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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 1/2008 )
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Big Bruin | Subject: Mobile
NZXT's Cryo LX Notebook Cooler is built like a tank, has four USB ports and three adjustable 120mm fans. It is designed for 17" to 19" laptops, and thanks to NZXT putting some thought into how the airflow would behave it should cool any notebook that fits on it. Although their ears weren't too happy with teh cooler, even at low speed, Big Bruin did find that this cooler works as advertised, and the one place they could find it for sale was only asking $70.
"This Cryo LX definitely takes inspiration from some of NZXT's cases, and incorporates quality materials and a well thought out design into a cooler capable of handling 17" (and even 19") notebook computers. Constructed mostly of thick Aluminum, and sporting three 120mm fans, this isn't just an oversized version of the typical notebook cooler." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digital Trends | Subject: Storage
Eat your heart out Apple, PCs can get stylish add ons too. This particular case is an external hard drive case with a resemblance to a certain unfathomable monolith. The LaCie Hard Drive, Design by Neil Poulton will look at home near any system that you put some work into looking attractive, and beats most of the other styles that external HDDs sport. Digital Trends reviewed the 500Gb version, and there are also 320GB, 500GB, 750GB and 1TB sizes.
"On December 5, 2007, LaCie announced yet another hard drive with a breathtakingly sleek design. The "Hard Disk" by Neil Poulton is a study in elegant simplicity - glossy black surface, no markings or logos, and a soft LED light that spills a blue glow in front of the drive. If you value design aesthetics as much as drive reliability, the $149 USD 500GB LaCie Hard Disk might be the right choice for you. Check out our full review for detailed specs on the hard drive and its read/write performance." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Elite Bastards | Subject: General Tech
With a few new driver revisions and a brand new chipset, the 780i, Elite Bastards has revisited SLI performance, this time with a pair of GeForce 8800 GT 512MB cards. When SLI first started to be introduced, there were many cases where you needed to squint pretty hard to spot a performance between single and dual card rigs. Now, they are happy to report that the numbers speak for themselves.
"Of course, GPU manufacturers face some rather difficult challenges ahead if they really want to bring us into a full on multi-GPU future, but that's a discussion for another day. All we do know is that with ATI's Radeon HD 3870 X2 (sporting two RV670 cores) released this week, NVIDIA's dual G92 GeForce 9800 GX2 on the way, and rumours that ATI's next-generation R700 part will in fact be two RV770 cores on a single board, multi-GPU rendering in some shape or form is here to stay. Thus (and with our Radeon HD 3870 X2 review coming very soon), what better time is there to take stock of the current state of multi-GPU rendering? To see just how well two graphics boards scale in current game titles on the NVIDIA side of the fence, we've taken two hugely popular GeForce 8800 GT 512MB parts, an nForce 780i SLI motherboard, and put this configuration through its paces to see what it can offer." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tech ARP | Subject: General Tech
If you are one of the few, the brave, the masochistic ... the Vista user; then next week you will need to make a decision. TechARP has heard that Vista Service Pack 1 will be released next week. Should you install it right away, or wait until the moon is right, and your dominant star is in the cool part of the sky, and you have sacrificed a few XP disks and EULAs to the great Gates?
Only you can decide. "If you have been waiting for Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, well, you can now mark your calender. We just received word that Microsoft has scheduled Windows Vista Service Pack 1 for release to manufacturer (RTM) NEXT WEEK!" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: FUTUREMARK | Subject: General Tech
3DMark Vantage is coming ... sometime. Over at Futuremark is a teaser page with 3 screenshots from one of the tests you will see in the new version of 3DMark, which is following in the naming scheme we saw back in October, PCMark Vantage. There really isn't much information, apart from 3 screenshots and a link to the Game-O-Meter to test to see if your system can handle the benchmark without melting.
Strangely, it seems the spare GeForce3 Ti 200 I stuck in my PC at work still doesn't qualify it for even the minimum requirements.
Click on the screenshot for a bigger version of the new test from Futuremark.
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
Now, we're not going to try to make an article out of a mound, or something like that, but these screen shots are pretty impressive. I've included one below but you should check out the teaser page for the upcoming 3DMark Vantage for a couple more.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
Surprisingly, they are winning.
The new X48 board from ASUS, the P5E3 Premium, really shows off what DDR3 is capable of. Beating it's X38 predecessor in every benchmark that [H]ard|OCP threw at it was impressive, hitting a 2000MHz quad pumped FSB even more so. There are going to be a lot of vendors stuck with X38 boards for a long time, as the performance of the X48 trumps it completely. Make sure you are ready to pay the price for DDR3 if you pick up this board, otherwise look for one of the X48 based boards that support DDR2. "The newest member in ASUS’ Intel lineup seems to finally deliver the performance that DDR3 has been promising. Paired up with the newly introduced Intel X48 chipset, this board packs a performance punch that few others boards can compete" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Tech Report is quite fond of the new Sansa Clip MP3 Player. It offers more flash storage than the Zen Nano they used previously, 15hrs of battery life, a small OLED display and weighs in at 26g. Read the full article on this MP3 player that puts the iPod Shuffle to shame.
"For the last while, a Creative Zen Nano has filled in as my flash-based MP3 player, and it's largely been good. However, a couple of years of mud, dust, rain, and sweat finally took its toll on the Nano, leaving me searching for a new flash-based player to abuse during my workouts. Since I've been reasonably happy with my iPod, I thought it would be only fair to consider the latest shuffle. That is until I saw the price. $79 for a 1GB player that doesn't have a screen? Surely you jest. It didn't take me long to find something better in the form of SanDisk's Sansa Clip. Like the shuffle, it's tiny and has an integrated clip. More importantly, it costs $20 less, yet packs twice the capacity and a gorgeous OLED display. And I'm just getting started." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: TECHGAGE | Subject: Processor
The new VIA Isaiah processor isn't the only new chip hitting the streets, and if you haven't caught up with VIA's newest then check Ryan's look, as well as the links just below. For those looking for a new Intel processor, then check out Techgage's review of the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor. This chip, if paired with the right motherboard, is a great way to hit 3.8Ghz, without spending over $300 dollars. One of the more telling parts of this article is a look at the Wolfdale architectures performance, when compared clock for clock with older C2D processors.
"Intel's 45nm Dual-Cores have finally arrived, so it's only fitting that we take one for a spin. Our test subject is the 3.0GHz E8400, offering 6MB cache, SSE4 and more. Overclocking is impressive, with 3.8GHz stable being possible without even raising the voltage! This chip definitely proves itself a winner." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: General Tech
AnandTech has cornered Futuremark on a topic many of us having been waiting to hear about, Futuremark Games Studio. Anyone who has sat watching the 3DMark benchmarks has probably wondered just why Futuremark is so vicious as to give us 60 seconds or so of what looks to be an incredible game, and then wanders off into pixel tests. The details are still sketchy, but we now know that something is in the works.
I hope it's the icy CPU benchmark game that has no action, that I have never seen run faster than 3fps. "Take a look at the images in this article for a moment; certainly we're not the only people in the world who when first greeted by a new 3DMark have thought, "Daaaaamn! That is a sweet looking benchmark and it would make an awesome game. They should turn that concept into a real game rather than a 60 second benchmark scene." If you're with us on this one, the wait may be over... sort of. It appears that Futuremark has been secretly hard at work on their first full retail game, and while we don't have any details on what sort of game it will be or when it will launch, they have announced the formation of Futuremark Games Studio. The plans sound ambitious, with the following statement: "For years, our fans have been asking us when we will start making games. Very soon they are going to get it - and then some!" If we're lucky, we may end up with not just one title but numerous cutting edge titles over the coming years." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Register | Subject: General Tech
A plan by German police to hire hackers to break the encryption that Skype uses for it's VoIP communications has prompted an interesting article at The Register. They cover the 'poison movie' exploit, which has been fixed, as well as concerns that the current animated ads that play over Skype may provide another vector in which the same kind of exploit could be launched. They also link to a talk that took place during the Black Hat Europe 2006 conference, in which two participants voiced concerns that without Skype opening up the source code, we can have no idea how secure the AES used by Skype is. They also repeated the belief that Skype has the keys to decrypt conversations, which Skype has denied.
Free software that doesn't guarantee anonymity, who woulda thunk it? "German cops are pushing ahead with controversial plans, yet to be legally approved, to develop "remote forensic software" - in other words, a law enforcement Trojan. Leaked documents outline proposals by German firm Digitask to develop software to intercept Skype VoIP communications and SSL transmissions. A second leaked document from the Bavarian Ministry of Justice outlines costing and licensing proposals for the software. Both scanned documents (in German, natch) have found their way onto the net after being submitted to Wikileaks." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: Digitimes | Subject: System
It should come as no surprise that Asus wants to capitalize on the Eee PC branding that has been so damn popular. Would you be interested in an E-DT (desktop computer), an E-TV or an E-Monitor?
With Eee PC becoming a focus of the PC market, Asustek Computer has announced it is planning to launch a family of Eee products including: E-DT (desktop PC), E-TV and E-Monitor. All the products while have low-cost as their major selling point, according to Jerry Shen, president of Asustek. The E-DT, a desktop PC which will not be sold with a monitor, is scheduled to launch in April or May this year and will be showcased at CeBIT 2008. The first E-DT will adopt an Intel Celeron processor, while later generations will adopt Intel's Shelton'08 platform with Diamondville processors and the 945GC chipset. The company has set the price of the PC at between US$200-300 and will try to push it down to US$199. The E-Monitor will be an all-in-one device similar to Apple's iMac and Dell's XPS One. E-Monitor will cut into the 19-21-inch market and will come with a built-in TV tuner. Pricing is set at US$499, compared to the iMac's price of US$1,199-2,299 and the XPS One's price of US$1,499-2,399. E-Monitor will also be based on Intel's Shelton'08 platform and will be launched in September this year. Finally, the E-TV will compete in the over 42-inch LCD TV market, but will integrate the Linux-based PC functionality of other Eee PC products. Pricing is to be set to at no greater than US$200 more than TVs in the same class. E-TV is also scheduled to launch in September.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Case and Cooling
Hardware Secrets, armed with a digital power meter checked out the draw that electronic equipment pulls when in standby mode. They split the results into four groups: zero consumption, negligible (consumption below 0.5 W), significant (between 0.5 W and 10 W) and huge (above 10W). You might be surprised how much the huge category drinks up when supposedly sleeping.
"Is it true that electronic equipments consume a lot of power when they are on their standby mode and presumably turned off? We took a digital power meter and measured the most common electronic equipments found at home to check this out. We came out with very interesting results. Read on." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hack a Day | Subject: General Tech
If you've seen flexible keyboards for sale, you might have thought it was a great idea, but the price is a bit much, and it might not have a layout that you like. Hack a Day comes to your rescue, with steps on how to make your own flexible keyboard, simply by disemboweling a normal USB keyboard and taping letters onto the membrane.
"The instructable says to get a USB keyboard (it looks like a Dell USB keyboard to me), gut it and label the flexible membranes inside after you join them together. If you've got a supply of this style of keyboard, it could be a cheap source... or better yet, maybe you can use the guts to produce high quality custom keybads." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Big Bruin | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Thermaltake SwordM VD5000BNA Super Tower Chassis deserves the title super, although the $500 price tag is debatable. The first picture you will see of it in Big Bruin's review is the open configuration, and this case opens in ways you have not seen previously. There are so many unique features to this case, from the faux-heatsink exterior to the pop up top that you should read the full review to do this case justice.
"Thermaltake has really taken case design to the extreme with the SwordM VD5000BNA Super Tower Chassis. The quality of the components is top notch, the styling is definitely unique, the features are generally well thought out, and some of the innovative design elements might actually be revolutionary." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: Processor
The Inquirer has a detailed piece on AMD losing a deal with Sun to power one of Asia's most powerful super computer with Barcelona chips. Instead, Sun is replacing it with 45nm Penryn core based systems. Obviously, if this is true, this could have a large impact on AMD's hold of the HPC market going forward.
However, the accumulated delays and performance target misfirings did affect the confidence of the rest of the world, it seems. We talked recently about AMD's Asian supercomputing wins and their delayed fulfilment. One of those was a large, 150+ TFLOPs central Korean research supercomputer at their famous KISTI institute nestled among the hot springs. The original AMD-based spec that Sun Microsystems won the deal with some 9 months ago, revolved around many 2.5+ GHz Barcelona quad core CPUs. As you know, a 2.5 GHz Barcelona would, with 10 GFLOPs peak per core, provide 40 GFLOPs peak per chip, or some 4,000 chips (over 500 eight-socket systems) to come close to the performance goal. The above mentioned HPC performance benefits with total bandwidth, SMP scaling and large pages and so on would have a factor in deciding, too - especially since all that happened before Intel's 45 nm stuff was out there. This would have been the largest supercomputer at the time in Asia, and a major statement of confidence in AMD platform, keep in mind. We all know what happened next, both with the performance and the deliveries. And, the inevitable followed - the last I heard recently was Sun staff were busily replacing AMD with new 45 nm Intel specs, and the Koreans will, now, have Intel "eight-brain chips" - to use BBC Teletubby-IQ wonderspeak, "thinking" inside their, and probably Asian, largest supercomputer in these few months.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Mobile
[H]ard|OCP reviewed the Powermonkey, a very handy device if you are on the road and find yourself with a gadget that is running low on power. It has a wall socket adapter that can handle around 130 different countries plugs, and can charge a huge amount of phones, PDAs and other mobile devices. There is also a Powergorilla for your laptop.
"Stuck in the back of a cab or at the airport or in a client's office with a dead phone or PDA? Power Monkey swoops in to the rescue by charging up just about any mobile device you have with you. And a solar panel for the tree huggers too!" Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: General Tech
Wicked Lasers (the guys who did the Green and Blu-ray Lasers) have introduced The Torch, a record holding 4100 lumen flashlight that can set things on fire! If you follow the links from Slashdot, you can see the flashlight setting a pile of paper on fire. Sure, the battery will only last for 15 minutes, but that's plenty of time to cook an egg in the dark.
"Engadget is reporting that Wicked Lasers has introduced The Torch. It is the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight. The Flashlight is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper on fire within seconds, and if you like, fry an egg or a marshmallow on a stick. At 4100 lumens, The Torch is 100 lumens more powerful than The Polarion Helios, the former most powerful flashlight, and retails for around $300. The Torch is apparently also undergoing review at the Guinness Book of World Records." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: Digitimes | Subject: Chipset
Digitimes has some more details on NVIDIA's nForce 790i chipset that is due out next quarter. The chipset adds DDR3 memory support to the 700-series mix and is a completely new chip design because of it.
The chipset will also feature 3-way SLI and Hybrid SLI technology and support DDR3 memory. Motherboard makers generally expect DDR3 memory pricing will start to drop in the third quarter of 2008. The nForce 790i is positioned by Nvidia as a high-end product and so the motherboard should attract high-end gamers who will be willing to pay a premium for DDR3 memory. The nForce 790i will be released in two versions, nForce 790i Ultra SLI and nForce 790i SLI. The difference between the two is that the former has better overclocking ability and will support SLI memory modules up to DDR3 2000, the sources detailed.
Ryan Shrout | Source: Shacknews | Subject: General Tech
In some interesting news from the gang at Shacknews, PC games are only making up about 14% of gaming sales when compile with the current console gaming market. The one caveat: digital download sales weren't included in the research.
Data from the sales-tracking firm NPD reveals that retailers sold 267.8 million games in 2007, 36.4 million of which were PC titles. Console games brought in $6.6 billion, selling 153.9 million units total, while portable software hauled a record $2 billion in revenue with 77.5 million units sold. Figures were also released highlighting the top ten best-selling PC games of this year, accompanying last week's list of 2007's top ten console games. The numbers, which do not take digital downloads into account, have Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft and EA Maxis' Sims franchises occupying six of the top ten spots. A complete run-down of the top PC games of 2007 follows:
Ryan Shrout | Source: engadget | Subject: Mobile
According to Engadget MSI is working on an Eee PC competitor using Intel's Diamondville, ultra-low power processing platform.
We're short on specifics, but MSI looks to be getting behind Intel's upcoming 45nm Diamondville
processor in a big way -- a totally unsurprising turn of events.
Diamondville is pretty much built from the ground up for powering
low-cost ultraportables of the Eee PC's ilk, so we're sure to be seeing
it in all sorts of cheap computers in the coming year or so, but MSI is
one of the first to announce a budget laptop built around the platform.
The chip is due to be formally unveiled in April, and MSI says the
"when Diamondville is ready, our project will be ready." That should be
around July or August, and we can't wait to see those design chops (pictured above) put to good use.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: Display
The Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW sports a hefty price, over $350 on PriceGrabber, but you do get a lot out of it. It sports 2ms grey to grey response, a 1680x1050 native resolution and colours that Think Computers found to be quite impressive. It is simple compared to some other monitors, having only 3 plugs, power, VGA and DVI, no audio, USB or iPod Docks, just the basics. I do wonder why so many display manufactures set these larger displays top resolution just short of the 1920x1080 required for HD viewing, but that is exactly what we are seeing.
"Samsung is known for producing some of the most gorgeous LCD monitors this world has ever seen. Walk into just about any home theater that has been equipped with a larger Samsung LCD television and you'll be blown away by the vibrant colors, the crystal-clear resolution, and the crispness of the contrast. The same can be said about the LCD monitors that the company puts out for computers and one of the latest in the long line of monitors is the Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW." Here are some more Display articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Motherboard
AnandTech was so impressed with the ASUS ROG Rampage
Extreme they have reversed their opinion of the X48 chipset completely. Apart from the performance, there were several features that caught Anandtechs eye. The first is the space on the board, watercooling 2 cards in CrossFire won't be a tight squeeze, nor will adding cooling to the chipset itself, and even better this board ran cooler that the X38 equivalent. What really sold the board for them was the inclusion in the BIOS of a way to control MCH Read Delay (tRD). You can now directly control the ratio of system bus speed to the memory bus, although if you really want to get good results, you are better off following their equations, rather than trying trial and error.
"We would be delinquent in not noting the impending release of the Rampage Formula's DDR3-based companion, the Rampage Extreme. We anxiously await our chance to bring you an early first-look at what it has to offer. We fully expect that it will best even the most refined X48/DDR2 board. Our experience has always been that the X38/X48 chipsets simply work better when teamed with DDR3 memory. For whatever reason, we find that for absolute ease of overclock and rock-solid stability nothing beats an X38/X48 DDR3 board. Unfortunately, DDR3 prices can be a rather large obstacle for some, especially when dealing with the higher speed bins. For now, we are happy to report that our early dealings with the ASUS Rampage Formula have been extremely satisfying, especially considering the relatively short amount of time given to BIOS maturity. In fact, we feel there are no significant obstacles impeding the release of this board. Additionally, we must applaud ASUS for the industry-leading effort they have put forth in incorporating a few new settings into the BIOS that give the user the ability to easily unlock otherwise hidden memory performance with just a quick finger twitch." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Graphics Card
AMD's response to the enthusiast has arrived with the 3870 X2, a pair of GPUs on a single card running at 825 MHz at the core and RAM doing 1.8 GHz. The card uses Crossfire invisibly, there is no set up to do, in fact you can't even see Crossfire as an option with one of these cards, so the set up is a breeze. It performs on par or better than nVIDIA's offerings, and you can expect to pay ~$500 when it becomes available. [H]ard|OCP even managed a fair overclock of 878Mhz and 1.91GHz, so there is hope of factory overclocked versions appearing.
You can also see Ryan's take on this card at the top of our front page. "One of the more anticipated video cards of this year is finally here, AMD is launching the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2. What will two 3870 GPUs on one board do for you in gaming? We are going to find out exactly that in Crysis, UT3, COD 4 and HL2." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
For anyone who went into shock over the rumours that Windows 7 might be released next year, it is safe to come out now. The Inquirer looked into it and found some very convincing evidence that we won't see Windows 7 until some time after the end of the Mayan Calender. Any correlation between those two dates are just speculation at this time.
"In an email to WinVistaClub, the Vole reportedly stated that Windows 7 is still in the planning stage and will take approximately three years to develop. About three years to develop. Hmm. So, what with its planning - which is not yet completed, it seems - plus internal testing and pre-release user testing, that means that the new, hopefully vastly improved Windows 7 won't appear until at least 2011, at the earliest." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: CoolIT SYSTEMS | Subject: Graphics Card
Calgary, Alberta - January 28th, 2008 - Right on the heals of AMD announcing the availability of the ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 earlier this month, CoolIT Systems debuts the third installment in the Reference Series line of liquid cooling systems designed to quietly and effectively cool Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.'s highly anticipated performance graphics cards, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2. In recent testing, the liquid cooled cards were stably clocked up to over 900MHz core clock speed and the memory pushed to 1GHz with no thermal issues.
"We're extremely excited about the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 as it sets a new standard in high definition gaming performance leadership for AMD" said Dr. Gamal Refai-Ahmed, AMD Fellow and Chief Thermal Architect, AMD Graphics Product Group. "Using AMD's micro-channel technology in a closed loop liquid cooling design, CoolIT is once again enabling users to exploit the full potential of 55nm ATI Radeon™ HD 3800 series architecture while still maintaining a single slot form factor." Geoff Lyon, CEO of CoolIT Systems comments "We are proud to successfully, leverage the micro-channel technology developed at the AMD thermal laboratory in Toronto in our solution. The cooling system for this card is extremely sophisticated given that we are cooling what amounts to a full CrossFire™ set-up on a single card. When you consider that most cards having only 1 GPU are typically taking up 2 PCIe slots compared to the CoolIT solution which not only delivers extremely effective cooling and higher clock speeds but also reduces the thickness to a single slot the combined CoolIT and AMD offering represents tremendous value." He added, "We recently benchmarked this card and were able to hit over 23,500 in 3D Mark 06, which makes this, by far, the fastest video card/cooling combination we've ever tested." To see the video of CoolIT breaking 23,500 in 3D Mark 06 click HERE
Ryan Shrout | Source: VR-Zone | Subject: Graphics Card
Sure today might be all about AMD's new Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics card, but NVIDIA's upcoming 9800 GX2 just feels left out. And what do self-conscious graphics cards do to get attention? Take off their clothes.
NVIDIA's design uses two separate PCBs instead of one like AMD's new card does, but the effect is generally the same.
Ryan Shrout | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: Processor
As Jon Stokes over at Arstechnica describes, it would appear that AMD has changed its tune when it comes to the way Fusion technology will be implemented. Bulldozer, as we originally thought, was going to be a completely new CPU design from the ground up. But now AMD appears to be backing off that plan and going with existing CPU and GPU designs for their first Fusion product.
But in a financial analyst day meeting early this past December, AMD revealed that the company's first Fusion product would "use existing CPU core and GPU core technologies," suggesting that Bulldozer had gotten the boot in favor of a core from AMD's current lineup. In a recent InfoWorld interview, AMD confirmed that Fusion will be a dual-core design based on the Phenom core in its initial incarnation. There's still no word on the GPU that AMD will pair with Phenom as the second core on the die, but apparently something will be announced relatively soon. So now that we know that Fusion will combine a Phenom core with an as-yet unannounced GPU core, we can put together the following picture of AMD's mobile "Shrike" platform, due out in the second half of 2009.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: General Tech
One of my favourite installation errors has to be when an optical drive decides not to be recognized, as inevitably, at some point in the process Windows will request that you place a driver disk in your CD-ROM drive, so that it can install drivers. In the past at that point, I have the overwhelming urge to insert something that is not a CD into somewhere on the PC that is not the CD drive. If you wish to take the high road, and actually fix the problem, check out this thread in Tech Talk for some hints.
Shopping for monitors has become quite different lately, with the easiest decision now being the size ad widescreen or not. The difficulty comes in when you start finding out response rates might be reported ... um ... differently depending on the maker, there is also the display matrix type, with 4 types currently popular, as well as dead pixel warranties. The Displays forum can help! Ryan also has two projects on the go. As many members have probably heard, NewEgg has decided to no longer support PC Perspective and our Hardware Leader Board. If you would like to see them come back, drop by the HWLB for a way to contact Ryan about this. Also, for extra bonus points, you can drop by this thread and give Ryan some ideas for a little project of his. Happy Rabbie Burns day!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Zone | Subject: Storage
The Patriot Xporter XT Boost 32GB offers you an incredible way to keep your data mobile. It has a rubber exterior that claims to offer protection against water, and is the size you would expect a USB flash drive to be, even with it's large storage capability. Hardware Zone was also impressed with the transfer speeds it offers, something that is far more important on a drive of this size, as opposed to a 1GB drive, which won't take long to fill no matter the transfer rate. "Featuring 32GB of ultra portable storage goodness and a supposed 150x read speed, the Patriot Xporter XT is all set to deliver." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
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