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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 2/2010 )
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
Much has been said about the problems that TSMC, the foundry partner to both ATI and NVIDIA, has had with its transition to 40nm technology. When the Radeon HD 5870 graphics card and the rest of AMD's Evergreen family of GPUs first hit the market back in early October there were quite a few notable periods of shortages of the the cards. Shortages obviously feed on the demand to raise prices and as we saw for the first two months of the 5000-series availability, prices where higher than the estimated pricing originally fed from AMD's marketing team.
Since then, we have heard via multiple stories that TSMC had corrected the processing technology problems and was up to full production speed. Well a report out of Digitimes today is saying quite the contrary: The current shortage of graphics chips, which is being caused largely by low yields of the 40nm process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), is unlikely to be completely solved before May, according to sources from graphics card makers.
Although TSMC recently said the defect density of its 40nm technology has already dropped from 0.3-0.4 per square inch to 0.1-0.3, the sources pointed out that the improvement in overall yield still needs more time before catching up with market demand. This is definitely bad news for both AMD and NVIDIA but NVIDIA might get hit the hardest of all. The upcoming Fermi-based GF100 graphics cards (now known as the GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470) are rumored to be running very hot with already lower-than-hoped yields. Continued problems on the manufacturing side will only complicate things more dramatically for NVIDIA as they attempt to play catch up with the Radeon HD 5000-series of cards that will enjoy as much as a 6-month production and sales lead. 
AMD Cypress GPU built on TSMC's 40nm process technology Why is this bad for our readers and consumers? All three major Taiwanese graphics card vendors - ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte - are reportedly mulling a 5-10% price increase on their cards in order to compensate for the decline in GPU availability and increase in memory cost. Users looking to get a late winter or early spring system upgrade might be met with higher than expected prices. Also relevant to the discussion is the rumored high pricing of NVIDIA's upcoming GF100 cards. Initial preorders of the cards that tipped up this week listed the high-end GTX 480 going for $679 while the slightly slower GTX 470 was going for $499. NVIDIA put out a statement today though disputing the price listings: NVIDIA and our launch partners have not released pricing or pre-order information yet. Any Web sites claiming to be taking pre-orders should not be considered legitimate.
Not exactly a denial but it should prevent anyone from actually placing one of those preorders for fear of getting completely ripped off. As a comparison, the high-end single GPU offering from AMD, the Radeon HD 5870, sells for about $399 so that would mean NVIDIA's upcoming card would need a dramatic increase in performance or feature set to justify such a price separation. We'll have more details on whether or not they can pull that off on March 26th... 
NVIDIA's Tom Petersen One thing is for sure - neither our readers nor AMD or NVIDIA like to see costs go up on graphics cards and it is possible that one potential result from all of this TSMC transition fallout would be a shift in foundry companies. The recently split-off GlobalFoundries would love nothing more than to bring both ATI's and NVIDIA's GPUs into the fold.
Jonathan Hung | Source: CNet News.com | Subject: Mobile
 This coming Monday, Intel is expected to introduce the Atom N470 netbook processor which bumps the frequency from the current 1.66 GHz in the N450, to 1.83 GHz. The Atom N470 has been expected for quite some time now with vendors like Lenovo listing products with the processor a full month before its official release.
With the Atom N470, this effectively creates room for higher priced, faster performing netbooks in the marketplace, with the Atom N450 taking up the middle to low end. Combine this CPU with emerging technologies like NVIDIA's ION2 and Optimus, and Broadcom's Crystal HD, you will find more and more premium netbooks on the market that will look and feel more like full-fledged notebooks.
Jonathan Hung | Source: Dell | Subject: Mobile
Earlier this month Ryan took a very detailed look at NVIDIA's Optimus technology and discovered that the graphics switching technology worked really well and produced some significant battery conservation while providing the necessary performance when needed. For those of you who have been itching to get your hands on an Optimus enabled notebook, your time has come. NewEgg has made available the Asus N71JV-X1, a 17.3" unit sporting the Intel i3 350M and a GeForce GT 325M. You can check out the system at NewEgg.
Related to mobile video technology, the Dell Mini 10 with the Broadcom Crystal HD media accelerator is now available for purchase at Dell.com. Early looks at this netbook was lukewarm due to the lack of Flash support and the absence of HDMI. According to this post on Dell's blog, with the release of Flash 10.1 beta 3 and the latest Broadcom driver, you can now get Flash 10 HD in full glory on the netbook. The caveat here is that with the lack of HDMI, HD content is trapped at the native 1366x768 resolution unless you slum it using a VGA cable to a full HD capable display, and you must use one of the supported media players.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Modding Malaysia | Subject: General Tech
There is a bit of bad news on the PC Perspective Forums this week, as it seems that interest in the Fragging Frogs is flagging. There is good news though, you can help revive this friendly circle of gamers if you want. They play everyMonday, Wednesday and Saturday @ 8PM EST, with a mix of various games in both vanilla and modded flavours. Head to those threads to see what games are being played this week, consider jumping onto the Steam name friends list,
the Xfire list and frag some friends.
Even if you aren't interested in gaming, you are obviously interested in the internet as the hyperlinks won't work if you are reading this on paper. For safety and for sharing your internet, picking the right router is very important. A bad router can really have an effect on your bandwidth and an unsecured one can cause you a bit of worry and maybe a visit from Chuck Norris. If you do lose connectivity, hopefully you can still watch and capture TV. Once you are back online, Episode #95 of the PC Perspective Podcast is ready to go.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: Storage
If you have seen or listened to this weeks PC Perspective Podcast, you heard Ryan talk about Corsair's Padlock 2 USB thumb drive. At $52 it is more expensive than your average 8GB thumb drive, with the extra cost coming from some rather impressive security features. A combination of up to 10 keys can be set to protect your data, but make sure not to forget the combo because the only way they offer to reset the code also will wipe the data on that drive. If you want to know more about this secure way to carry around viral information then drop by Overclockers Club for a look.
"When it comes to security, the Corsair Flash Padlock 2 gets high marks for its ability to protect any sensitive data that is stored on the drive. Setting up these security features was extremely simple and once you have keyed in a unique four to ten digit PIN, the drive will automatically lock when removed from a USB port. In this locked state, the flash drive uses a 256-bit AES hardware encryption and built-in hacker protection that will temporarily lock the drive for a few minutes after five unsuccessful log-in attempts." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Storage
Corsair is finally coming out of the seemingly silent void it was in over the last couple of months and is announcing new products including a pair of SSD lines today. The Reactor series of solid state drives will utilize the new JMicron JMF612 controller and a 128MB DDR2-based caching system for stutter-free performance and a reasonable cost. The drive will be available in both 60GB and 120GB capacities with performance as high as 250 MB/s read and 170 MB/s on writes for the larger model. You'll be able to pick up the 60GB Reactor SSD for about $185 or the 120GB model for $349 at Newegg.com. Those prices come in at just over $3.00/GB and $2.90/GB respectively.
The second new SSD from Corsair is the Nova series that will use the Indilinx Barefoot SSD controller coupled with a 64MB memory cache for performance improvements. This drive option will be available in similarly sized capacities of 64GB and 128GB while offering speeds up to 270 MB/s reads and 190 MB/s writes. Prices on the Corsair Nova series is a bit higher at $199 for the 64GB model and $369 for the 128GB mode (both at Newegg.com as well) for a corresponding price/GB of $3.10 and $2.88. 
Both models are up and running with TRIM support for continuous stable performance under the Windows 7 operating system - if you haven't seen or read about the benefits of a TRIM-configured SSD and OS, check out some our coverage here. 
The JMicron 612 controller is an 8-channel SATA 3.0 Gb/s controller with an ARM 9 processing core at its heart These new drivers certainly help the Corsair product road map look more complete and the prices are very competitive with their direct competition, the OCZ product lines like the Vertex series. Intel continues to drop the prices on their drives and the X25-M might still be the best deal in the SSD market today but it is great to see more options available for consumers. Corsair Launches Reactor and Nova Series Solid-State Drives
New SSDs utilize JMicron JMF612 and Indilinx Barefoot controller technologies to deliver exceptional price/performance and Windows 7 TRIM support FREMONT, California, February 26, 2009 — Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the addition of the Reactor Series and Nova Series to its family of solid-state drives (SSDs). Both the Nova Series and Reactor Series provide the performance benefits of solid-state technology at an attractive cost per gigabyte. The Reactor Series, including 60GB and 120GB drive capacities, is built using the new JMicron JMF612 controller. This second-generation controller from JMicron incorporates 128MB of DDR2 cache memory for stutter-free performance. The 120GB Reactor Series SSD delivers speeds of up to 250MB/s read and 170MB/s write, while the 60GB Reactor Series SSD features speeds up to 250MB/s read and 110 MB/s write. The Nova Series is built using the popular Indilinx Barefoot controller with 64MB of cache memory, and is offered in drive sizes of 64GB and 128GB. The 128GB Nova Series SSD is able to achieve speeds of up to 270MB/second read and 190MB/second write, while the 64GB Nova Series SSD delivers speeds up to 270MB/s read and 130MB/s write. Both Reactor Series and Nova Series SSDs fully support the TRIM command in Microsoft Windows 7 operating systems, which automatically maintains optimal performance over the lifetime of the drives. The Reactor Series and Nova Series are available immediately from Corsair’s authorized distributors and resellers worldwide and are backed by a Two-Year Limited Warranty. Complete customer support via telephone, email, forum and Tech Support Express is also available. For more information on Corsair solid-state drives, please visit the Corsair SSD product page. Images of the Corsair Reactor and Nova Series solid-state drives are available for download here. About Corsair Founded in 1994, Corsair specializes in premium, high-performance peripherals and components for personal computers. Corsair’s award-winning products are the delight of the world’s most demanding hardware enthusiasts. For more information, visit corsair.com.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: Motherboard
If you are browsing for a new LGA1366 board, Gigabyte has a new X58A-UD3R
out. Now, the X58 chipset has gone through a few revisions as you can see by the "A" in the model name, which in this case means support for DDR3 2200, a pair of SATA 6Gb/s ports and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. There are also quite a few additional SATA 3Gb/s and USB 2.0 ports but it is the new generation of data transfer standards that grab the enthusiasts eye. Drop by Think Computers to see this board in action.
“So in the back of my mind I had decided we had probably seen the last of the LGA 1366. A shame too, as there are other new technologies coming online, SuperSpeed USB 3, and SATA 6GB/s, and I figured the only way a Bloomfield user would get to use them would be by expansion cards. Then just last weekend I was chatting with a friend that had attended CES, who told me that Intel was working on a new LGA 1366 processor line, a six-core monster using 32nm…yeah, I know, I’m behind the times, the gossip about the new processors started back in Nov-Dec, but I was busy “fixing up” a &l dquo;fixer-upper” house and moving during that time. Anyway, I got a little excited, hoping that maybe LGA 1366 wasn’t dead, just in hibernation. The very next day, lo and behold, our friends at Gigabyte placed a cool little gem into my hands…a brand new LGA 1366 motherboard, complete with onboard SATA 6GB/s and USB 3. Today I will be looking at the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R, the entry-level model of their three new X58 motherboards, which appear to be designated differently from the older models by an “A” after the X58 in their name, and ending with an “R” rather than the usual “P”. Will this be the board of the future? Read on to see!" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
The Core i7 920 won't be around for long as The Inquirer has spotted the i7 930 in Europe, 2 days before the official announcement. It will be a 45nm CPU @ 2.80GHz, essentially the same as the 920 just at 21x instead of 20x. It seems there will be new features, all related to low power states, Enhanced Halt State, Extended Stop Grant State, Deep Sleep State, Deeper Sleep State and Deep Power Down are all supported on this CPU.
That will be of use to some, but any that participate in BOINC projects or are on our Folding@Home team will probably never enter any of those states.
"Chipzilla's next quad-core CPU has appeared ahead of launch at some European online stores. The Core
i7-930 is eagerly awaited. Its prototypes were called "Bloomfield" and it will probably kill off the
Core i7-920 model."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: Digitimes | Subject: Graphics Card
An interesting story over at Digitimes is reporting that with the upcoming launch of the Fermi-based GF100 graphics cards (GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470) only a select few of NVIDIA's partners are going to have product available at launch. The story tells us that only that select few have even received complete reference platforms as of today even though the launch of the product is going to be on March 26th (as NVIDIA has publicly stated).
Fermi-based GF100 parts: maybe not coming to your favorite NVIDIA partner? Board partners obviously need to have the full reference designs from NVIDIA in order to correctly reproduce and manufacture GF100 cards in a timely manner. If some companies are getting preference over others, it could be seen as favoritism or a not-so-subtle "GTFO" to those on the outside. Recent rumors surrounding NVIDIA indicated that an overabundance of partners has been weighing it down in changing PC gaming market. The story also notes that manufacturers like XFX and PNY are already taking preorders for GF100 based cards priced from $679 to $499 though I wonder if that is because these vendors are on the short list of resellers that will have these at launch or if they are instead trying to make a case to NVIDIA that their customer base DESERVES some of the first boards that they might not otherwise have access to. Over the past 6 months or so I have heard rumblings of a completely shifted landscape for NVIDIA's board partners; this includes the removal of one or more partners as well as seeing brands like Galaxy and Palit take over manufacturing duties almost exclusively. While we can't say for sure which partners might get the boot, and NVIDIA is still denying that this will happen at all, it looks like companies that many of our readers might think of as "second tier" partners might in fact turn out to be the big boys on the block when the GF100 cards finally hit the street next month.
Second-tier graphics card makers are unlikely to start mass shipments of their Nvidia GeForce GTX 480/470-based (Fermi) graphics cards until April despite that Nvidia plans to announce the GPU on March 26 since most of the them have not yet received complete reference board designs, according to sources from graphics card makers.
The sources expect Nvidia will give supply priority to first-tier makers or makers that only produce Nvidia cards. Makers including XFX and PNY are already offering pre-orders for these upcoming cards with GTX 480 priced at around US$679.99 and GTX 470 at about US$499.99. Some market watchers originally expected AMD to drop its graphics card price to counter the launch of Nvidia's new cards, but since the prices of Nvidia cards are higher than AMD's existing cards, watchers now believe any price war between the two chip makers is unlikely to start until after May.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: iXBT Labs | Subject: Processor
Taking on what seems a monumental task, iXBT Labs is compiling descriptions of all of the available features and how they effect actual performance. This particular piece concentrates on the memory subsystem and how it will work for you with gaming, video processing and more. The model they are examining is the Intel Core i7 950. Prepare yourself for quite a few benchmarks and numbers.
"We proceed with our series of articles devoted to analyzing performance of modern CPUs in real applications and finding out the effect of processor features on performance. Today we shall analyze the effect of memory subsystem on performance on the example of Intel Core i7." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: System
While we would prefer you to use the PC Perspective Hardware Leaderboard, it is not your only source of information for possible builds. The Tech Report puts together four recommended builds including a double stuff work station for those doing creative and productive work on their PCs along with the usual delimitations of performance. You will even find a Core i5 in their recommended media machine.
"In the wake of our big processor roundup, we've refreshed TR's system guide with more finely tuned CPU recommendations, new graphics cards, and motherboards featuring 6Gbps Serial ATA and USB 3.0 connectivity." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
AMD released two cards today, one is brand new and one we have seen before, but they have added a little something. The new card is the mid ranged HD5830 which was hoped to bring performance close to a HD5850 while keeping the price down. What was delivered is a card closer to the HD5770 that costs close to the HD5850. Still there certainly is a place for this card in quiet systems that still want a little graphical power hidden inside.
The second release is the one likely to raise eyebrows, the HD5870 EyeFinity Edition. This remake of the top single GPU card on the market sports 6 Display Port plugs, finally letting the extreme gamers set up 6 monitor EyeFinity displays at incredible resolutions thanks to the work of the AMD driver team that will ensure Crossfire and EyeFinity play nicely. Of course, that does mean someone out there is going to set up a 24 screen behemoth. AMD also included 5 display adaptors in the kit, saving you from hunting them down yourself unless you need the resolutions only offered by an active Display Port to DVI adaptor. Check them both out in Ryan's full review. "The Radeon HD 5830 fills the gap between the HD 5770 and the HD 5850 pretty well though not without some lingering performance questions and debate surrounding it. For AMD it means another notch in their DX11 belt while we continue to wait for NVIDIA to do ... well anything at this point regarding next-generation technology. For users looking for a sub-$250 graphics card option going into spring the HD 5830 makes a great choice but as is usually the case, make sure you completely understand what options are out there before hitting that buy now button." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digital Trends | Subject: General Tech
Fall 2012 might seem like a long way especially if you are an executive at TSMC, but that is the target for the switch to a 22nm process. There is good news as well for 2010, we will see silicon oxynitride based 28nm at the end of June, its first high-k metal gate at the end of September and they hope to introduce low power HKMG before the end of the year. This does put them behind Global Foundries, who were showing off actual 28nm product to Josh and Allyn.
Then again, seeing TSMC move from the 40nm process is probably going to make a lot of partners and enthusiasts happy as we will not see the supply problems anymore. DigiTimes can tell you all about it. "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is scheduled to enter trial production on its 22nm high performance process node in the third quarter of 2012, and then move to the low power version in the first quarter of 2013, according to Shang-Yi Chiang, senior VP of R&D at the foundry, speaking at a forum in Yokohama" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jonathan Hung | Source: General | Subject: General Tech
 While a lot of attention has been given to Star Craft 2 in the past few days, the other "SC2" yearns for your love and affection too. Supreme Commander 2, is not far from release and Gas Powered Games has given us a demo to play with on Steam. The 1.6GB demo should give you a taste of what this game is all about. From what I've read so far, the game is an interesting extension of the genre and makes good logical improvements from the first Supreme Commander game. I'm excited to try the demo as I don't know what to expect. Download it yourself on Steam and let us know what you think in our Gaming forum.
Metro 2033 is shaping up to be the FPS poster boy for PC shooters this year and the system requirements have just been released. The minimum is a 3GHz dual-core CPU, a DX10 GPU, and 2 GB of RAM. For the "optimal" configuration, you're looking for a Core i7, a GTX 470/480, 8GB of RAM, and a fast / SSD drive. Move over Crysis, it sounds like the new question to ask in the coming days will be: "But can it run Metro 2033?". For those of you who haven't been following this story, it's a DX11 title with NVIDIA support. It follows a post-apocalyptic event and you play a survivor in Moscow living in the underground. Finally this last topic is something I can rant endlessly about, and it's Ubisoft's boneheaded DRM scheme which requires a constant internet connection in order to play their games. Offline playing is not allowed, and if your connection drops suddenly, your game is stopped and you lose any saved data since the last save or checkpoint. It appears this kind of DRM makes games completely unplayable by service men and women in the military where government sponsored internet is expensive and controlled, or internet access is limited or unreliable. According to a deployed solder in this Opposable Thumbs article: "I've had hit and miss success with some of the other download companies. Any kind of game that tries to call home, though, is generally more of a problem than it is worth. Especially ones that try to resolve your IP address with your version/purchase location." Regardless whether you're in the Service or playing at home, treating your users like criminals is not a very good business decision in my opinion and it just encourages and rewards pirating. Ironically, it's the very thing DRM is trying to prevent. Other companies like Valve and StarDock have much more proactive and cooperative approaches which I think should be modeled by others.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Case and Cooling
In a market with 100s of cases to choose from, ranging from huge boxy constructionist styles to sleek little LED bearing cases that would look at home beside a stereo system, no one has dared to slap on a big sparkly pink front panel and replace the power switch with a Swarovski crystal ... until now.
The In Win Diva is a unique case that they feel will appeal to the finer sex, while still managing to house a working PC. Internally it is bare of features, though it does house a 160W PSU that appears to be a TFX form factor. Hardware Secrets rather liked this little case by the end of the review process, so take a peek if you know anyone that needs a hot pink enclosure. "Without exceptions, when we think of a computer case with a unique design invariable we think of a macho-themed product, usually military-inspired. Sensing that girls were being left behind by the case manufacturers, In Win decided to release Diva, a very (very!) small case and very (very!) girly front panel, featuring a big Swarovski crystal as a power button. While straight guys will hate this case, girls (and probably er… "very happy" guys) will love it. Let's see why." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
Aurora, IL – February 23, 2010 – RiiZE, the groundbreaking new service that gives gamers a real chance at making a living doing what they love, gaming, is excited to announce that it has entered the open beta phase of testing. Gamers who play Counter-Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2 are invited to try out this new service at no charge. During the beta test gamers who not only play, but actively engage in providing service feedback will have an opportunity to win part of a $1,000 cash bank per game and will get a free entry into a future event when the services goes live for a chance at part of a guaranteed minimum $5,000 cash bank per game. When RiiZE officially launches, how will it work? For a small entry fee gamers can test their online PC gaming skills and if they rank high enough, take home some cold hard cash. RiiZE provides multiple skill-based gaming events for individuals where they will have the opportunity to win on their own merit, the better they do the more money they can earn. RiiZE's payout bank schedule allows even the most average of gamers a chance to win their money back plus more. The RiiZE open beta test will end in mid-March and slots to participate may be limited based on server capacity. Gamers who are interested can visit http://beta.riize.com/welcome for more information and to sign up. Slot availability is on a first come, first serve basis and is not guaranteed.
To participate in the beta:
While participating in the beta, we need you to meet the following requirements:
For participating in the beta and meeting the requirements you will receive:
If you're still interested and want to help us test this new service then sign up by clicking HERE
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Phoronix | Subject: Mobile
At 101 x 115 x 27mm (4 x 4.5 x 1") it is almost hard to believe that the CompuLab Fit-PC2 NetTop hides a US15W SCH and GMA 500 chipset with WiFi, a 1.6GHz Atom Z530, 1GB of DDR2 system memory, one Gigabit Ethernet port and six USB 2.0 ports. The power draw is equally incredible, less than 1W idling and when playing a 1080p H.264 video it is pegged at 7W or less. As you might expect from a review at Phoronix, this is a Linux box specifically Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and there is a guide for those who would like to upgrade to 9.10. Drop by and give it a look, though you might have to squint a little to see it clearly.
"We have tested a few interesting Intel Atom-powered nettop computers lately from the ASRock ION 330HT- BD that bears a Blu-ray drive and an Intel Atom 330 CPU with NVIDIA ION graphics to the ASUS Eee Top that packaged the entire system within a touch-screen monitor. In this article we are trying out the CompuLab Fit-PC2, which is definitely the smallest Atom-powered computer we have tested to date. The Fit-PC2 easily fits in the palm of your hand and it packs an Intel Atom Z530 processor with a Poulsbo graphics processor, a 160GB SATA HDD, and 1GB of system memory." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: General Tech
There are only a few thousand people to be jealous of and as some of them do publish reviews, you can have a sneak peek or visit YouTube to enjoy the game vicariously. From most of those that did get a beta key for StarCraft II, the general consensus is
that this game was designed with new players in mind. Instead of the daunting learning curve of the original, especially when it comes to multiplayer. Wired talks about the new Battle.net and how they will match you according to the skill level you pick as well as your performance in test games.
At Legion Hardware they focus on the performance of the game at different resolutions. Apparently Blizzard agrees with the idea that having better hardware is cheating, much like we have seen in BioShock or Dragon Rising. The latter were target at those with widescreen displays and keyboards that would let you map leaning into the game. In Blizzard's case they have chosen to punish those who bought powerful graphics cards as no matter what resolution you choose, you will not see any more of the map than a person using a 15" CRT display. It will be crisper and more detailed, and the little zerglings might be easier to see individually. Having playable frame rates from a 9600GT with maximum settings at 2560x1600 is fairly impressive if you are still using one. Ars Technica's focus was more on the feel of the game as well as the way that all of your matches are recorded for later viewing. These movies are not limited, you can watch from the perspective of your enemy as well as yourself to learn the tricks the AI or other players used. Some who like to keep their strategies secret will not like this feature but those who are learning the ropes should consider it a gold mine of information on improving their gameplay.
"Yesterday we woke up in a world where the beta for StarCraft 2
hadn't been released yet, and we went to sleep in a world where about
1,700 people were playing it. Those aren't tremendously good odds for
getting into the beta, but we can only hope more players will be added
as things move along."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: SemiAccurate | Subject: General Tech
Yesterday Josh gave a summary of what we know about the upcoming Magny-Cours CPU from AMD, including some thoughts on the what AMD will be required to do to have a reasonable TDP. Now from SemiAccurate we have some new information about the possible pricing and speeds of the various line ups of 8 and 12 core Magny-Cours, which oddly enough seem to be priced below what the 6 core models are pegged at. The 8 core models will support quad-socket motherboards which will bring joy to the database admins but probably won't be useful for gamers for a while. Task Manager tracking 32 physical cores would be pretty impressive though.
"Starting from the bottom up, we have the Opteron 6128 which is an 8-core model clocked at 1.5GHz. It’s priced at €253.49 ($343) according to TCMagazine. Next up is the 6132 which is a bit faster at 1.7GHz and that extra 200MHz nearly doubles the price to €489 ($661). The last 8-core model is the 6136 which is a lot faster at 2.4GHz and also a good bit more expensive at €692 ($935). These prices are still a lot cheaper than all of the AMD equivalent 6-core models, so all in all it’s not a bad deal, although the clock speeds are a fair bit lower. On the upside, these models should work in quad socket configurations, something which used to cost a lot more money." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jonathan Hung | Source: Toshiba | Subject: Mobile
Not to be outdone by Lenovo's announcement yesterday of the X201 Tablet, Toshiba has begun selling a new Portege M790-S7240 tablet PC. Besides the awkward product name, the Portege M790-S7240 has some interesting features notably an Intel Core i7-620M CPU, 4GB RAM, 1280x800 12.1" touch/pen screen, and a DVD burner (the ThinkPad X201 Table does not have an optical drive).
The new tablet also boasts a respectable 4.86 hours under BatteryMark 2007 with a 6-cell battery. A downside of the Portege is that it doesn not appear to have an HDMI port. Also, it weighs 4.63 lbs. which is on the heavier side for a 12.1" PC. You can get the M790-S7240 now from Toshiba Direct for $1,799 with free shipping. 
Jonathan Hung | Source: General | Subject: Storage
Are you ready for the next generation of memory cards? Sandisk has just announced their first SDXC memory card carrying a 64GB capacity and a Class 4 read speed of 15 MB/s.
To quote the Sandisk press release:  "SDXC cards are based on the new SD 3.0 specification, which makes it possible to manufacture cards with storage capacity up to 2 terabytes (TB)3. The SDXC card's exFAT file structure helps consumers record long-duration HD videos. The 64GB SanDisk Ultra SDXC card can store more than eight hours of such video with recording speed of 9 Mbps (HD standard)."
Not many notebooks are being sold with SDXC read capabilities currently, but keep your eyes peeled for the inevitable glut of USB readers. Related to this is the just announced Compact Flash 5.0 specification. Notable changes from CF 4.0 include: 48 bit addressing for a theoretical 144 PB capacity (yes, that's Peta Bytes), and Trim support. The press release mentions "32MB per transfer", but doesn't quantify a unit of measurement. 
Since this new CF 5.0 specification was just announced on February 22, it will be a few months before we start hearing of new products from companies, and even longer for products to hit the shelves.
Jonathan Hung | Source: Lenovo | Subject: Mobile
Yesterday we shared a bit of news about some updated specs on the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e. Today, Lenovo has let loose with some high performance mobile PCs all carrying the signature ThinkPad trappings.
Announced today are four new mobile products:
The ThinkPad W701 is a 17" portable workstation complete with professional grade Quadrio FX 2800 and 3800 GPUs, and a integrated color calibrator. This unit even has an optional WACOM digitizer pen to allow for fine pen-based manipulation and content creation. Pricing: $2199 for W701, and $3799 for W701ds. 
Finally, the X201 Tablet is a 12" tablet PC running with Intel Core i7 CPUs. The screen is touch and pen based, and the 12.1" can be rotated to be tablet form or as a traditional latop (ye'olde swivel screens). With an i7 CPU, this is likely the fastest performing tablet PC you will find for you major computation and multi-threading needs. Pricing $1549. The above products isn't just about the power and the specs, there's also all the ThinkPad touches fans love like the magnesium body, biometric security, and crash-sensing HDDs. These new notebooks will begin selling in early March. RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – February 23, 2010:Lenovo(HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today is breaking barriers for thin and light
performance with the new ThinkPad X201 laptop, the industry’s fastest
ultraportable laptop1. Lenovo is also introducing five new
Think-branded products to give customers a new level of value with more
choice, unparalleled performance and greater productivity. These
include the ThinkPad X201s laptop, the thinnest and lightest ThinkPad,
the X201 tablet, the smart tablet for business users, the powerful W701
and W701ds mobile workstations, the most powerful ThinkPads, and the
ThinkServer TS200v tower, Lenovo’s first server with unprecedented
management capabilities and solid reliability at a desktop price.
“We’re
continuing to push the envelope on innovation to give our mobile
customers faster, more powerful and smarter ThinkPad laptops,” said
Dilip Bhatia, executive director, ThinkPad Product Marketing, Lenovo.
“These PCs incorporate the latest computing technologies and extra
Lenovo features to make the PC experience more simple and
productive.”
Continue reading the Press Release here.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tweaknews | Subject: General Tech
If you are a fan of fashion and want a mouse with the same trademark lines of CoolerMaster cases and maybe a nice LED as well, the CM Storm is the way to go. Not only do you get a little desktop bling, Tweaknews thought this was the best mouse they'd run into in a long time. There is also the chance for pranksters to have a little fun, as the DPI sensitivity for both the X and Y of this mouse can be adjusted separately.
"It's easy to sum up the CM Storm Sentinel Advance. It's simply one of the best gaming mice on the market today, if not THE best. What makes it so great is not any one feature in particular, it's the combination of ergonomics, performance, and customization that all work together in making a mouse that is a winner for buyers in the enthusiast market." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: Graphics Card
The MSI HD R5770 Hawk sports military class components, a 7+1 phase unit and a Twin Frozr II GPU cooler all of which points towards great overclocking potential. Out of the box it has an 875MHz core clock and memory at 1200MHz, but with a little tweaking OCC managed to hit a stable 1025MHz and 1410MHz; not a bad jump at all. Of course at those speeds the fan does get a little noisy and those with big monitors will be upset to learn that there is only a single DVI port, but those looking for a great value in GPU power ought to read the full review.
"Now, after talking up the overclocking potential of the military class components and great cooling capabilities of the MSI HD R5770 Hawk, did it live up to it's overclocking hype? The answer to that question is a resounding, yes! During overclocking the Hawk's GPU core maxed out at 1025Mhz, which is roughly a 17% overclock and the memory was extremely overclockable as well, reaching a final frequency of 1410MHz before running into any stability issues. These clocks will make this card an absolute value to the overclocking community, but the MSI Hawk isn't done yet." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Storage
[H]ard|OCP tests the two controllers that offer native SATA 6G support on motherboards, the Marvell 88SE912and the Marvell 88SE9123. They compare it to the Intel ICH10R which is of the previous 3Gb/s generation of controller and the results are enlightening. The ICH10R should be about half the speed of the Marvell transfer rates but the testing does not bear that hypothesis out. When they tried RAID0 the results become even more interesting, you definitely want to check this article out.
"There has been a lot of talk about the new "Serial ATA Revision 3.0 specification." New motherboards
are now on the market with "SATA 6Gb/s" controllers, but what does all this mean to the enthusiast?
Heck, what does "SATA 3" mean? We take a quick look at what "SATA Revision 3.0" is supposed to do for
the world and what it will actually do for us on the desktop currently with RAID 0 and single disk
configurations."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Josh Walrath | Source: AMD | Subject: Processor
Blogging seems the thing to do anymore, and even John Fruehe of AMD has decided that it would be an excellent idea to keep people informed of some of the inner workings of the server and workstation division of AMD. His latest blog has revealed that the 8 and 12 core Opterons, code named Magny-Cours (pronounced many cores... get it?), have been shipped to certain select partners. This was supposedly a response to some overseas company announcing that it is selling 12 core based products (they in fact are not).
Magny-Cours is comprised of two 4 or 6 core dies, and as such has some interesting characteristics. First off, it requires a special socket as compared to current Opterons. Each CPU supports 4 DDR-3 memory channels, which should give plenty of memory bandwidth for the density of the compute power. Very little has been talked about with the inner workings of how they are fusing these two cores on each substrate together, but obviously they are connected by multiple HyperTransport connections. This is something that many around the industry were confused about in the past... namely, why didn't AMD produce dual core and quad core products before they did with previous generation parts (eg. two single core Athlon's to make a dual core, or two dual core Athlons to make a quad core)? One would have thought that HyperTransport would have been robust enough to encourage such a product Heat and power is a concern for AMD here, and obviously we will not see and 8 or 12 core parts hitting 3 GHz or more. I would hazard a guess and say that we would expect to see the highest clocked, highest TDP part to be at 2.2 GHz. TDPs for these parts are expressed as ACP by AMD, and we should see 55 W, 75 W, and 105 W processors. Even though the clockspeeds will not be nearly as high as what we would hope, the actual computing density of these parts is pretty impressive. A 4S system with 48 cores and 16 DDR-3 memory channels makes for a mouthwatering VM server. Another positive offshoot of this release is that we can expect to see the newly redesigned quad core and six core desktop Phenom IIs based on the slightly revised Istanbul chip. AMD is being closemouthed about what all internal changes they have made, but apparently they are big enough to differentiate these parts from the older 45 nm Phenom IIs. I have heard it whispered that these upcoming Phenom II X4s are in fact standalone designs, and not just a six core die with two cores fused off (though there will likely be some of those to help recover yields). 
Though AMD is sampling the Fusion design to partners in the first half of this year, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is still not ready to mass produce 32 nm parts. Fusion is again a slight reworking of the Phenom II architecture with better performance per clock than what we have here. Of course, the big change is the addition of a fully functional DX11/Compute portion to the product. Unlike Intel's Clarksdale chip, which features a 32 nm Nehalem based core attached to a 45 nm graphics/memory controller chip, this is a fully integrated 32 nm part. I believe that AMD is really hoping to create a software environment where a lot of the heavy floating point work will be directed to the streaming portion of the graphics side. Once GLOBALFOUNDRIES starts churning out Fusion parts, you can bet that AMD will take a good look at shrinking the Istanbul core, especially if there are any further delays for the Bulldozer architecture. Hopefully for consumers and AMD itself, we will not see any delays in Bulldozer and can expect to see initial samples coming out in late 2H of this year.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
The Inquirer noticed an update on nVIDIA's Twitter feed that pegs the launch of Fermi to March 26th, just a bit over a month from now. Most likely we will see them first at this years PAX as the first date of Gabe & Tycho party coincides with that date. Hold out hope that they are useful for more than running the Heaven benchmark and cooking a roast simultaneously.
"GRAPHICS CHIPMAKER Nvdia has announced the launch date for its long overdue Fermi GPUs on its Twitter account. The Green Goblin's next generation line of GPUs was originally planned to come out last year but was delayed for months by design and manufacturing problems. Now Nvidia has confirmed a launch date of March 26, writing, 'Apologies for the confusion around our most recent GF100 update. To clarify, launch date for GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 is March 26, 2010.'" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Red & Blackness Mods | Subject: System
If you are looking for a unique and compact HTPC case you should consider Moneual's MonCaso 600. If you are not into building SFF PCs you may have never run into Moneual before as their entire line up is based around that. This case includes a 350W TFX form factor PSU, a good idea as the long skinny PSUs can be difficult to find. At 3.8 x 16.9 x 13.8" you will not be fitting anything other than an mATX board inside (perhaps the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 LGA Steve just reviewed) and any extra cards you want to add will have to be slim line. Red & Blackness Mods reviews what might be a start to a great HTPC build.
"Moneual’s usual set of features on their cases can include touch screen LCDs, front paenl knobs, stylish looks, and even remote controls. The Moneual MonCaso 600 is more of a mainstream case in that it is rather simple and featureless." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jonathan Hung | Source: Lenovo | Subject: Mobile
The sharp-eyed folks at Netbook News have spotted that Lenovo has listed a new variation of the Thinkpad X100 netbook which includes an Intel Atom 450 processor, and a smaller 10.1" screen. This in itself is interesting and exciting news for those seeking an above-average netbook, or those with a ThinkPad fetish.
But digging a bit deeper, we have discovered that all that glitters is not gold. The 10.1" option has a lower screen resolution of 1280x720 compared to the 1366x768 on the 11.6" display. Also, the 10.1" only has a single RAM DIMM, making it less flexible in the upgrade department compared to the 11.6" which comes with two DIMMs. No word on pricing or availability of the 10.1" and Atom 450 options. 
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Motherboard
AnandTech would like to help you choose the best H55/H57
motherboard for your needs; a good thing considering how many there are. This second roundup brings the total amount of boards they've compared to eight, from a wide variety of manufacturers. They came up with three recommendations as they didn't feel there was a clear winner. They do warn that all these boards need to be flashed to the newest BIOS in order to enjoy a pain free experience.
"It's finally ready: part 2 of our H55/H57 coverage. After battling it out with eight motherboards,
we decide which ones we'd be happy to live with on a daily basis. If you missed part 1, we'll take
this opportunity to re-direct you."
Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
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