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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 9/2009 )
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Case and Cooling
Two big news items today, one of which has been kept secret and one that we knew was coming. First from AMD we have the HD5890s little brother, the HD5850. In many ways it is similar, 1GB of GDDR5 and support for EyeFinity are the most important features it has kept. The differences come in the sheer power available which is less than the 5890 but still far ahead of the HD4890. See for yourself in Ryan's full review.
The second big announcement comes from nVIDIA and is a preview of their new Fermi architecture. Ryan has put a lot of detail into a two page article covering the technical specifics that we know and some thoughts on what it might mean. With an architectural change of this magnitude it is hard to guess exactly what effect it will have on a running product. Learn about the future of CUDA and nVIDIAs' cGPU initiative. "From a gaming angle, which is obviously one of our primary targets at PC Perspective, we don’t yet know how the Fermi architecture will apply. While I am doubtful that NVIDIA will be sharing any information about new products, frequencies, etc during the GPU Tech Conference today, if we find anything out we will be sure to share it. But even if clock rates remain the same as we currently have on the GT200 the architecture should perform damn well – after all we moved from 240 SPs to 512 SPs and have a new GDDR5 memory bus that is 384-bits wide." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: General Tech
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Looks to NVIDIA "Fermi" Architecture For New Supercomputer Oak Ridge Supercomputer Targets NVIDIA GPU Computing Technology to Achieve Order of Magnitude Performance Over Today's Fastest Supercomputer SANTA CLARA, Calif. -Sep. 30, 2009- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced plans today for a new supercomputer that will use NVIDIA's next generation CUDA(tm) GPU architecture, codenamed "Fermi". Used to pursue research in areas such as energy and climate change, ORNL's supercomputer is expected to be 10-times more powerful than today's fastest supercomputer. Jeff Nichols, ORNL associate lab director for Computing and Computational Sciences, joined NVIDIA co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on stage during his keynote at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference. He told the audience of 1,400 researchers and developers that "Fermi" would enable substantial scientific breakthroughs that would be impossible without the new technology. "This would be the first co-processing architecture that Oak Ridge has deployed for open science, and we are extremely excited about the opportunities it creates to solve huge scientific challenges," Nichols said. "With the help of NVIDIA technology, Oak Ridge proposes to create a computing platform that will deliver exascale computing within ten years." ORNL also announced it will be creating the Hybrid Multicore Consortium. The goals of this consortium are to work with the developers of major scientific codes to prepare those applications to run on the next generation of supercomputers built using GPUs. "The first two generations of the CUDA GPU architecture enabled NVIDIA to make real in-roads into the scientific computing space, delivering dramatic performance increases across a broad spectrum of applications," said Bill Dally, chief scientist at NVIDIA. "The 'Fermi' architecture is a true engine of science and with the support of national research facilities such as ORNL, the possibilities are endless." For more information on "Fermi", NVIDIA's next generation CUDA compute and
graphics architecture, please visit: www.nvidia.com/fermi and for more
information on ORNL, please visit www.ornl.gov.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: Storage
Patriot's Torqx 128GB MLC SSD uses the familiar Indilinx Bigfoot controller and comes in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB flavours. The 128GB model is what is up for review at Legit Reviews, compared to all the other SSDs they have had a chance to test. We know that this drive will support TRIM in Windows 7 but they did not have a chance to test that particular feature. You can be guaranteed that all the other features are covered in their full review. "The Torqx performed very well and near or at the top in just about all benchmarks. That being said, benchmarks do not always equate to how the drives perform in the real world and over time. I spent some time playing around on Windows 7 installed on the drive for quite while. I did a lot of multi-tasking, simultaneous file copies and moves, and played a game or two as well. I didn't notice any problems with stuttering and the system felt very crisp and responsive with Windows booting in less than twenty seconds from completion of BIOS load..." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
PC Perspective is LIVE at the NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference in San Jose and we will be covering the opening keynote that starts at 1pm PT / 4pm ET. Check back just before the show gets started!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: General Tech
Google is looking to replace the old standby for email, SMTP, with a high performance javascript program called Wave. It would even seem that the much maligned Chrome Frame plug in for IE was specifically to allow use of Wave, as Microsoft disbelieves in providing a high speed javascript rendering engine for its browser. Wave bears more resemblance to a threaded forum or Twitter, but it is server and client based, so can be used in large networks but at the same time it is decentralized and can be run independently of
Google. Drop by Ars Technica and sink your teeth into an application that you may be seeing a lot of in the future.
"Many of the underlying standards that define modern e-mail technology were originally developed in the 1980s. Almost 30 years after the birth of SMTP, e-mail is still the dominant Internet communication medium despite its significant limitations and increasingly anachronistic design. Supplementary services like instant messaging and microblogging have emerged to fill in some of the gaps, but virtually no attempts have been made to build a holistic replacement for e-mail. Our most important day-to-day messaging infrastructure remains intractably mired in antiquity." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: GALAXY Technology | Subject: General Tech
Great news to all you insomniac gamers who set themselves up for an all night gaming session only to have your graphics card suddenly flake out on you. Galaxy now offers 24 hour technical support for Canada and the US; so you can get back into your game, even if it is 2AM.
Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong September 29, 2009 - Galaxy Microsystems Ltd. a leading global manufacturer of graphics accelerators, today announced that it has increased tech support to 24 hours 7 days per week to serve customers in the United States and Canada effective from October 1, 2009.
"As Galaxy continues to grow in the retail space we felt this was a must to show customers that if they need help with one of our products we will be there to answer their questions with a live person any time day or night," said Ric Lewis US Sales. Galaxy products can be found on the shelf at Best Buy, Microcenter, CompUSA, and Fry’s and at leading etailers like Newegg.com, TigerDirect, and Dell.com.
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Editorial
Hurry!! Only a few days left to enter!!! Help us reach our goal! Every once in a while a worthy cause comes along that really makes you sit up and realize how lucky you are and how much more you could be doing for others. Recently some very close friends of ours gave birth to their first child, Gabriel Thomas Lawrence, who was born with Down Syndrome and other various heart and breathing complications. He is proving to be a very tough little boy, fighting his problems in and out of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Gabriel "Cash" Lawrence
This October the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati will be holding a charity walk to benefit local families affected by DS. We have a team of people helping to raise money and awareness of the event (you can see our page at http://tinyurl.com/teamcash). I decided that a great way to raise some money for this cause would be to offer up some great prizes to our readers in the form of a raffle. Here are the prizes being given away:
We are going to be giving away this awesome care package of PC hardware goodness to the lucky winner of our raffle! All it takes to enter is a donation of $5 to this very worthy charity and 100% of the money donated will obviously be straight to those families in need. Please help us support families in need and give yourself a chance to win some great hardware!!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Seasonic X-750 PSU has an interesting little tidbit hidden in their manual, describing it as a Pull PSU. This means that it supplies only the power being pulled from it at anytime as opposed to providing its full power at all times. That may have helped it reach the 80+ Gold rating that the PSU sports. On top of that, it also has a very unique design on the interior that allows for much improved air flow. Head to [H]ard|OCP to see why this PSU excited them so much they gave it a Gold Award.
"Fully modular, 750 watts of computing power, high efficiency, and a great build quality has been done before in the world of PSUs, but never quite like this. Seasonic's X Series is an evolution in the world of power supplies." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bjorn3D | Subject: Case and Cooling
Back in the days of the K6 some overclocking enthusiasts would lap the integrated heatspreader that covered the physical chip. Now we can revisit those bygone days thanks to the new chips incorporating a heatspreader once again. In case you weren't around for those days of yore, Bjorn3D has published a guide on the proper method to lap your CPU. Check out the process to give you a few more degrees of headroom for overclocking.
"Lapping an IHS on a CPU is not as hard as most think. It does not require hours of work, and there is none of this, 'You have to do this way, and only this way for perfect results.' Contrary to popular belief lapping the IHS can be done in a matter of minutes and still get a seriously high polish out of it." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: General Tech
$69 seems like a reasonable price for a mouse with the highest DPI available on the market and that is the MSRP for the CoolerMaster Storm Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse.
Dual lasers, an OLED screen to inform you what your current settings are and an LED that can switch between 7 different colours to give your gaming hand some moonlighting. Does it live up to your expectations? Find out over at Overclockers Club.
"One of the really great features of this mouse had to be the on-board memory which allows you to store settings and eliminates the need to install the software on the computer to use it. I was very much surprised and impressed by the LED features of the mouse. I like the ability to change between 7 different colors on the LEDs. On that note, this mouse had to be the most customizable I've ever had. I really came to appreciate the bleeding edge 5600DPI and the precision of the dual tracking lasers is quite astounding." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Benchmark Reviews | Subject: Motherboard
One of the bigger arguments right now concerns Intel's two current chipsets, the P55 and the X58. With the X58 comes support for LGA1366 processors, a family that holds the performance crown, a separate PCIe controller and support for triple channel DDR3. All of those features come at a premium, making the X58 series of motherboards the most expensive to purchase. The younger P55 board supports the new LGA1156 chips, which have an integral PCIe controller and can only support dual channel RAM setups. That does save some cost, though most companies have gone all out packing the boards with a long list of extra features. One such board, the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 is being tested at Benchmarks Reviews against a GA-EX58-UD4P. If you squint, you might be able to make out the performance differences which may not be what you expect.
"For computer enthusiasts, the last Intel milestone was the Core i7 processor launch that paralleled the X58-Express motherboard chipset launch back in November of 2008. Ten months later and well into September of 2009, Intel has returned with the P55- Express chipset for mainstream users who pair it with the new LGA1356 socket. On the outside little more than the processor socket and memory configuration has changed, replacing dual-channel for triple. PCI-Express now offers only one 16x lane instead of two, while the number of SATA and USB ports continues to give more expansion room than the average user might need. The consumer might not know what to expect when choosing between the two products, other than one is mainstream (P55) and the other is for extreme enthusiasts (X58). In this article, Benchmark Reviews directly compares the Intel Core i7-860 equipped Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 motherboard against the GA-EX58-UD4P with Intel Core i7-920. Testi! ng a Core i7-860 against an i7-920 might not seem fair, and it's a little biased to compare P55 against X58, but the final outcome might just surprise you." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: General Tech
The coming holiday season is going to bring a lot of changes to the graphics market and DigiTimes was kind enough to gather all of the expected releases into one news story. From nVIDIA we are finally going to see new silicon, the renaming game is over for a little while. The GT210, GT220, GT240 and GT300 will hopefully overcome the production problems at TSMC and will be on the streets soon. We have seen some of AMD's offerings and they will be topping up the low end with the HD5750 and HD5770 and the top end with dual GPU versions of the 5870 and 5850 that are already available.
"Nvidia is expected to unveil new GPUs, the GeForce GT210, GT220 and GT240 in the fourth quarter of 2009, before the arrival of its GT300 series in December, while AMD is expected to release the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and 5750 (Juniper) in October, and Radeon HD 5870 X2 and Radeon HD 5850 X2 in November, according to sources at graphics card makers." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Extremetech | Subject: Mobile
These laptops embody the opposite side of the mobile scale to netbooks. They are heavy, they are hot and they will eat a battery in under an hour; they are the Core i7 based Clarksfield series. The Core i7 820QM and 720QM
will be showing up in notebooks soon and not just from extreme boutique builders like Falcon Northwest and Alienware, one is even speced at the $1400 mark. Once Arrandale hits we might see them in a more portable form, but until then drop by ExtremeTech for a look at some Clarksfield whitebooks in action.
"It's been a rough year for PC makers. New processors and chipsets were a yearly event for Intel, but the slow economy and the struggle to unload current inventory pushed back the hottest chip release for laptops since Centrino 2. The Core i7 processor, codenamed "Nehalem," created quite the buzz in the desktop community, tearing up performance charts and tempting performance enthusiasts to abandon the aging Core 2 Duos. Thankfully, every Intel chip that ends up in a desktop is usually followed by a mobile version. At the Intel Developers Forum this year, the chip giant kicked things off with three top-shelf mobile Core i7s, codenamed "Clarksfield": The Core i7-920XM (Extreme), the Core i7-820QM, and the Core i7-720QM. The launch is focused primarily on high-end and gaming laptops that are also affordable, given upcoming systems will cost less than $2,000. In speed, Clarksfield reaches new heights of performance—and we have the benchmark numbers to prove it." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Missing Remote | Subject: Case and Cooling
Missing Remote has published a comprehensive guide on getting your audio off of your PC an onto another audio player. Specifically they explore your options in 'converting compressed lossless audio formats into LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) for output over the HDMI or analog connections to an AVR'. That may sound technical and you would not be wrong in thinking so, however, they have put a lot of effort into making the process as clear as possible. Dive in and make your audio quality match your HD video output quality.
"While video quality is important, I find that it's the audio that really transforms a good movie into an immersive experience. As challenging as it can be to get flawless video playback working on the HTPC, enabling proper lossless multi-channel audio playback adds another layer of difficultly into the mix. In this guide we will discuss the different options available for getting full fidelity HD audio off your PC and into the Audio/Video receiver (AVR)." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tweaknews | Subject: Display
60Hz displays will probably be the next thing to fall victim to obsolescence as we start to see 120Hz displays appearing on the market. The 1680x1050 Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ
is one example of the displays taking advantage of the new display technology and at $319 you don't pay too much of a premium for the privilege of
doubling your hertz. You will need a dual link DVI cable capable of sending 120Hz to get the full effect, but after that you can see what has Tweaknews so excited.
"Till now, most monitor releases have been carbon copy releases of technology that has been out for over three years. An image quality tweak here, a design tweak there was all the consumer could expect. But this monitor is different in a big way. The technology difference contained within this rather standard monitor screams out loud in a crowd of your average everyday LCD computer monitor. No longer does the gamer have to settle in order to enjoy their games and no longer do they have to wait. The 120hz technology is here and I hope it is here to stay." Here are some more Display articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: Graphics Card
If you are patiently awaiting the arrival of the HD5890 and its ability to provide 3D accelerated graphics on 3 LCDs screens and are passing the time by watching other people play then Guru3D is the place to be. Of course they try flight simulators and racing games, but the FPS and strategy games also get a look in their review. Head over and see of you can break their bandwidth streaming all the videos.
"With the release of Radeon series 5800 comes a new feature. It's called Eyefinity. Eyefinity in short is having the ability to connect multiple monitors to your graphics card and create an extreme native resolution. It allows you to setup two to six monitors, combine them and make one massive screen.Guru3D will put this to the test today as we combine three 24 inch Dell monitors and try out a good number of games. The idea is to create a much more immersive state of gameplay. Especially for flight simulators , racing games and strategy games where you like to have a big field / area to play in it enhances visibility, this feature could just be really grand. Wanna have a look ? We are going to show you some video's ... of ATI Eyefinity as well." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: General Tech
DDR2 has hit the price point where you will no longer see it appearing in pre-built systems, just as it has almost disappeared from enthusiast systems. DigiTimes has seen that the average price of DDR2 has hit congruence with the average price of DDR3 as it continues to becomes more expensive to buy. As less companies order DDR2 from factories it becomes a custom run to produce it, therefore costing as much per unit to make as DDR3.
We at PC Perspective saw this coming, not a single system in the Hardware Leaderboard has used DDR2 in several months. "Recent spot prices for DDR2 1Gb 800MHz chips climbed to US$2, according to DRAMeXchange. The growth momentum accelerated faster than previously expected, and may enable upstream memory makers to stage an early turnaround, industry sources have commented. Average pricing for DDR2 1Gb 800MHz chips rose 4.04% in one day to close at US$2.00 on September 25, according to quotes gathered by DRAMeXchange. The eTT segment also surged 5.55% to reach US$1.94, the firm added. Nanya Technology, Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) and ProMOS Technologies have suffered losses since the second quarter of 2007. Inotera Memories fell into the red in fourth-quarter 2007, and has also remained unprofitable since." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: General Tech
CPU launches are coming fast and furious this year, with the possibility of more
before the year is out, making it a great time to be an enthusiast. Mind you, even the best of us can have trouble keeping up with the latest features present on a CPU, how is someone just starting (or restarting) in the world of computer going to figure out which processor family they should be considering, let alone which model. That doesn't even touch on the cases, which one has to also be very careful in choosing lest they cook the components or purchase one too small to hold all their chosen parts. Graphics fans had better be willing to devote serious time to keeping their GTXs and X2s straight and their generation current. Even the diagnostic software needs to change, mostly to keep up with the aforementioned new CPU families.
Don't spend all your time slaving away at piles of data and component lists, we filter some of the best in tech for you on the weekly PC Perspective Podcast. Perhaps one of the most important topics we touched on this week had nothing to do with tech, but on something much more valuable. Ryan has become involved in a raffle for a very sick little boy, donate and not only do you get a chance to help out the family you also get to have a chance to win some serious hardware, including a new HD 5870!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: Storage
We have been using USB 2.0 for about 8 years now and until recently the 480Mbit/s has been fine; with the advent of multi gigabyte USB flash drives it is no longer quick enough for most users. The USB 3.0 standard is finally appearing and it is Freecom that has managed to hit the streets first with an external USB 3.0 drive, while Seagate will release the first internal drive. The new interface should increase the speed 10 fold, transferring a 5GB file in under 1 minute. Drop by Slashdot for a peek at a very fast 1TB USB drive that won't bankrupt you to buy.
"After 8 years of success, the USB 2.0 standard has begun its long journey into obsolescence. Dutch storage company Freecom has announced the first mainstream storage product based on 'SuperSpeed' USB 3.0. Buyers will be interested to hear that the new external Hard Drive XS 3.0 doesn't cost the earth at £99 (approx $160) for a 1TB drive, even though that excludes the £22.99 for a desktop PCI-bus controller necessary to make it work at its intended throughput. Laptop users can pair it with a £25.99 plug-in PC Card to achieve the same effect." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: General Tech
The cool unreleased but hopefully some day available tech that you see at the IDF certainly captures the attention, but the one constant that everyone pays attention to are the roadmap updates that chart the coming year. This IDF it was Westmere that is just on the horizon, the die shrink to Nehalem. Arrandale and Clarkdale
will be the first to arrive, some time before we roll over to 2010. AnandTech has taken a close look at what we know for sure about Intel's next tock.
"Intel spent a lot of time talking about Nehalem a year ago, but not much time on Westmere. It's the tick to Nehalem's tock, or in other words, it's 32nm Nehalem. Unlike previous die shrinks, we don't get larger caches with Westmere - Nehalem was already too big to begin with. Westmere keeps the same architecture, same cache sizes (or ratios) as Nehalem. It's all built using smaller 32nm transistors and on a smaller die. For the same core count, expect Westmere to be roughly half the size." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bjorn3D | Subject: Case and Cooling
At $50 you may well expect that the
NZXT M59 is just another value case that might have reasonable cooling but will look just like all the other black value cases out there. That is not exactly true, as NZXT has gone out of their way to give the front an top of this case a different look. Some differences are less obvious, the filtered intake for the bottom mounted PSU for instance. A mix of up to five 120/140mm provide you with air flow and while it doesn't have a removable motherboard tray, there is a large enough hole in the back plate to allow easy swapping of heatsinks. If your curiosity has been peaked, drop by Bjorn3D for a closer look.
"Although they all serve the same purpose, PC cases are the source of first impressions when looking at a computer. Some have flashing lights, some have endless drive bays, and I'm sure there are some that will even make your coffee in the morning. No matter what the standout feature is, a case is there to hold all of the components together to tame the wild hardware inside. Many times when putting together a parts list for a new build, the last thing that is thought of is the case. Sure you have the top-end CPU and videocard, SSDs for your data and gigs of RAM, but unless you have a case that is designed to house the latest hardware, you are at a standstill. Luckily NZXT has recently released the M59 gaming chassis. The M59 brings together a plethora of features that most users like to see in a case, all at a great budget price. Don't be swayed away from the M59 because of it's budget pricing; this case has great potential for builds of all natures. Let's take a look at what the $60 NZXT M59 can get done." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NGOHQ | Subject: General Tech
Protecting your investments is a good idea in business as well as in your personal life, which was what likely prompted nVIDIA to have their latest graphics card driver disable PhysX in a system with non-nVIDIA cards in it. A sub-set of those gamers who do use PhsyX utilize an AMD card for their graphics with an nVIDIA card to handle the PhysX processing but apparently using the 186 driver version will disable GPU PhsyX processing. PhysX has not had much success penetrating the market, those few games that utilize it do not really gain any benefits from PhsyX apart from a few visual changes which most of the gaming market are not willing to invest in a second GPU to experience.
Also consider the pending release of the MSI Big Bang motherboard that will have the Lucid HYDRA chip on it. That will allow you to use any two to four GPUs in tandem, be they AMD or nVIDIA and with scaling that looks to be much superior to CrossfireX or HybridSLI. Perhaps the poster at NGOHQ who notified us of this issue is not over reacting when proclaiming that nVIDIA has shot its self in the foot. “Well for all those who have used Nvidia cards for PhysX and ATI cards to render graphics in Windows 7... All that is about to change. Since the release of 186 graphics drivers Nvidia has decided to disable PhysX anytime a Non-Nvidia GPU is even present in the same PC. Nvidia again has shot themselves in the foot here and showed they are not customer oriented. Since they are pushing Physx this will not win over any ATI fanboys with this latest decision.” Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: General Tech
They need a small mouse.
So OCZ, makers of fine mice and occasionally RAM, has developed a mouse that is the Danny DeVito to the Behemoth's Ahnuld. The Eclipse does not have quite the DPI resolution of its larger twin but that didn't detract from the quality of the mouse, Hardware Secrets still found it quite usable. They did discover one or two problems mixed in with the good features so do check out their review before you buy one. "OCZ presents the follow up to the previously tested Behemoth, a mouse geared towards big-handed users, with a smaller-sized companion, the Eclipse. Don’t let the size fool you, however; the peripheral has everything a gaming-grade mouse requires: adjustable weight, function buttons, individual profiles, and high precision. With up to 2,400 dpi of resolution, it’s behind the Behemoth itself (3,200 dpi) and the also tested Mamba from Razer (5,600 dpi), but that didn’t detract from the experience, as we will see later on in this test." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Intel Press Room | Subject: General Tech
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Sept. 24, 2009 – Intel Corporation today unveiled the Intel Atom processor CE4100, the newest System-on-Chip (SoC) in a family of media processors designed to bring Internet content and services to digital TVs, DVD players and advanced set-top boxes. The CE4100 processor, formerly codenamed "Sodaville," is the first 45nm-manufactured consumer electronics (CE) SoC based on Intel architecture. It supports Internet and broadcast applications on one chip, and has the processing power and audio/video components necessary to run rich media applications such as 3-D graphics. "Traditional broadcast networks are quickly shifting from a linear model to a multi-stream, Internet-optimized model to offer consumers digital entertainment that complements the TV such as social networking, 3-D gaming and streaming video," said Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager, Intel Digital Home Group. "At the center of the TV evolution is the CE4100 media processor, a new architecture that meets the critical requirements for connected CE devices." CE Industry Rallies Around Intel CE Media Processors
As TVs become more interactive, Adobe Flash is an important enabling technology to help content developers blend together video, 3-D animation and rich graphics. Intel is working with Adobe to port Adobe Flash Player 10 to the family of Intel CE media processors to optimize the playback of graphics and H.264 video to enable for the first time a wide array of Flash-based content on the television. "The architecture of Intel media processors provides a powerful and innovative platform to showcase Flash-based applications in a vivid way," said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. "Flash Player 10 combined with the performance of the Intel media processor and its support for standards such as OpenGL ES 2.0 offers a compelling environment for Flash-based games, videos and other rich Web content and applications." The companies expect Adobe Flash Player 10 to be available in the first half of 2010 for Intel media processor-based CE devices. Malachy Moynihan, vice president for video product strategy, Cisco Service Provider Video Technology Group, discussed how delivering premium video to the TV will require intelligent networks and content storage. "Cisco is helping service providers evolve their networks to a medianet, integrating the best elements of the existing broadcast infrastructure with carrier-grade IP networks to provide new services like unified video experience," said Moynihan. "The crucial components to enable a unified video experience include the need for an emerging monetization model across the video ecosystem as well as client devices with quality graphics and a high-performance processor to truly enhance the visual appeal for consumers." On-Demand Gaming for TV
"At TransGaming, we're in the business of enabling existing games to operate on alternative operating systems," said Gupta. "Since Intel CE processors run on Intel architecture, it's a fast and easy migration from the PC to the CE platform." The GameTree.tv service will offer a broad library of games such as sports, action and adventure and provide content developers with a software development kit to support the migration of existing games and the development of new games based on the Intel CE platform. It will help revolutionize the delivery and global consumption of video games and provide a turnkey monetization strategy for CE manufacturers and cable/satellite providers (MSOs). TV Widgets, Interactive TV Applications
"Navigation is the No. 1 challenge for today's television viewers," said George Schweitzer, president, CBS Marketing. "Intel's CE technology and our new TV Widget platform are designed to help people find the shows they want and discover new programs that are relevant to their interests. What's more, the TV Widget gives us another platform to connect and interact with our audience while delivering an exciting new television experience." Intel is working with the industry to expand Widget Channel to provide consumers a range of services such as movies, music, games and personal videos. TV Widgets and services shown at IDF were from Accedo Broadband, The Associated Press, BIGSTAR.tv, CBS, CinemaNow, Dailymotion, Immediatek, Mediafly, MyVideo, Netflix, PlayJam, RadioTime, RallyPoint, ShowTime Networks, Tagesschau and WhereverTV. Intel Atom Processor CE4100
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: System
The Tech Report has revisited their line up of recommended system builds, thanks to the new season's processors. AMD still rules their Econobox, with the highly overclockable
Phenom II X3 720 BE and the HD4850. The Utility Player gets an update with a nice Lynnfield processor on a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R while the Sweeter Spots uses a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P and a faster Lynnfield CPU. The Double Stuff system is of course the most impressive build, 12GB of DDR3-1600 along with a few other twinned components will get you ahead of the pack and for only $2,600!
"In this edition of the system guide, we update our Utility Player and Sweeter Spot builds with Intel's new Lynnfield processors, juice up the Econobox with a triple- core processor, and more." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Case and Cooling
The first time that [H]ard|OCP reviewed the 850W Thermaltake Toughpower XT they were not terribly impressed with the stability of the voltages it provided. They noticed fluctuations that hit the very limit of the ATX 12v specs, A problem most other PSUs in that class do not have. Thermaltake have since cleaned up their ripples and have released a new revision which [H]ard|OCP picked up to compare to the original. Can this $214 PSU improve its self so much that it can compete against others, like the $130 Corsair TX850? "Thermaltake has revamped its Toughpower XT 850W computer power supply. They have taken a good unit and made it a lot better. But is "better" good enough for you to be spending your hard earned greenbacks on this PSU? We tell you that in a one page review follow-up." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Zone | Subject: General Tech
AMD may have scooped Intel, both in terms of the single GPU performance crown but also successfully dragging attention away from the Intel Developers Forum. If your attention did wander and you missed some of the news coming out of the IDF then The Hardware Zone has you covered. They have pictures of Paul Otellini waving around a 22nm wafer showing off the future of Intel's chip production, which you can get a look at on their roadmap. It is not all hardware, there was a site announced for those wishing to develop apps for the Atom platform as well.
"We look at Intel's latest product roadmaps from the enterprise segment all the way down to netbooks. We reveal all the 32nm product changes and their expected availability." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MSI | Subject: Graphics Card
[City of Industry, CA] As top computer gamers are demanding only the very best hardware, all manufacturers in the industry are constantly striving for the efficiency and performance to fulfill these needs. In order to adequately cater to these ever increasing performance demands, MSI - the leading graphics cards and mainboard manufacturer - has joined forces with the renowned graphics chip manufacturer AMD and today officially launched the next generation MSI R5800 series graphics cards. The 40nm GPU supports DirectX 11 and a variety of AMD-exclusive audio/visual and performance enhancing technologies, creating an entirely new series of performance oriented graphics cards. 40nm manufacturing process – new performance leader
/Supporting a variety of next-generation graphics standards
Brand new ATi Eyefinity technology - single-card triple-screen output
Military Class Concept Components – To bring a new level of stability
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MSI | Subject: Motherboard
[City of Industry, CA] World-leading graphics card and mainboard manufacturer, MSI, has announced a technology partnership with LucidLogix at IDF to expand its high-end product line design to deliver a more advanced gaming experience for enthusiasts. Through the formation of this technology partnership, MSI and LucidLogix demonstrate how inventive collaboration can extend capabilities and create product innovation. The all-new premium line is inspired by the “Big Bang” in astronomy, and is dedicated to unique innovation. Powered by the new Lucid HYDRA 200 real-time distributed processing engine, the MSI Big Bang features the first-ever universal multi-GPU mainboard. Already, its first technology showcase at IDF drew worldwide attention. "MSI's BigBang Motherboard is a turning point for the Multi-GPU industry," said Offir Remez, President of LucidLogix. "Our close collaboration with MSI has allowed us to rapidly design and produce a first-ever universal multi-GPU motherboard that takes a major leap into mass market parallel graphics processing." “To satisfy diverse market demands, MSI remains committed to providing customizable solutions” said Henry Lu, MSI’s Global Senior Vice President. “With leading technology from LucidLogix, MSI Big Bang offers unprecedented flexibility and graphics-intensive capability. Enthusiasts can personalize their own gaming experience with state-of-the-art capabilities.” Designed to deliver an ultra-realistic, immersive gaming experience, the P55-based platform, Big Bang, features several awe-inspiring features. The official global launch date will be right before Christmas holidays on October 29. For more information, please visit: http://event.msi.com/mb/bigbang/
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: General Tech
Halo 3:ODST is here to the great rejoicing of casual gamers who know no better. As Ars Technica is quick to point out, this $60 game was originally planned as an expansion pack and it seems that they delivered exactly that. If wandering around the mostly empty streets of New Mombasa looking for clues and audio cues with occasional fighting is your idea of a great time then head out and buy it. You won't have to invest much time as it will probably take you 4-6 hours to finish it. There are some polished bits to this ... Firefight mode sounds like fun and in co-op mode both you and a friend can be the only Spartan on the battlefield.
"Halo 3: ODST was created in around a year, with a smaller team than past Halo titles, and was originally conceived as an expansion for Halo 3. Later, ODST was turned into a full product, with a few additions to try to make it a little more worth it for fans of the series. Not only does the new title boast a full campaign that features co-op, but the game includes every multiplayer map ever released for Halo 3, and a few extra for good measure. Buying the $60 release also gets you access to the Halo: Reach beta, when it goes live at some future date. Finally, there's also the Firefight mode, which puts players in a number of settings and then throws wave after wave of enemies at them." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
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