AMD drops a module and keeps its socket

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2012 - 12:36 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, piledriver, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, fad

One of the many interesting bits of information AMD disseminated at this years FAD started some conjecture about possible problems with Piledriver.  It seems that somewhere along the line AMD dropped a module on the Seou chip bringing its core count down from 10 to 8.  Once the hue and cry died down a bit a theory propounded by SemiAccurate offered a sensible theory for the change.  It seems likely that AMD initially developed this family of chips with the belief that DDR4 would have made it to market by now, perhaps in compensation for the delay in adopting DDR3.  Unfortunately DDR4 is nowhere to be seen outside of testing laboratories which has had an effect on AMD's development plans.  Without new memory there is no extra memory bandwidth which will in turn starve the extra cores on the chip and likely slow the performance of all of the cores.  Instead AMD opted to trim out the extra cores and as a benefit they get to utilize their existing sockets as opposed to introducing another one. 

"A lot of people are in a tizzy because AMD (NYSE:AMD) has changed the upcoming Seoul CPU from 10 to 8 cores. The general responses ranges from AMD incompetence to apocalypse, but all it really signals is a lack of technical understanding on their behalf.

The slide in question was the server roadmap we wrote up here. It introduces Piledriver cored Abu Dhabi and Seoul chips, successors to the Bulldozer based Interlagos and Valencia respectively. The base part has 4 modules/8 cores, and the bigger variant is two of those in a package. The big controversy is that they were supposed to be 5 module/10 core parts."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Micron appoints a new CEO @ The Inquirer
• DIY Windows 8 Tablet @ Hack a Day
• The TR Podcast 105: Eye candy and SSD scaling
• Scott Luminor Sound and Light Wireless System (i-DXS 10 L Luminor) @ Tweaktown
• Timeline: Eight Years of Facebook Features, Feats and Flops @ TechReviewSource
• Win two fully-loaded Intel Ivy Bridge powered PCs @ Kitguru

Verizon And Coinstar Backing New Subscription Redbox + Streaming Movie Service

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2012 - 12:27 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: verizon, subscription service, redbox, movies

Netflix has stood at the top of the hill for quite a while now as the streaming and disc subscription service of choice despite the price hikes and Warner Brothers' stupidity in regards to the 56 day waiting period to get a DVD (although it takes only an hour to pirate...).  They may have a new contender later this year; however, because, Verizon and Coinstar (the company behind Redbox) are teaming up to create a joint venture that will launch a new subscription service offering physical discs through the Redbox kiosks and streaming and download-able movies through Verizon.

The new joint venture will launch the product portfolio in the second half of 2012, according to Verizon. Further, the joint venture will be a limited liability company with Verizion holding a 65% stake and Coinstar holding a 35% stake.  Neither company was willing to go into details on how much the subscription would cost or how exactly it would work at this time due to "competitive concerns."  They did dole out a few small bits of information about the service, however.  

Verizon's President of Consumer and Mass Business Markets Bob Mudge talked confidently about the new streaming service during a conference call to the press where he talked about putting Verizon's large Fiber to the Home (their FIOS service), DSL, and Wireless 4G LTE networks to work to deliver streaming services "to all consumers across the US" whenever they want and on the devices they want to use. Meanwhile, Coinstar will be using the thousands of Redbox kiosks in malls, grocery stores, Wal-Marts, Walgreens, and gas stations to deliver physical discs to consumers throughout the US. They are planning a single source, multi-platform, national product, and will be releasing more details as they get closer to the launch window.

It is certainly interesting, and the streaming subscription space could really use healthy competition and companies with enough weight to throw around to muscle the studios into entering the 21st century with increased streaming licenses and better contract deals. Redbox has recently revolted against Warner Brothers' 56 day waiting period in favor of obtaining the movies through other means, so the studios are not exactly friendly to renting discs much less streaming rights. Here's hoping that the new joint venture can become profitable and serve as further proof that providing a subscription service is a viable revenue stream to studios while being affordable to consumers. A commenter on another forum suggested that it would be a great idea for Verizon to incorporate the streaming service into its FIOS plans as a value add, which is a move that would certainly spread adoption and give the company a quick influx of users!

Do you think Verizon and Coinstar (Redbox) can take on Netflix?

AVADirect First To Offer X79 Gaming Notebook, The Future of Desktop Replacements

Subject: Systems | February 6, 2012 - 11:25 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ava

AVADirect, a leading provider of custom notebooks, is the first to offer Clevo's P270WM mobile gaming notebook.

The future is here, and AVADirect is readily expanding its offerings with hardware to prepare for it. For those who need ultimate performance on the go, AVADirect can feed your need for mobile speed with the Clevo P270WM. Based off of the Intel X79 chipset and Sandy Bridge-E processors, end-users can expect performance increases as much as 35-50 percent while keeping current and ahead of the curve for their much needed productivity, efficiency, and entertainment. Promising new features give the Clevo P270WM a name and reputation that is surely to leave a lasting impression for those who have it at their fingertips. The industry rookie, relative to age rather than experience, has no limits to its depth of functionality.

The P270WM's design shapes the ground we stand on by creating new standards for mobile desktop replacements. The revolutionary X79-fueled P270WM, being the successor of the world renowned Clevo X7200, supports all of the functionality provided by its older brother. Three 9.5 inch hard drives, with optional RAID, two USB 3.0 ports, SLI support, HD LED screen, HDMI 1.4a support, and the recently re-designed express card slot for third-party expansion are still key features of the newly offered Clevo P270WM Gaming Notebook.

The Nvidia GTX 580M 2GB comes standard in the Clevo P270WM and offers SLI support for gaming duality. The GPU offers 384 CUDA cores, or 768 when in SLI. Furthermore, the victor of desktop replacements offers the Quadro 5010M 4GB for the elitist AutoCAD or developing engineer. Combined with the support of Quad-channel DDR3 SODIMM RAM and speeds up to 1866Mhz, creating a configuration suitable for your tasks is as simple as a few clicks on AVADirect's website. The board features a total of four SODIMM slots expandable up to 32GB. The P270WM includes full 3D support, which has never been provided in a desktop replacement until now. End-users will more importantly be interested in the first-ever backlit keyboard integrated in the P270WM notebook. Clevo has not received outstanding remarks in the past for their lack of aesthetically pleasing designs, but a backlit keyboard changes everything enthusiasts have grown to know about Clevo's design.

AVADirect will begin to accept pre-orders for the X79 high-end gaming notebook as of today. The base price starts at around $3000.00 and will feature the Intel core i7 3930K, GTX 580M 2B, 4GB of DDR3 RAM at 1333Mhz, 750GB 7200RPM hard disk, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Customize your own here.

Microsoft Removing Start Orb Button In Windows 8

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2012 - 11:19 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: windows 8, windows, start orb, start button, microsoft, crazy

Microsoft is continuing full steam ahead with Windows 8 development where they axe many of the familiar features of previous Windows iterations. According to a post over at The Verge, the latest feature to get removed is the start button of all things. In the "Consumer Preview" version of the upcoming operating system, users will be greeted with a desktop that shows application icons and the Super Bar, but no start button in sight.

Oddly enough, they are removing the Start button in favor of a small area in the lower left of the screen that, when hovered over with a mouse or swiped over on a touchscreen, a Windows 8 charm (small menu) will appear along with a thumbnail preview of the mode that will be switched to upon clicking the element. For example, when you are in the Metro Start Screen mode, hovering over this area would show a small preview of the full Windows desktop and vice versa.

I'm a bit confused by this move as it doesn't really add anything to the experience, and makes the start "button" hover area harder to hit and find. Tech support people are likely crying now, as it is difficult enough to get people to click on the start button much less have the patience to hover over an area or perform a swipe action in the lower left of the screen! Not to mention that the start button has been a signature of the Microsoft operating system since Windows 95.  At least the Windows key (i hope) still works as expected, but it seems like a non sensical move.  How do you guys feel about the change?  Will you be keeping your relatives and/or employees on Windows 7 (heh)?

Dropbox Offering An Extra 5 GB of Free Storage Space to Beta Testers

Subject: General Tech | February 4, 2012 - 09:32 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: storage space, share files, free storage, free space, free, dropbox 1.3.13, dropbox, cloud storage, backup files

I recently needed some video files from the PC Perspective office, and we decided to use the Dropbox file sharing service to get them to me.  i hit a bit of a snag; however, when I realized that I had nowhere near the amount of storage needed.  Fortunately, I was able to download the individual files from the shared folder on the Dropbox website.  It was sort of a nod at the idea that one can never have too much storage space, however.

That got me searching around the Internet for ideas on how to increase my available storage space for free, and fortunately came across a forum post on the Dropbox website for a beta version of the program wherein they were offering 5 GB of extra (and free!) storage space to those adventurous enough to test out the program by uploading 4.5 GB of photos or videos (which you can rename, move, or delete afterwards if you wish).  The extra free space you get will remain even if you move or delete the uploaded photos and after the beta period, barring any unforseen decision change on Dropbox's part.  Further, I found the process easy enough that it was worth sharing with our readers who may use the file sharing and backup service themselves.  

According to their latest forum post, the new Dropbox beta application is version 1.3.13 (though the beta started at version 1.3) which fixes a few bugs, but more importantly, adds a new feature that automatically uploads photos and videos from SD cards (and other storage devices that store photos and videos in a "DCIM" folder) and other storage devices on the PC application and your Android smart phone using a beta of the Dropbox Android app.  The first photo or video upload imported into Dropbox grants you a 500 MB "bonus," and then for every 500 MB of photos and videos that you allow Dropbox to import, they will give you an additional 500 MB of free additional storage space, up to a total of 5 GB (including the starting bonus).  Let's get into exactly how you go about auto-importing photos.

On the Windows PC side of things, you will need to download the latest Dropbox beta build which is currently version 1.3.13.  Once download from the link in the previous sentence, install it (if you already have the program installed, just install over the previous install), and then log into your account (or create a new one*).  Next, make sure that you have AutoPlay enabled via Windows Control Panel (it should be by default).  You should be all set to import as many photos and videos as your internet connection can handle to get all your free space.  Pop in an SD card or other USB storage device into your computer via USB.  Windows should open up an AutoPlay dialog box in response.  There should further be a new option in the AutoPlay window titled "Import pictures and videos using Dropbox."  Select that and Dropbox will begin uploading them to their cloud storage servers in a new folder called "Camera Uploads."  Once the batch of photos are uploaded, Dropbox pops up a notification in notification area (lower right of the window) as seen in the photo above.

You can also use a beta of the Dropbox client on your Android powered smartphone to upload photos and videos to the service, and to apply towards your free Dropbox space.  While not yet on the Android Market, you can download the beta application as a .apk file to your phone, and then install it from that downloaded file.  The apk package in question is the Dropbox Experimental Android Forum Build 2.0.9 and can be downloaded via a link at the bottom of this article.  All that's needed on the Android side of things (at least on my Samsung Infuse 4G), is to start up the application and log in.  After that, any photos or videos I take with my phone's camera are automatically uploaded to the dropbox service.  Although Google already has a similar automatic uploading service to its Google+ website, the Dropbox application is even a bit more useful because they are not only "in the cloud" but sitting on my desktop at home.

The Android Dropbox beta application

Unfortunately, Linux and Macintosh users are out of luck on the extra free space; however, I'm sure they will get a chance at it when the beta Dropbox application is closer to completion.  Now that you know how to get your hands on some free space, go forth and beef up those Dropbox accounts!  Some other methods for free space include adding a .edu email account to your account (to make it a Student Account) for an extra 500 MB of storage space an an increase referral bonus of 500 MB per referral, completing the various tutorials and quests on the Dropbox website, and getting referral sign ups.  Do you use Dropbox, and if so what do you like (or hate) about it?  Community discussion engage!

*Speaking of referrals, this is a referral link that costs you nothing and will give me and you an extra 250 MB of storage space.  If; however, you're not into that sort of thing (for some odd reason), you can create a new account by heading over their main website at dropbox.com

16GB of bright red DDR3-2133MHz from Mushkin

Subject: Memory | February 3, 2012 - 04:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ddr3-2133, Mushkin, redline, quad channel

How does 16GB of DDR3-2133 @ 9-11-10-28 strike you that looks like candy?  If you are running an LGA2011 system with quad-channel memory 16GB will benefit you in some scenarios and who wouldn't like to brag that their desktop has more RAM than many servers.  The striking red heatspreaders will attract those who like to show off the interior of their case and the performance surpassed the Corsair kit they tested against.  OC3D does want to remind you that while quad channel RAM is fun, it doesn't offer huge advantages over dual channel RAM in real world testing.

"With the recent LGA2011 supporting Quad Channel Memory, the manufacturers are swift to take up the challenge. Cue the Mushkin Redline."

Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:

Memory

• Patriot Division 2 Viper Xtreme DDR3 1600MHz 8GB Memory Kit Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Crucial Ballistix Elite 16Gb @ Funkykit
• G.Skill Ripjaws Z 2133CL9Q-16GBZH Memory Kit Review @ Madshrimps
• Kingston HyperX 2400mhz @ KitGuru
• GeIL Enhance Corsa PC3-12800 1600MHz 16GB Quad Channel Memory Kit Review @ Madshrimps
• Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB DDR3 1600 Memory Kit Review @ Legit Reviews

Your watercooler is cool but this LN2 pot is downright cold

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 3, 2012 - 12:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: LN2, Kingpin, F1 Extreme Dark Cooling Pot

Kingpin's F1 Extreme Dark Cooling Pot is not for the faint of heart or for that matter for the lazy.  The price you pay for exotic cooling is evaporation which unfortunately is also the key to how this type of cooling works so well.  You will constantly need to top off the Extreme Dark Cooling Pot with LN2 but for the extreme overclocker that is just part of the drill.  OC3D shows off the new pot and adds a small tutorial on setting up your CPU and motherboard for this type of cooling as insulation is important to target the heatspreader on the CPU as well as ensuring that condensation does not interfere with other components near the CPU socket.  If you need a cool looking new pot or are interested in just how this type of cooling is done then head to Overclockers.com and take a look at Kingpin's latest product.

"Overclockers have always been a bit extreme – we take hardware many people are perfectly satisfied with and then push every last MHz we can out of it within our cooling limits. Some choose air cooling, some choose water cooling. There are a few brave souls that use water chillers, but mostly those are benching operations only."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Danger Den DD-M6 Waterblock Review @ Ninjalane
• Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler Review @ ITShootOut
• Glacialtech Igloo H58 Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
• Xigmatek Prime @ OC3D
• NZXT Havik 120 Review @ OCC
• Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler Review @ circuitREMIX
• Xigmatek Prime SD1484 Review @ OCC
• Noctua NF-F12 Focused Flow Fan Review @ Ninjalane
• Cooler Master GeminII M4 @ XSReviews
• SilenX Effizio EFZ-120HA5 CPU Cooler @ SSD Review
• Kingwin 120mm Fan Review @ OCC
• Noctua NF-F12 Focused Flow Fan Review @ Ninjalane
• Sharkoon T9 Green Value Edition Case @ Kitguru
• Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 Full Tower @ Bjorn3D
• Raidmax Viper Case @ TechwareLabs
• Sharkoon T9 Value Edition (Red) Case Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Cooler Master Silencio 450 Mid-Tower Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• NZXT Switch 810: When Too Much Isn't Enough @ AnandTech
• Fractal Design Define XL Computer Case Review @ Benchmark Review
• Prolimatech Genesis CPU Cooler @ TechwareLabs
• NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower Case @ Real World Labs
• NZXT Phantom 410 Chassis @ Tweaktown
• Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus @ Overclockers Online
• ARCTIC Alpine 11 Plus @ Funky Kit
• Corsair Carbide 500R Arctic White Edition Review @ Madshrimps
• Bitfenix Raider @ KitGuru
• MSI Nighthawk Case Review @ TechwareLabs
• Thermaltake Commander MS-I Mid Tower @ Pro-Clockers

Not just a FAD, AMD aims at the market ultra-thin laptop-like device

Subject: General Tech | February 3, 2012 - 12:13 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ultrabook, amd, Financial Analyst Day, trinity

While Intel struggles to find a away to reduce costs to hit their self imposed $1000 limit on the price for ultrabooks without comprimising the quality of the machine, AMD is leveraging an old strength and a new one.  The old strength is familiar to any long time PC fan, AMD's chips are less expensive than Intel's which gives them some nice monetary leeway when creating low cost systems.  The new strength is Trinity, the next generation Llano, and the impressive graphics performance packaged in the same substrate and the smooth way it can integrate with a discreet GPU to give desktop like performance. 

One of the benefits Trinity will bring is what AMD called 'All day' battery life, with a 12 hour lifespan predicted.  Trinity uses half the power of Llano as well as featuring an improved graphics core which they predict to be half again as powerful as Intel's HD Graphics.  They also predict the new Bulldozer architecture will increase general computing power.  Check out the slides at SemiAccurate for more information.

"Much has been said about Intel’s new Ultrabook form factor. But new details from AMD’s Financial Analyst Day are radically changing the prospective competitive landscape that 2012 has to offer. During Intel’s Q3 conference call certain Intel executives were confident that AMD would always be offering a lower cost alternative to Intel products. But it seems that thing are not turning out the way that the cunning marketeers behind Intel’s “visibly smart” 2nd generation Core processors had hoped."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• More details about some new AMD cores @ SemiAccurate
• AMD sets out its plans for 2013, hints at a possible ARM future @ Ars Technica
• Motherboard prices to hike by 10% at end of 1Q12 @ DigiTimes
• Understanding AMD's Roadmap & New Direction @ AnandTech
• Intel promotes two executives to senior vice president @ DigiTimes
• AMD doubles down on existing Opteron server sockets @ The Register
• Ubuntu 12.04 ARM Performance Becomes Very Compelling @ Phoronix
• David vs Goliath: Can AMD Stand and Fight? @ Hi Tech Legion

Podcast #187 - Our thoughts on Ultrabooks, the Radeon HD 7950, ASUS DirectCU GTX cards, and more!

Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 2, 2012 - 03:11 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: ssd, sandforce, radeon, podcast, patriot, nvidia, Intel, gtx, arm, amd, 7950

PC Perspective Podcast #187 - 02/02/2012

Join us this week as we talk about our thoughts on Ultrabooks, the Radeon HD 7950, ASUS DirectCU GTX cards, and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

• iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, and Allyn Malvantano

This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!

Program length: 58:02

Program Schedule:

1. 0:00:40 Introduction
2. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
3. http://pcper.com/podcast
4. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
5. 0:01:20 Ultrabooks: Intel Knows What's Good For You
6. 0:08:30 Patriot Pyro and Wildfire SSD Review - IMFT Async vs. Toshiba Toggle-mode Flash
7. 0:14:20 AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB Graphics Card Review
8. 0:25:50 This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
   
9. 0:26:38 Asus DirectCU II Roundup: ENGTX560, ENGTX570, and ENGTX580 Review
10. 0:40:35 Raspberry Pi Linux Computer Will Have Fast GPU For The Price
11. 0:44:20 If you thought Intel did well wait until you see ARM
12. 0:47:00 AMD 7700 and 7800 Release Dates Leak To Web
13. 0:51:20 Live Blog: AMD Financial Analyst Day
14. 0:52:20 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
    1. Ryan: Radeon HD 7950 Cards
    2. Jeremy: I'm giddy as a schoolgirl, albeit a very mercenary one
    1. Josh: And it is on sale! $770 off!
    2. Allyn: Corsair Force 3 - very good pricing.
15. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
16. http://pcper.com/podcast   
17. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
18. Closing

A Texas sized party with Kyle and the [H] gang

Subject: General Tech, Shows and Expos | February 2, 2012 - 02:23 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, Texas GamExperience

While we at PC Perspective wait for Quakecon before heading to Texas, [H]ard|OCP hosts the AMD GamExperience in Dallas during January.  This is the third year in a row they've given gamers the chance to experience the newest in games and gaming peripherals and it must have been a good one since they only managed to recover enough to post the pictures today.  As you can see below they are just as hard on the audience as Ryan and the crew, but with $55,000+ worth of prizes to give out it is possible to get gamers to do pushups.  Check out what you missed here.

We did have a man on the scene, if you haven't seen Steve's coverage you really should.

"We recently put on the third "GamExperience" here in Dallas, TX! We invited 600 of our closet friends and 20 companies that crank out some of the best computer hardware in the world and put them all in one room together for some gaming and geek talk. And yeah, free stuff too, about $50,000 worth!"

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Physics hardware makes Kepler/GK104 fast @ SemiAccurate
• Kinect for Windows released @ Hack a Day
• How-To: Make Your Own Aerogel @ MAKE:Blog
• Asus denies problems with Transformer Prime again @ The Inquirer
• HTC sends out a fix for WiFi security problem @ The Inquirer
• Ex-Apple engineer emits Zevo ZFS for Mac OS @ The Register
• OC3D: 2012 Competition MADNESS

AMD shows 18mm thin reference ultrathin notebook based on Trinity

Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors, Mobile | February 2, 2012 - 02:02 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: amd, trinity, hsa, ultrabook, ultrathin

Today at the AMD Financial Analyst day in Sunnyvale, Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Business Units, showed off a reference design from Compal of an 18mm think ultrathin notebook that they are obviously hoping to compete with Intel's Ultrabook push.

The notebook is based on AMD's upcoming Trinity APU that improves on the CPU and GPU performance of the currently available Llano APU.  There weren't many details though Su did state they were hoping for prices in the $600-800 range would could but a lot of pressure on Intel. 

Live Blog: AMD Financial Analyst Day

Subject: Editorial, Graphics Cards, Processors | February 2, 2012 - 12:31 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: reports, gpu, fad, cpu, APU, analyst, amd

Consider this fair warning: tomorrow here at PC Perspective you will learn the future of AMD.  Sound over dramatic?  We don't think so.  After a pretty interesting year in 2011 for the company and AMD has said on several occasions that this year's Financial Analyst Day was going to reveal a lot about what the future holds for them on the GPU, CPU and APU front.  

Hopefully we will learn what AMD plans to do after the cancelation of the second-generation of ultra lower power APUs, how important discrete graphics will be going forward and what life there is for the processor architecture after Bulldozer.  

We will be in Sunnyvale at the AMD campus covering the event and we will be holding a live blog at the same time...right here.  The event starts at 9am PST on February 2nd, aso be sure you set your calendars and bookmark this page for all the news!!

FirefoxX: Coming soon to a TF2 user handle near you!

Subject: General Tech | February 1, 2012 - 05:55 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: mozilla, firefox

Firefox is my default browser. I often complement Firefox with Google Chrome due to habits introduced in the dark ages where Flash and crash were more ironic rhymes for Firefox users, but I stuck with it. I watched as it grew from a suite and innocent Mozilla build into the standalone browser it is today. Could Firefox be ten already? It seems like it was just yesteryear -- it was just four and we were out in the textfield try{}ing to play catch(){}.

If you are a developer -- and if you are still reading then you probably are -- this version of Firefox has a lot to offer you. While a lot of the features touted as new are not, they are certainly much upgraded from what we are used to. Allow me to put it like this: you may be able to finally uninstall Firebug. You may infer what you like from that statement. Some highlights of the developer features include a built-in page inspector, a web console interface, and scratchpad.

The page inspector allows developers to examine their own websites as well as study the websites of others in a much friendlier interface than Firebug. For quick tweaks, you can edit the CSS from within page inspector and turn whole properties on and off and immediately see its effect.

The web console interface allows you to edit your site as it is temporarily rendered from a command-line interface. This appears to be mostly useful for smaller Javascript tweaks and additions if you have a small change that you would like to iterate upon quickly. The web console also allows you to see network requests which should help greatly with optimizing load times.

Scratchpad is a new developer feature for Javascript which is just too complicated to test upon with the console interface. Scratchpad is somewhere between Notepad and Notepad++ and is used to quickly experiment with full Javascript scripts on the website you currently have loaded.

Don't just take my word for it, see it!

More general enhancements were, of course, also made with this version: WebGL is now antialiased; security, performance, and stability fixes were introduced; and add-on compatibility is much less annoying. The experience feels much more responsive and clean than it has recently, continuing on the advancements started with Firefox 7.

What do you think? Looking forward to new WebGL content now that it will not be as jaggy? Excited about the developer tools or performance enhancements? Let us know!

Rawr, ASUS unleashed the X79 Sabertooth

Subject: Motherboards | February 1, 2012 - 05:16 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: asus, Sabertooth, Patsburg, x79, lga 2011

ASUS Sabretooth TUF series has been growing, from the P67 version on the Intel side to the 990FX version for AMD users and now has an X79 model.  These boards all feature TUF Thermal Armor which not only gives a unique look but is also intended to provide enhanced cooling.  This is a high end family, which features ASUS' customized back panel and a five year warranty to help justify the price.  It sports three PCIe 3.0 slots, two at 16x and one at 8x as well as a pair of PCIe 2.0 1x slots and a legacy PCI slot.  For storage you four SATA 6Gbps ports and two 6Gbps eSATA ports split between three controllers as well as four 3Gbps ports.  You also enjoy a half dozen USB 3.0 ports and even Firewire.  Take a look at one of ASUS best offerings for LGA2011 processors at Hardware Canucks.

"In mid November we saw the launch of the enthusiast-based Sandy Bridge Extreme platform along with the X79 (code name Patsburg) chipsets and since then we have brought you reviews of the i7-3960X CPU and the Rampage IV Extreme motherboard. Today we continue our walk down the LGA2011 road and bring you another highly anticipated board from ASUS: the Sabertooth X79."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• ECS X79R-AX Black Series Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
• Sapphire PURE Black X79N @ Tweaktown
• Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7: Mainboard for LGA 2011 CPUs Overclocking @ X-bit Labs
• Gigabyte X79 UD3 Motherboard Review @ Ninjalane
• ASUS P9X79 WS Workstation Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews
• ASRock X79 Extreme9 Review - Price For Performance? @ AnandTech
• ASUS P8H67-M Evo Intel H67 Express Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS
• ASRock Z68M-ITX/HT Mini-ITX @ Kitguru
• BIOS Option Of The Week - PSB Parking @ TechARP
• ASUS F1A75-M Pro Review - Micro-ATX Llano at $110 @ AnandTech

Putting Bulldozer to the proper use; how well does it serve?

Subject: Systems | February 1, 2012 - 04:10 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, interlagos, bulldozer, supermicro, opteron 6200

Over at The Inquirer you can take a look at the performance of the Opteron 6274 as a server chip, as opposed to the desktop benchmarks that have made up the bulk of Bulldozer reviews on the web.  SuperMicro has assembled a server containing a dual-socket Opteron 6274 for a total of 32 cores and 64GB of ECC DDR3-1333 RAM across eight channels running on 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.  While the machine was quite powerful it still has difficulty keeping up with Intel, for instance its performance on CineBench was about the same as provided by an X5680 Westmere Xeon which is not Intel's best silicon. On the plus side, the scaling for multithreaded applications was quite good.

"IS BULLDOZER better in a workstation than a desktop? Let's see if it can be.

AMD's Bulldozer chip, while eagerly awaited, didn't really have a stellar debut as a mainstream - or high end, for that matter - desktop processor, still having a way to go before seriously challenging the incumbent Intel. The core, cache and memory performance all need a bit more power, although recent news such as Microsoft Windows' kernel patches do seem to help a little bit towards extracting more oomph from the unusual 'two integer units sharing one floating-point' approach."

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

• Alienware X51 Launch Details @ Hardware Heaven
• ZOTAC ZBOX AD04 Plus AMD Fusion Mini PC Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Sony Z Series @ Kitguru
• Ultimate SFF Lanparty Machine: Intel Xeon E5 (SNB-EP 8C/16T) on an ASUS Rampage IV GENE @ VR-Zone

You aren't done playing Skyrim yet, the official Mod tools are on their way

Subject: General Tech | February 1, 2012 - 03:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: skyrim, gaming, creation kit, bethesda

Attention all modders and Elder Scrolls fans, the official Bethesda Creation Kit for Skyrim is coming down from the mountain to give a shout out to the community.  It will be a free download via Steam under Tools and will not only give you the tools to mod the game but it can also replace the Nexus Mod Manager for updating and enabling or disabling mods.  From the description of the Creation Kit those familiar with previous versions from Elder Scrolls games and Fallout 3 will be familiar with the interface. If you want to see a video of this tool in action head to Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN and feast your eyes on the newest drain on your free time.

"Bethesda is soon to release the Creation Kit for Skyrim, that’ll allow official modding to begin, along with some really powerful-looking tools. It will also plug directly into the Steam Workshop, which will make adding user-created mods to your game over 39024% easier. You can see a video giving an overview of those features below."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Know Your Enemy: Firaxis On XCOM, Part 1 @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Star Wars: The Old Republic @ Tweaktown
• An Hour With… King Arthur II @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Most Anticipated PC Games of 2012 @ Techspot
• Syndicate Video Preview @ IGN
• FIFA 12 (PS3) Review @ HardwareHeaven

AMD 7700 and 7800 Release Dates Leak To Web

Subject: Graphics Cards | February 1, 2012 - 02:32 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: radeon, pitcairn, hd 7870, hd 7850, hd 7770, hd 7750, cape verde, amd

It is now February, and despite the weather outside (which feels like late spring/early summer) not following the middle of winter approach, the year has only just begun. AMD has really been on the ball with new releases; however, and has managed to launch two of the three planned enthusiast level graphics cards with the AMD Radeon HD 7970 and the Radeon HD 7950 on January 9th and 31st respectively. What this means is that the company has the rest of the year to dole out the cheaper and lower performance cards. Even so, if this leaked slide is to be believed, it looks like AMD will not be wasting any time and is planning to roll out a slew of 7700 and 7800 series card launches before the second quarter of this year is over!

As one step down from the 7900 series, Pitcairn represents AMD's new "mid-range" parts.  As of now, the Pitcairn series includes Pitcairn XT and Pitcairn Pro which will be labeled the Radeon 7870 and 7850 respectively.  This recent leak does not stray too far from previous rumors, and both Pitcairn 7800 series AMD cards should see a March 2012 launch.  The article further specifies a March 6th, 2012 release as the first day of the German CeBit 2012 trade show.  In name, Pitcairn is the successor to the current Barts XT and Barts Pro based Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850 cards, but is rumored to offer a similar level of performance to the 6950 and 6970 graphics cards. Allegedly, the cards will utilize 2GB GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit memory interface. Further, the Pitcairn XT that will be the HD 7870 will have 1536 ALUs (arithmetic logic unit) at 950 MHz, 96 texture units, 32 ROPs (Raster Operations Pipeline), 24 SIMDs (single instruction, multiple data), and a 120 watt TDP (thermal design power). The HD 7850 on the other hand will be slightly scaled back with only 1408 ALUs at 850 MHz, 88 texture units, and 22 SIMDs. Also, the memory clock will be scaled back. The reductions in hardware will give the card a supposed lower 90 watt TDP. 

Moving down the performance ladder, AMD will launch the Cape Verde XT and Cape Verde Pro based Radeon Hd 7770 and HD 7750 cards later this month on February 15th, 2012. BSN claims that the Cape Verde cards will use either 1 GB of GDDR 3 or GDDR5 memory and will be in the $100 and $160 price range (with the 7770 on the high end of the scale and 7750 on low end). According to this article over at Tom's Hardware, the 7700 series cards will be much smaller than their bigger brothers at a bit over 8 inches in length. They will feature a 128-bit memory interface, 6 pin PCI-E connector, approximate 100 watt power consumption, and a Graphics Core Next GPU architecture.

The 7770 graphics card.  (Image leaked from ChipHell)

The remaining card that is likely to be of interest to our readers is the dual GPU monster that is the 7990.  This card will be based off of two 7970 GPUs.  Unfortunately; however, further details and pricing are not known.  There is speculation that the 7990 card will have 6 GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, 256 texture units, 64 ROPs, 62 compute units (CUs), and a massive number of stream processors at 4,096 based on the card being comprised of two 7970 cards.  Also, the launch date is still listed as "To Be Determined."

Lots of information is still speculation, but if it holds true, AMD is looking to get as much of a lead on Nvidia as possible by getting as many of their 7000 series out of the gate as possible.  Which 7000 series cards are you most interested in?

If you thought Intel did well wait until you see ARM

Subject: General Tech | February 1, 2012 - 12:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: RISC, quarterly earnings, earnings, arm

For total dollar revenue over 2011 the only company that can touch Intel's earnings would be Apple, who actually contributed to Intel's growth over the past year.  When you talk about percentage growth over last year however ARM actually beat Intel's 21% growth, although not by much.  Their pre-tax growth approached 50% for the year and they blew away analyst's predictions both quarterly and yearly.  This probably has to do with the 2.2 billion ARM-powered chips sold globally over the past year, not just the new chips that power your phones and tablets but also chips they've been making for a long time which appear in vehicles, appliances and toys.  ARM's way of doing business is different from Intel who prefer to tie you into an all Intel hardware or no Intel hardware contract, ARM is happy if their chips co-exist with others on a device; they just want a chip in there.  As The Register points out, this flexibility as well as the release of an ARM compatible version of Windows 8 could make the coming years rather interesting.

"ARM, the eponymous designer of the chip architecture, had a stonking 2011 with revenue and profits up as it tightened its hold on both embedded and generic computing.

Revenue for the last quarter of 2011 was up by more than 20 per cent on the previous year, to £137.8m, while profit before tax jumped more than twice that percentage to £69m. For the whole of 2011 the numbers are very similar, revenue hitting £491.8m ($773m) and profit topping £229.7m ($362m), rather better than analysts had predicted."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Radeon HD 7950 launches, beats GTX 580; HD 7990 and 7870 launch date leaked @ ExtremeTech
• SeaMicro packs 2TB of DRAM into a 10U @ SemiAccurate
• Microsoft ditches plug-ins for Internet Explorer 10 in Metro @ The Register
• AMD Leo DirectX 11 Demo Released @ NGOHQ
• Using Google documents as a web proxy @ Hack a Day
• Win a Dell XPS with OC3D & Dell Outlet