Today we take a look at the new motherboard from ECS, the X79R-AX Extreme. We'll throw in a decent photo-shoot and a benchmark suite at the product and get an indication what performance is like with the Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E).
Admittedly I was a little shocked when the motherboard arrived, as it is probably the most feature rich X79 motherboard we've had in our labs.
Read the full review here.
Team Group introduced the X101, a new USB 3.0 flash drive with a max read speed of 120MB/s and max write speed of 70MB/s. It's available in 32GB and 64GB capacities.
Team Group Inc. introduces the Team X101 USB 3.0 flash drive disk at 2011. The X101 is the world's first aluminum ally flash drive disk that uses gradient coating with color rendering to specify the extreme speed of 100MB/sec transfer rate. The subtle and simplified high quality metal appearance perfectly interprets the high speed performance of USB 3.0, adding another new force to Team Group's high-end products.
Combining both high technology and chic design, the Team X101 comes in a reserved color of stress its neat and trim business style with a solid quality that compliments the elegant taste of modern metro-sexual. The high performance helps save every valuable second for busy executives and businessmen so that they can work more efficiently. Adopting the new generation USB 3.0 ultra speed interface with a bandwidth that reaches as high as 5Gbps, which is 10 times faster than the current mainstream USB 2.0?xs 480Mbps. With USB 3.0, it takes only 70 seconds to transfer a 25GB blu-ray video. In addition to the high-speed transfer rate, the X101 comes in large capacities of 32GB or 64GB, making it the best choice for satisfying the mobile storage needs of elite professionals.
Featuring high speed, high capacity and shock-resistant, the Team X101 supports plug and play and is downwards compatible with the USB 2.0 interface. It entirely complies with the European Union's RoHS green environment specifications and supports power-saving mode, which is an effort of Team Group Inc. to protect the earth.
QPAD introduced two new gaming keyboards with Cherry MX Red mechanical switches. Full details in the press release, the main difference between the MK-85 and MK-50 is that the latter one is a stripped down version, without backlight, programmable keys nor audio/USB connectors.
QPAD widens their product range with two brand new keyboards: the QPAD MK-85 and MK-50. Although sharing some common features, the boards still differ greatly. One offers world's first groundbreaking technology with no expenses spared, and the other attempts a break at the so sought after
Rocksteady is currently telling players that Batman: Arkham City should be temporarily run using DX 9 rather than DX 11. Apparently DX 11 is causing performance issues:
We have received reports of performance issues from players of Batman: Arkham City on PC. After researching the matter, we found that running the game with DX 11 is causing the performance issues. We
Today we release an updated Beta revision of Afterburner, this application successfully secured the leading position on graphics card utilities. We're happy to see MSI Afterburner is leading the overclock applications. MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 9 is ready,
Changes list includes:
Corsair announced that it has set a new world record with a memory frequency of 1733.8MHz (DDR3-3467) using Corsair Dominator GT CMGTX6 extreme-performance DDR3 memory.
World champion overclocker and Corsair employee Jake "Planet" Crimmins set the new record at Corsair's laboratory with a custom-designed, liquid nitrogen cooled PC based on an AMD FX-8150 processor and equipped with 1GB of Dominator GT extreme-performance DDR3 memory. The system was powered by a Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 fully modular power supply.
"Breaking overclocking world records requires skill, ingenuity, and the right equipment," said Jake Crimmins. "I've broken several records using Dominator GT memory. It's reliable, it has amazing headroom, and it's never let me down." Validation can be found here, and details of the record here.
VIA released the ARTiGO A1150, a DIY PC kit with an enclosure that measures just 14.6 cm x 9.9 cm x 5.2 cm. Packed inside is a VIA Eden X2 1GHz dual-core processor.
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the launch of the VIA ARTiGO A1150 a sub-liter dual core DIY PC kit for enthusiasts who want to taste the next generation of ultra-compact desktop computing.
The VIA ARTiGO A1150 is one of the smallest full featured DIY PC kits available today, squeezing an impressive range of features that include a 1.0GHz dual core VIA Eden
Antec debuts the Eleven Hundred case, the newest member of the award-winning Gaming Series.
The Eleven Hundred marks a new chapter in the Gaming Series with an all-new attractive design and a revamped lineup of expandability, cooling and convenience features.
Gamers seeking the highest level of performance will want to take advantage of the Eleven Hundred's support for XL-ATX sized motherboards and four-way GPU configurations -- the most expandability of any Antec chassis.
The Eleven Hundred features default 200 mm top and 120 mm rear fans and mounts for up to seven more fans for advanced GPU and hard drive cooling -- including one 120 mm intake fan behind the motherboard tray to cool the CPU. Users can also utilize the included fan power hub to connect up to four 3-pin fans to a single Molex for improved cable management.
Emphasizing ease-of-use in a gaming enclosure, Antec introduces tool-less 5.25" and 3.5" drive bays for hassle-free installation. Up to 36 mm of cable routing space and grommet-lined cable routing holes help users organize their builds while allowing for easy installation of future components. For convenient maintenance, the PSU intake & front air filters can be removed without taking off the side panel or tipping the case.
"The Eleven Hundred offers a set of features that will appeal to gamers and mainstream users alike at a very reasonable price point," said Mafalda Cogliani, Global Marketing Director at Antec. "The Gaming Series has always defined our advancement in the industry, and this case will continue that momentum."
The Eleven Hundred reaches store shelves and online retail outlets in late November in North America and early December in Europe with a MSRP of $129.95 and EUR 129, respectively.
The market is continuously changing, the biggest trend last year where tablets, Android entered the market and that certainly changed the balance of smart phones. The concept proofs that you can do a lot of stuff with very little hardware, yet it remains intuitive.
With that concept in mind AC Ryan started developing a new media hub slash player, in fact I shouldn't call it a media-player really as it is much more then that. The end product is called the Veolo. The Veolo is AC Ryan's version of a media 'HUB' powered by Android 2.2 (Froyo). Read the review here.
AMD's Radeon HD 7000-series graphics cores should make their entrance in the market not too long away from now and recently the specifications of a wide series of the mobile version of these GPUs were leaked on the Web.
On the notebook front, the HD 7000-series will be comprised of five different graphics cores addressing the needs of a wide range of users ranging from the low-end to the enthusiast sectors.
Little is known about the most powerful of these GPUs, based on the Wimbledon, Heathrow and Chelsea designs, apart from a preliminary set of operating frequencies and the memory installed, but AMD's the mid-range and entry-level solutions are a lot better documented.
According to ComputerBase, the publication who got a hold of this info, the Thames and Seymour GPUs will be used by AMD in no less than 14 mobile graphics cores from the Radeon HD 7000 series.
Of these solutions, eight are based on the mainstream Thames core and these are expected to have TDPs ranging from 15 to 25 Watts thanks mainly to the transition from the 40nm process technology to the 28nm node. The Thames GPU will actually be available in four different versions, dubbed XT, Pro, LP and LE, which will be used to power the Radeon HD 7600M and HD 7500M notebook graphics cards.
Moving to the entry-level Seymour graphics cores, these will be marketed as the Radeon HD 7400-series and all include a 64-bit memory bus. Unlike its more powerful siblings, Seymour GPUs will be manufactured using the same 40nm process technology as that of the current AMD Radeon HD 6000 GPUs.
It appears that Nvidia will go for a similar approach (paring 40nm and 28nm parts) with their GeForce 600M GPUs, which seems to suggest that both graphics chip makers have troubles with TSMC's 28nm production node.
USB and Ethernet are two different connectivity technologies, used for distinct applications, but it so happens that SMSC decided it was time the latter enjoyed the power efficiency benefits of the former.
SMSC just issued an announcement in which it reveals the LAN9730, a fully-integrated Hi-Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) USB 2.0 to-10/100 Ethernet device.
HSIC is based on the company's patented Inter-Chip Connectivity (ICC) technology and allows the USB protocol to be delivered over short distances via LAN while still retaining software compatibility with analog USB 2.0.
The primary advantage of this so-called industry's first item is that any device requiring an Ethernet port will consume considerably less power.
LAN9730 has an integrated 10/100 physical layer and more than one power management enhancement, like Magic Packet and Link Status Change and Wake on LAN. It measures 8 x 8 millimeters and has a 56-pin QFN package. It also has a completely lead-free construction and features RoHS compliance.
In other words, it is green not just because of its low power requirements, but also because it uses few hazardous or otherwise environment-unfriendly materials. Mass production will only start at the end of January, 2012, but qualification samples and evaluation kits exist already.
Routing and placement of network connections anywhere in a developer's system should be more flexible when setting up. Finally, the cost advantage is owed to the use of a single 25 MHz crystal that drives both the USB and Ethernet PHYs reduces developer BOM cost).
Rumors that AMD's Radeon HD 7900 may feature Rambus' XDR2 memory are growing and growing.
Apparently AMD and Rambus have had much more cordial relations with each other, than other companies the latter engaged in patent disputes with. In 2006, AMD settled outstanding disputes with Rambus by willing to pay licensing costs for certain technologies claimed by Rambus, turning a leaf in the relations between the two. What Chinese sources are suggesting now, is that AMD will design its high-end GPU (codename: "Tahiti") in a way that will let it support both GDDR5 and XDR2. Certain higher-end SKUs based on Tahiti will use XDR2, while the slightly more cost-effective SKUs will use GDDR5.
In related news, other sources told that AMD could adopt a "top-to-bottom" strategy with the high-end portion of its next-generation of products. This means that AMD could launch the dual-GPU "New Zealand" graphics card first, followed by single-GPU SKUs.
The high inventory level is partly due to the launch of Kindle Fire by Amazon and Nook Tablet by Barnes & Noble, the sources indicated. Chairman Richard Lee for Inventec, the ODM of Nook Tablet, indicated that the 7-inch tablet PC has gained good market response and is expected to be selling from late 2011 to early 2012.
The guys over at TPU published some slides that reveal AMD's estimated performance of their Trinity APUs.
To begin with, AMD is promising noticeable performance improvements over the current "Llano" APU.
It spread its benchmarks across three categories: visual performance (using 3DMark Vantage), general performance (using PCMark Vantage), and parallel compute (GPGPU) performance (calculated CTP SP GFLOPs). With 3DMark Vantage, Trinity A8 (quad-core), A6 (triple-core), and A4 (dual-core) APUs are seeing a roughly 32% improvement over their respective Llano-based counterparts; with general performance, the improvement is a candid 13.8% on average; but with GPGPU performance, the improvement is a massive 56.3% on average. This could be attributed to the VLIW4 architecture. Lastly, there are notable CrossFire dual-graphics performance improvements. The slides got onto the web via donim haber btw.
AMD released a new 11.11a Catalyst performance driver.
AMD Catalyst 11.11a performance driver features:
Batman Arkham City
Rage
Elder Scrolls Skyrim
