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

Deal of the Day - ASUS GeForce GTX 660 2GB @ $169

Subject: General Tech | April 5, 2013 - 01:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

If you are looking for a decent midrange card with a good selection of outputs and enough VRAM to handle multiple screens at reasonable resolutions but can't spend more than $200 then consider this GTX 660.  It is a decent upgrade for current owners of  GTX 560 Ti or even the GTX 570 with a Core clock of 1020MHz, 1085MHz Boost and 2GB of 6GHz GDDR5.  Also, it will be featured in Ryan's next frame rating article for those who need a refresher on its performance. 

ASUS GeForce GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 Video Card @ $168.99 + FREE SHIPPING

Newegg offers the ASUS GeForce GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 Video Card (GTX660-DC2O-2GD5) for $168.99 with free economy shipping. Use coupon code EMCXSXV42 applied during checkout and $20 mail-in rebate to get final price. Coupon applicable for Newegg.com newsletter subscribers only (Free to signup). Deal ends 4/8 or while supplies last.

AMD and Adobe Show OpenCL Support for next version of Adobe Premiere Pro

Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | April 5, 2013 - 11:48 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: premiere pro, opencl, firepro, amd, Adobe

As we prepare for the NAB show (National Association of Broadcasters) this week, AMD and Adobe have released a fairly substantial news release concerning the future of Premiere Pro, Adobe's flagship professional video editing suite. 

Earlier today Adobe revealed some of its next generation professional video and audio products, including the next version of Adobe® Premiere Pro. Basically Adobe is giving users a sneak peek at the new features coming to the next versions of its software. And we’ve decided to give you a sneak peek too, providing a look at how the next version of Premiere Pro performs when accelerated by AMD FirePro™ 3D workstation graphics and OpenCL™ versus Nvidia Quadro workstation graphics and CUDA.

This will be the first time that OpenCL is used as the primary rendering engine for Premiere and is something that AMD has been hoping to see for many years.  Previous versions of the software integrated support for NVIDIA's CUDA GPGPU programming models and the revolution of the Mercury Playback Engine was truly industry changing for video production.  However, because it was using CUDA, AMD users were left out of these performance improvements in favor of the proprietary NVIDIA software solution.

Adobe's next version of Premiere Pro (though we aren't told when that will be released) switches from CUDA to OpenCL and the performance of the AMD GCN architecture is being shown off by AMD today. 

Using 4K TIFF 24-bit sequence content, Microsoft Windows® 7 64-bit, Intel Xeon E5530 @ 2.40 GHZ and 12GB system memory, AMD compared several FirePro graphics cards (using OpenCL) against NVIDIA Quadro options (using CUDA).  Idealy we would like to see some OpenCL NVIDIA benchmarks as well, but I assume we'll have to wait to test that here at PC Perspective.

AMD also claims that by utilizing OpenCL rather than CUDA, the AMD FirePro GPUs are running at a lower utilization, opening up more graphics processing power for other applications and development work.

While this performance testing is conducted on a pre-release version of the next Adobe Premiere Pro, we’re really pleased with the results. As with all of the professional applications we support, we’ll continue to make driver optimizations for Adobe Premiere Pro that can only help to improve the overall user experience and application performance. So if you’re considering a GPU upgrade as part of your transition to the next version of Adobe Premiere Pro, definitely consider taking a look at AMD FirePro™ 3D workstation graphics cards.

You can continue on to read the full press release from AMD and Adobe on the collaboration or check out the complete blog post posted on AMD.com.

Podcast #245 - Frame Rating, Ivy Bridge-E, Oculus Rift and more!

Subject: General Tech | April 4, 2013 - 03:39 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: podcast, oculus rift, Ivy Bridge-E, gtx 700M, GTX 670 Mini, giveaway, frame rating, bioshock infinite

PC Perspective Podcast #245 - 04/04/2013

Join us this week as we discuss more Frame Rating, Ivy Bridge-E, Oculus Rift 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: 1:18:58

1. 0:01:45 You missed our Bioshock Infinite Game Stream!
2. 0:02:40 Win the Roccat Kave Real 5.1 Gaming Headset
3. Week in Review:
   1. 0:04:30 Frame Rating: HD 7990 vs GTX 690 vs GTX Titan
      1. Frame Rating: HD 7950 vs GTX 660 Ti
   2. 0:30:10 Oyen Digital USB 3.0 UASP / eSATA Dock
4. News items of interest:
   1. 0:33:00 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700M Announced
   2. 0:37:50 Oculus Rift Future from GTC
   3. 0:42:15 Activision Faces are scary!
   4. 0:44:15 Ivy Bridge-E Processor Leaks
   5. 0:49:15 64-bit ARM A57 SoCs are nearly here
   6. 0:52:30 AMD Fan Event in San Francisco!
   7. 0:53:45 Seagate has 1TB platter drives now
   8. 0:59:00 Could Lenovo makes it own chips?
   9. 1:02:45 ASUS Mini-ITX Ready Small GTX 670 card
5. 1:05:45 Hardware/Software Picks of the Week:
   1. Ryan: Nerdytec Couchmaster
   2. Jeremy: Already modded Oculus Rift
   3. Josh: Used it this weekend. Nice
   4. Allyn: iBackupBot
6. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
7. http://pcper.com/podcast
8. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
9. Closing/outro

Deal for April 4th - Dell Inspiron 15R (5521) 15.6" Core i5 Laptop

Subject: General Tech | April 4, 2013 - 01:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

At $500+tax with free shipping and Windows 8 included, the Dell Inspiron 15R is a good choice for anyone looking for a reasonably powerful and lightweight laptop.  It is powered by a 1.8GHz Core i5-3337U, has 6GB RAM, a 500GB HDD and integral DVD burner, with a 15.6" 1366 x 768 LED-backlit LCD powered by the HD4000 on the i5.  Not exactly a gaming PC but at 4.9lbs it is an easy way to bring your work with you wherever you go and have more processing power than a tablet will offer.

Dell Inspiron 15R (5521) 15.6" Core i5 Laptop @ $499.99

Use $109 instant savings and extra $80 coupon code: HCV9LCWDGXR7WZ to get final price.

New Flash based products coming to a server near you

Subject: General Tech | April 4, 2013 - 01:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: memristor, non-volitle RAM, mlc, PCIe SSD, hitachi, hp, dell

The Register assembled a brief look at the near future of flash storage products from HP, Hitachi, Dell and NetApp.  HP expects to be shipping memristor based storage devices by the end of the year as well as photonic inter-node backplanes which will offer much faster transfer than copper based solutions.  Hitachi Data Systems believes they have made a breakthrough in MLC flash and controller technology which will not only extend the usable life of the memory but they expect price parity with high end SAS HDDs by the end of 2015.  Check out those stories as well as Dell's server plans and NetApp's new OS right here.

"In every minute;

• More than 600 videos are uploaded to YouTube
• More than 13,000 hours of music are streamed via Pandora
• 168 million emails are transmitted
• 695,000 status updates are added to Facebook
• 695,000 Google searches are also made."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Non-Volatile DIMMs To Ship This Year @ Slashdot
• How to Run Linux on ODROID-U2: A Monster of an ARM Machine @ Linux.com
• Customer designed ARM chips will give Intel headaches @ The Inquirer
• Open-Source 3D Support For NVIDIA's Tegra @ Phoronix
• A guide to Windows Blue / Windows 8.1 @ Hardware.info
• How to Install Windows 7 Guide @ OCC

Make your own macros with the Gigabyte Aivia Osmium keyboard

Subject: General Tech | April 3, 2013 - 06:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: input, mechanical keyboard, gigabyte, Aivia Osmium, cherry mx red

Gigabyte has added another mechanical keyboard to their family, the Aivia Osmium which uses the quiet Cherry MX Red switches preferred by gamers who don't want a click to slow down their button mashing.  It is definitely aimed at gamers with backlighting, audio in and about and a USB 3.0 port on the side along with sound and brightness wheels at the top.  The Tech Report was very impressed with the macro capability of this keyboard, not bound by a certain set of dedicated keys but instead a full program which allows up to 25 programmed macros which can include both mouse and keyboard input.  Head on over and check out the full review.

"Most high-end keyboards combine mechanical switches with LED backlighting and programmable macro keys. Gigabyte's Aivia Osmium adds a new twist: USB 3.0 connectivity. We take a closer look at this unique keyboard to see what's what."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Logitech G710+ Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ Tweaktown
• Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire Rapid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ Madshrimps
• SteelSeries APEX Gaming Keyboard @ Tweaktown
• Cooler Master Storm Trigger w/Green Keyswitches @ LanOC Reviews
• AZiO Large Print Tri-Color Backlight Keyboard Review @ OCC
• ROCCAT Isku FX Illuminated Gaming Keyboard Review @ NikKTech
• Logitech G710+ Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @LanOC Reviews
• Ducky Zero DK2108 Mechanical Keyboard @ eTeknix
• Satechi 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub UH3-10P Review @ Legit Reviews
• Func Surface 1030 XL mousepad @ Rbmods
• Func MS-3 Mouse & 1030XL Mouse Mat @ techPowerUp
• G600 MMO Gaming Mouse @ LanOC Reviews
• Razer Ouroboros Elite Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews
• Tt eSPORTS Level 10 M Gaming Mouse @ techPowerUp
• Corsair Vengeance M65 FPS Laser Gaming Mouse Review @ Madshrimps
• A4TECH V3 Bloody Gun3 Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews
• Corsair Vengeance M65 FPS Laser Gaming Mouse @ eTeknix
• SteelSeries Guild Wars 2 Gaming Mouse Review @ Madshrimps
• Logitech G600 MMO Gaming Mouse Review @ NikKTech
• AZIO GM-2000 Gaming Mouse Review @ Hardware Canucks
• Tesoro SHRIKE HL2 Laser Gaming Mouse Review @ NikKTech
• Func MS-3 Mouse Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Genius Gila GX Series Gaming Mouse Review @ Legit Reviews

Deal for April 3 - Samsung 840 Series 120GB

Subject: General Tech | April 3, 2013 - 04:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

One of the best SSDs from a dollar per gigabyte perspective is the Samsung 840 series; you can see it in action here in Allyn's review of the 250GB model.  It uses Triple Level Cell flash, which is what helps keep the cost down, but won't have an effect on the performance for most users. 

Top Deal

Samsung 840 Series 120GB SATA 6Gb/s 7mm 2.5" SSD (MZ-7TD120BW) @ $100

http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/samsung-840-series-mz-7td120bw-ssd/42947.aspx

New Hack Allows Kindle Paperwhites To Be Used As Wireless Display For Rasbperry Pi

Subject: General Tech | April 3, 2013 - 01:43 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: wireless display, Raspberry Pi, paperwhite, mobile, kindle, e-ink

The Raspberry Pi makes for a cheap and low power media PC, file server, or desktop but the lack of a display means that it is not very portable. Recently a hack was posted online by Max Ogden that enables the Rasbperry Pi to be used on the go by pairing it with an Amazon Kindle and its e-ink display. His wireless display setup was actually based on a previous hack that allowed the Pi to be paired with the 3rd-generation Kindle. Ogden's hack takes things a step further by supporting the latest Paperwhite versions as well as no longer requirig a wired connnection between the display and the Raspberry Pi.

By loading the Raspberry Pi with Raspian Linux and adding a terminal emulator to the Kindle, the Kindle connects to the Pi over an SSH session where the Pi console and any keyboard input can be seen on the Kindle's e-ink display. The hardware needed to make the setup work includes a Wi-Fi hotspot, a Wi-Fi USB NIC, The Raspberry Pi, a supported Kindle, and a battery pack with enough juice to power everything. A wired or wireless keyboard and Wi-Fi dongle can be added to the Raspberry Pi Model B, bu Model A users will need to add a USB hub as the $25 model only supports a single USB port on the device itself.

Max Ogden shows off his new portable battery-powered Raspberry Pi with wireless e-ink display.

There are some limitations to this setup. One is a bit of latency between typing and seeing the characters appear on the screen due to the low refresh rate inherent in e-ink displays and the wireless connection. Ogden estimates that this delay is around 200ms, and is noticeably but bearable while typing. The other major limitation is that the display can currently only be used to display the Pi console, and not the GUI of Raspian. For writing code or articles, you could get by with a command-line text editor like nano or vi--at the very least it would be a distraction-free writing environment as you could not procrastinate and browse Reddit or watch videos even if you wanted to (heh).

If you are interested in setting up your own wireless Raspberry Pi display, you should check out Ogdens blog for a list of recommended hardware as well as Rod Vagg's tutorial on configuring the Kindle Paperwhite with the correct software.

This is one of the more-useful Raspberry Pi hacks that I've seen so far. Hopefully, a future hack will come along that will also allow one of these e-ink devices to display the GUI desktop environment and not just the terminal.

Bad news GPU fans, prices may be climbing

Subject: General Tech | April 3, 2013 - 01:21 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gpu, DRAM, ddr3, price increase

It has taken a while but the climbing price of memory is about to have an effect on the price you pay for your next GPU.  DigiTimes does specifically mention DDR3 but as both GDDR4 and GDDR5 are based off of DDR3 they will suffer the same price increases.  You can expect to see the new prices last as part of the reason for the increase in the price of RAM is the decrease in sales volume.  AMD may be hit harder overall than NVIDIA as they tend to put more memory on their cards and buyers of value cards might see the biggest percentage increase as those cards still sport 1GB or more of memory.

"Since DDR3 memory prices have recently risen by more than 10%, the sources believe the graphics cards are unlikely to see their prices return to previous levels within the next six months unless GPU makers decide to offer promotions for specific models or launch next-generation products."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Memory vendors pile on '3D' stacking standard @ The Register
• History of the GPU, Part 2: 3Dfx Voodoo, the game-changer @ Techspot
• Intel releases OpenCL SDK for upcoming Haswell chips @ The Inquirer
• Linux Foundation Training Prepares the International Space Station for Linux Migration @ Linux.com
• Microsoft releases Exchange 2013 update @ The Register
• Canon PowerShot A2600 Review @ TechReviewSource
• AMD Releases Open-Source UVD Video Support @ Phoronix
• Win An Amazing PC Specialist Gaming System @ eTeknix