some information on the next family of Xeon processors which you can read more about at The Tech Report.

"Intel kicked off IDF Beijing with a keynote address that revealed a number of new server processors in the Atom and Xeon families. The chip maker also discussed its rack scale architecture, which aims to make next-generation servers more flexible and efficient through modular components."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Mm.. you like RAID? Ooh, you want flash. Try this super-Hadooper @ The Register
• Intel hints at server processor plans for the rest of this year @ The Register
• Intel Xeon 2013 update - A bit later, but a bit better too @ VR-Zone
• Free Anti-Virus Comparison Review @ OCC

Hot pink audio from Thermaltake, the Chao Dracco

Subject: General Tech | April 9, 2013 - 03:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: audio, esports, Chao Dracco, thermaltake

With the obnoxious variety of headphones available companies seem to be struggling to stand out in the crowd.  Audio quality comes a close second to the aesthetics of the headphones, with bright colours and logos dominating the audio section of any retail store.  Thermaltake's eSPORTS Chao Dracco is no exception, though they are very uniquely pink.  That doesn't mean that they neglected the sound as they have used 50mm drivers with a respectable 10Hz to 22K Hz range.  Read Bjorn3D's impression of how that translates into your ear in their full review.

"Tt eSPORTS Chao is about culture, and technology advances this culture to create massive individuality. It’s about fashion. Whether it’s hippies, punk, gothic, or hip-hop, you are Chao.  - Tt eSPORTS. This is a great aggressive catch line from a relativity new company. Let’s find out if they hold up to it."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner

• Ozone Rage ST Gaming Headset @ techPowerUp
• SteelSeries Siberia V2 Cross-Platform Headset Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Steelseries Flux In Ear Headset @ LanOC Reviews
• Antec Mobile Products iso Headphones & gain Headphone Amp Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II Review @ TechReviewSource
• Eagle Tech Arion Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review @ NikKTech
• Scythe Kama Bay Amp Pro (SDAR-3000) & Kro Craft Speakers Rev. B Review @ Madshrimps
• Ineo Alienvibes W601 Speaker Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• A.M.P. SP1 review: newcomer in Bluetooth speaker dock @ Hardware.info
• Finis SwiMP3 X18 2GB @ XSReviews

Intel updates Thunderbolt

Subject: General Tech | April 9, 2013 - 02:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Intel, thunderbolt, falcon ridge, DSL4510, DSL4410

As promised, the new Falcon Ridge Thunderbolt controller will be arriving soon, bringing improvements to Thunderbolt.  There will be two different updates supplied by Intel, the first is a doubling of bandwidth to 20Gbit/s which will significantly outpace eSATA and may help drive adoption of the new standard.  Less attractive for the consumer but interesting to businesses is a new revision of the current 10Gbit/s standard which will require less power to do the same job as the current controller.  The Inquirer also mentions that Intel is still looking to replace the copper with fibre optics, though what that will do to the already high price of Thunderbolt cables is unknown as of yet.

"CHIPMAKER Intel has announced an update to its Thunderbolt bus boosting bandwidth to 20Gbit/s while introducing 10Gbit/s controllers with lower power consumption."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Ubuntu 13.04 Linux Can Outperform Apple OS X 10.8.3 @ Phoronix
• Synthesizing graphene in your basement laboratory @ Hack a Day
• TTexas Instruments previews H.265 codec on eight-core Keystone DSP @ The Inquirer
• Microsoft's security apps still trip up on Windows 8 @ The Register
• Website Problems With Internet Explorer 10? Switch Modes @ TechARP

Deal for April 9th - HP LaserJet Pro 200 M251nw Color Printer @ $150

Subject: General Tech | April 9, 2013 - 01:10 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

Tried of your old printer with its cord running from your PC and wanting one that is worth more than the price of the ink cartridges inside of it?  HP's LaserJet Pro 200 M251nw colour printer is capable of being connected wirelessly which clears up a bit of your cord clutter and makes it easy to connect to several machines at home. Currently you can pick it up at less than half price.

HP LaserJet Pro 200 M251nw Color Printer
HP Home is offering their LaserJet Pro 200 M251nw Color Printer (CF147A#BGJ) for ONLY $149.99 plus free shipping. Use $165 instant savings and extra $15 coupon code: 15LOGICBUY to get final price. Sales tax where applicable. Offer valid through 4/13 or while stock last.

Intel Shows DSL4510/4410 and Falcon Ridge 20 Gbps Thunderbolt at NAB

Subject: General Tech, Storage | April 8, 2013 - 04:00 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: thunderbolt, nab 13, Intel, falcon ridge, DSL4510, cactus ridge

Way back in July of 2012 Tim Verry wrote a news story on PC Perspective discussing the upcoming Falcon Ridge and Cactus Ridge Thunderbolt controllers, due out in 2014 and 2013 respectively.  It appears this is coming to fruition at the NAB Show 2013 this week in Las Vegas, with two new variants of Thunderbolt on display by Intel.

Cactus Ridge, now known as the DSL4510 and 4410 controllers will add support for DisplayPort 1.2 when connected to native DisplayPort displays while also improving power management and lowering the implementation costs for hardware designers. 

Maybe more exciting is the prototype of next-generation silicon for Thunderbolt, code named Falcon Ridge, that runs at 20 Gbps, double that of current Thunderbolt implementations.  Intel promises that this will enable 4K video file transfer and display simultaneously.  As expected, production will start in late 2013 with ramping in 2014.

Thunderbolt's integration into the consumer market has been slower than expected but professionals are seeing more and more uses for this kind of extreme bandwidth as the video production pipeline prepares for large scale 4K distribution.  We are using Thunderbolt internally at PC Perspective for our Frame Rating capture based graphics testing running at nearly 800 MB/s we have been happy with the results. 

New Intel HD Graphics Driver Improves Game Performance

Subject: General Tech | April 8, 2013 - 03:13 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: Ivy Bridge, intel hd, Intel, hd 4000, hd 2500

Intel recently released an updated graphics driver for Ivy Bridge processors sporting either HD 4000 or HD 2500 GPUs. The new 15.31.3.3071 (or 15.31.3.64.3071 for those running a 64-bit OS) driver features several under-the-hood optimizations to reduce CPU overhead and improve the driver architecture itself.

The driver architecture improvements have also led to improved game performance. Intel claims up to 10% better performance in StarCraft II, Batman: Arkham City, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (among others).

The chip giant also notes that the new driver supports OpenCL 1.2 for GPGPU calculations. The graphics driver update is only for Ivy Bridge hardware, and is compatible with Ivy Bridge hardware and both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8. If you are running Intel's Driver Update Utility, you should get the new driver automatically.

Otherwise, you can grab the new driver from the following link, depending on your OS.

• 15.31.3.3071 for 32-bit Windows 7/8
• 15.31.3.64.3071 for 64-bit Windows 7/8

Unfortunately, these drivers are generic Intel HD graphics drivers. If your OEM computer is running Windows with an OEM-customized version of Intel's drivers, you are out of luck. You will need to wait for your OEM to update its driver package in order to take advantage of the performance improvements.

Windows versus Linux in an OpenGL free for al

Subject: General Tech | April 8, 2013 - 01:59 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: linux, ubuntu 13.04, fedora 18, win7, opengl, Ivy Bridge

One major barrier to switching to Linux for many users is the graphical performance of the OS; Steam may be releasing a variety of games which will run on Linux but if the performance is awful there are not going to be many who think about making the switch.  Phoronix has been a close eye on the development of OpenGL drivers for Linux, this time specifically the onboard Intel graphics present on Ivy Bridge chips.  With one driver available for each OS the tests were easily set up, except for the aforementioned Steam games as there is a bug which prevents Phoronix from collecting the performance data they need.  Check out the performance differences between Ubuntu 13.04, Fedora 18 and Win7 in the full article.

"Last month Phoronix published Intel OpenGL benchmarks showing Windows 8 outperforming Ubuntu 13.04 with the latest Windows and Linux drivers from Intel. I also showed that even with the KDE and Xfce desktops rather than the default Unity/Compiz desktop to Ubuntu, Windows 8 still was faster on this Intel "Ivy Bridge" platform. The new benchmarks to share today from this Intel Ultrabook are the Windows 8 and Ubuntu 13.04 results but also with performance figures added in from Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 x64 and Fedora 18."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel is sampling Avoton Atom chips ahead of IDF Beijing @ The Inquirer
• HP announces low-power Moonshot system based on an Intel Atom chip @ The Inquirer
• The Surprising SUSE Linux @ Linux.com
• AMD to fully replace FM1 with FM2, AM3 with AM3+ in 2014 @ DigiTimes
• Solar powered robot mows your lawn while you chill indoors @ Hack a Day
• Microsoft to slap 9 patches on Windows junkies on Tuesday @ The Register
• ASUS AiCloud: A Fresh Face for Networking @ Bjorn3D
• Gadget Show Live 2013 – The Public Event @ Kitguru
• DIY MultiCopter - Part 1. @ Metku.net

Deal for April 8th - Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" IPS @ $384.30

Subject: General Tech, Displays | April 8, 2013 - 01:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

If you are shopping around for a 24" IPS LCD then today's deal might be custom made for you.  The Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" IPS is currently discounted $165 and comes with free shipping.  It is a full 1920x1200 display with HDMI, DVI-D and DisplayPort inputs and even better it has a ghosting time of 11 ms and an input lag so low as to be undetectable which makes it perfect for gaming.

Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" IPS-panel LCD Monitor with HDMI & DisplayPort
Today only. Dell is offering UltraSharp U2410 24-inch LCD Monitor for $384.30 with FREE shipping. Use 33% instant savings to get final price.

(Not) The End of DirectX

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards, Systems, Mobile | April 7, 2013 - 10:21 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: DirectX, DirectX 12

Microsoft DirectX is a series of interfaces for programmers to utilize typically when designing gaming or entertainment applications. Over time it became synonymous with Direct3D, the portion which mostly handles graphics processing by offloading those tasks to the video card. At one point, DirectX even handled networking through DirectPlay although that has been handled by Games for Windows Live or other APIs since Vista.

AMD Corporate Vice President Roy Taylor was recently interviewed by the German press, "c't magazin". When asked about the future of "Never Settle" bundles, Taylor claimed that games such as Crysis 3 and Bioshock: Infinite keep their consumers happy and also keep the industry innovating.

Keep in mind, the article was translated from German so I might not be entirely accurate with my understanding of his argument.

In a slight tangent, he discussed how new versions of DirectX tends to spur demand for new graphics processors with more processing power and more RAM. He has not heard anything about DirectX 12 and, in fact, he does not believe there will be one. As such, he is turning to bundled games to keep the industry moving forward.

Neowin, upon seeing this interview, reached out to Microsoft who committed to future "innovation with DirectX".

This exchange has obviously sparked a lot of... polarized... online discussion. One claimed that Microsoft is abandoning the PC to gain a foothold in the mobile market which it has practically zero share of. That is why they are dropping DirectX.

Unfortunately this does not make sense: DirectX would be one of the main advantages which Microsoft has in the mobile market. Mobile devices have access to fairly decent GPUs which can use DirectX to draw web pages and applications much smoother and much more power efficiently than their CPU counterparts. If anything, DirectX would be increased in relevance if Microsoft was blindly making a play for mobile.

The major threat to DirectX is still quite off in the horizon. At some point we might begin to see C++Amp or OpenCL nibble away at what DirectX does best: offload highly-parallel tasks to specialized processing units.

Still, releases such as DirectX 11.1 are quite focused on back-end tweaks and adjustments. What do you think a DirectX 12 API would even do, that would not already be possible with DirectX 11?

Blink and It's Gone: Google Forks WebKit

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | April 6, 2013 - 05:47 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: webkit, Blink, Android, Google Chrome, ChromeOS

There once was a web browser named Konqueror which was quite common in the Linux community. At its core was the KHTML rendering engine, a nice standards-compliant layout package; KHTML was so nice that Apple decided to create WebKit based on it. Since then, WebKit has been the basis of Google Chrome and other applications such as Steam as of a few years ago.

And even though the project maybe never be done, Google stuck a fork in it.

Blink is a new layout engine, based on WebKit, soon to be implemented in Google Chrome. By soon, I mean practically the next release. It stands to reason, too: a forked project by definition starts out looking nearly identical because they both start from the same point. The two projects will be able to evolve in different directions as each begin to differ in needs and desires.

So what does it mean? Firstly, web developers do not need to worry about a new vendor-prefix until at least Google starts to worry about one. According to their above Q&A, they currently seem more interested in reducing prefix support rather than adding new ones. Personally, I expect that at some point they will likely need to add some as standards evolve.

In terms of the future: I feel that multiple rendering engines will only be better for the future of the web. Sure, it can be difficult for web developers to test their products across a variety of devices but that is a drop in the bucket compared to the misery caused when a dominant player gets complacent. A noncompeting player will stop innovating and maybe pull away from open standards.

Then again this pretty much always happens: no-one is satisfied with monopolies. Thankfully the WebKit license made it easy for dissatisfied parties to take action. In turn, WebKit can benefit from many of these developments at their leisure, particularly before their products look too dissimilar.

Haswell, we have a problem. USB 3.0 woes may lead to delays

Subject: General Tech | April 5, 2013 - 02:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: haswell, Intel, usb 3.0, oops

Hardware.Info has recently had confirmation of the rumours we have heard about Intel's USB 3.0 chipset in Haswell; the problem exists and it will cause delays.  Many readers may find this remeniscent of the issues with the Marvell 88SE9123 SATA controller from back in the days of P55 boards.  This time however the issue has been caught before a single board was sold and while it is upsetting that we will be waiting even longer for Haswell perhaps it is better to get a working product late.  It could be quite annoying to lose all your peripherals every time your machine goes into S3.  Follow the links from their post for more details.

"Intel now officially admits there is a problem with USB 3.0 in Haswell products, and that solving the issue will affect delivery times of various products"

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• High speed circuit design for quantum physics light sensing @ Hack a Day
• Has Europe finally passed Peak Disk? @ The Register
• Bitcoin-mining malware ENSLAVES computers @ The Register
• Litecoin, the GPU Mining Alternative to Bitcoin @ hardCOREware
• Open source 3D patches appear for Nvidia's Tegra SoC @ The Inquirer
• ActiveX Filtering In Internet Explorer 9 and 10 Kills Flash Player @ TechARP
• How To Install Windows 8 Guide @ OCC
• How to Enable 64-bit Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 7 @ NGOHQ