Tech News
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AMD Bulldozer FX pricing revealed @ ExtremeTech
Published: Thursday, September 15, 2011 | By: DennisEarly this week AMD released some amazing overclocking numbers from a golden, and LHe cooled, FX-8150 which has many enthusiasts excited about the new platform. Pricing for the new chip has also been released and seems to have many analysts confused.
Why is any of the above bad news? Well, the pricing is possibly too cheap. Early benchmarks of Bulldozer showed that Zambezi was never likely to be competitive with Intel’s Core i7 — and these prices, which are all well below any of Intel’s comparable i7 (and even some i5) Sandy Bridge chips, suggest that the FX Series chips are priced to sell rather than compete. The nearest-spec chip to the FX-8150, for example, is the Core i7-2600, which has an Intel-suggested retail price of $294 — some $60 more than the AMD chip. If you compare the FX against the “overclockable” 2600k, the price difference is even more pronounced.
$200 isn't bad for a new processor and I have yet to see an AMD processor ever cost more than the comparable Intel offering so I dunno what the big deal is. Of course this is just speculation, once the reviews are up we'll know for sure.
Check CPU-World for a price list and the site below for more on this story.
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IDF Goodness - Gigabyte X79 Motherboards Reveled
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 | By: DennisLast year Gigabyte unveiled their P67 line at IDF which marked a radical change in direction for Gigabyte. First of all they changed the board colors from light blue to matte black and updated the heatsink design to better align the accent colors with the segment level.
Well, in keeping with tradition there is a new line of motherboards on display. This time based on the Intel X79.
The X79A-OC we are told was built to be the X79A-OC, but as many have heard there will be no more boards named the OC board. As you can obviously see the board carries the same color coordination, as well as the same features, and a few more such as the DIP switches, which we don't know what they do.
Be sure to check out SinHardware.com for some good photos of the upcoming boards including the new X79A-UD7(OC) board. Yep, as we had suspected the OC and UD7 lines have been combined.
You'll also notice two different boards, one based on four memory sockets with the other having eight. Boards that come with eight memory sockets will likely be higher-end than the four socket edition but may not work as well for overclocking.
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AMD FX Overclocking Preview @ HardOCP
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | By: DennisOverclocking at AMD with HardOCP.
As some of you may have noticed there was a world record announced today stating that AMD has the fastest running processor at 8.4Ghz. Of course it takes Liquid Helium to get the processor cold enough to run that fast but if you're looking to break a record that is how you do it. The video they have posted is a great presentation on the steps they took to reach the highest CPU speed on LN2 before switching to LHe.
Very much worth checking out.
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Top 5 Tablets for Business | Business Computing World
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | By: DennisYou get one guess as to which tablet they picked as number one and will also be surprised at what popular tablet didn't make the list.
For employers, the benefit of deploying tablets is having a more productive workforce that’s always connected to what’s happening at the office. However, businesses looking to deploy tablets have a different set of requirements than the average consumer. Security and application compatibility are both top priorities for any business, thereby eliminating some of the more consumer-friendly choices on the market. If your business has decided that it’s time to choose a tablet, it’s worth considering what kind of things you are going to use it for. This way you know that you’ll match the right machine to your needs…
Top lists are great but in most cases they are extremely biased by the writers. While I do agree with many of their statements I don't think the Apple iPad2 should be at the top of the list, especially when it comes to business usage.
Maybe if you're a writer and want to check email all day but if you need to do graphics or hardcore computing none of the "play" tablest are going to work. In fact you'll want an Asus Slate for something like that. Not only will it secure up to your corp network but it comes with a Core i5 and touch screen display.
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Lamptron Fan Controller Roundup @ PureOverclock
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | By: DennisI'm not sure about a round up for fan controllers but if any company is to be involved it would be Lamptron.
Cooling is an issue that always concerns us when it comes to computers. Whether running stock settings or overclocking things, heat is the enemy. An inexpensive way to help control the heat is through the use of fans, and specifically, fan controllers. We look at three fan controllers from Lamptron to suit various budgets and needs: the FC-4, FC-5 V2, and the Touch. From entry level to premium touch sensitive controls, let's see what these controllers have to offer.
There are a few reviews of Lamptron controllers on Ninjalane, check the modding review section.
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Inside the second: A new look at game benchmarking
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | By: DennisLeave it up to the guys at TechReport to come up with a reason for changing how we run 3D benchmarks. There are pleny of good quotes in this article and after an hour you'll wonder why you're still reading but, it's that good.
Naturally, we contacted the major graphics chip vendors to see what they had to say about the issue. Somewhat to our surprise, representatives from both AMD and Nvidia quickly and forthrightly acknowledged that multi-GPU micro-stuttering is a real problem, is what we measured in our frame-time analysis, and is difficult to address. Both companies said they've been studying this problem for some time, too. That's intriguing, because neither firm saw fit to inform potential customers about the issue when introducing its most recent multi-GPU product, say the Radeon HD 6990 or the GeForce GTX 590. Hmm.
AMD's David Nalasco identified micro-stuttering as an issue with the rate at which frames are dispatched to GPUs, and he said the problem is not always an easy one to reproduce. Nalasco noted that jitter can come and go as one plays a game, because the relative timings between frames can vary.I also noticed an interesting coincidence given their hint of coming up with a "Jitter Index".
(bottom of page 6). Of course their "index" would correspond to the Ninjalane Multi GPU Index number system as a way to rate the micro-stuttering that happens when you link more than one video card together. -
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review @ Techgage
Published: Monday, September 12, 2011 | By: DennisI actually just bought this game a few days ago, sadly in typical "I'm too busy for games" fashion, it's still in the shrinkwrap.
Thanks both to its stellar go-your-own-way gameplay and immersive cyberpunk world, the original Deus Ex is regarded as one of the best PC games of all time. Following up to such a cult classic isn't easy, but with Human Revolution, Eidos Montreal has proven that it didn't want to disappoint DX's hardcore fans at any cost.
I played the first Deus Ex back in the day and sure hope the new one lives up to its hype.
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NL: Review Block - Cases and Cards - The video ones
Published: Monday, September 12, 2011 | By: DennisAnother block of reviews from the News Inbox.
Cases
- Corsair Obsidian Series 800D @ LanOC Reviews
- Corsair Carbide 400R Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ Techgage
- Antec LanBoy Air Yellow PC Case Review @ Real World Labs
- HEXUS NZXT Tempest 410 Elite
- Antec One Hundred Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers
- Striking Looks: Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition Review
- Antec Sonata Series Solo II Mid Tower Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- Thermaltake Chaser MK-I @ HardwareBistro
- Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced nVIDIA Edition Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews
- Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 Full Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers
Cards - Video Style
- ASUS GTX560 Ti DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card Review @ OCIA
- AMD Radeon HD 6450 @ Phoronix
- OC3D: KFA2 GTX570 Review
- PowerColor Radeon HD6770 video card review @ TechwareLabs
- HIS 6850 IceQ X Turbo 2GB @ PureOverclock
- Zotac Geforce GTX 590 Review @ XSReviews
- PNY GTX 580 Liquid Cooler GPU and CPU @ PureOverclock
- ASUS ROG MARS 2 3GB Video Card Review w/ NVIDIA Surround @ Legit Reviews
- Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 Vapor-X OC 1GB Video Card ReviewYa I let this one slide for WAY too long. There is some good stuff in there so check it out.
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Overclocking Event Over the Weekend
Published: Monday, September 12, 2011 | By: DennisSorry for the lack of updates this past week but, there is a good reason for that. I was overclocking! Over the last weekend I held a little overclocking get together so that I could see what the big deal was about Liquid Nitrogen.
The event was planned over the past few weeks but really became a "mad rush" to make sure everything was ready. First of all I needed to make sure I had equipment to store and transport LN2 so I bought a 25 Liter dewar off ebay. I also picked up some hand flask vacuum bottles at one of the local stores so I could do percision pours. All of that would be for moot unless I had a really good CPU container. Of course when you are planning something like this there are things that don't turn out, like my bench table, but it is a great start for things to come.
All in all the party turned out great and was sealed in the history books right after the 180 Liter tank was delivered. That of course lead to the first LN2 pour and subtle whisps of Nitrogen vapor.
Things here should return to normal over the next week including a couple of new reviews. In the meantime check out the the pictures from the Ninjalane Overclocking Party - Gigabyte with LN2 event on Facebook and be sure to like us if you like what you see.
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What happened to the world’s most famous hackers?
Published: Thursday, September 8, 2011 | By: DennisBlack hat down, we have a black hat down. No this isn't a scene from a movie but a real life situation where hackers have been hired by the companies they hacked to run errands, make coffee, oh and fix their security issues.
The funny thing about hacking, though, no matter its flavor, is that it’s an incredibly valuable skill to have. There is a reason that almost every lone wolf hacker eventually ends up in the employ of a large, multi-national company — and believe it or not, many hackers that break into NASA or the CIA are usually offered a full-time job to prevent other hackers from doing the same.
This is far from the norm, in fact most hackers get to do hard time, or are somehow let off the hook after a disgruntled employee burns down the building over a missing stapler. Either way this s a good read and worth a few moments.
An interesting side story. Back in the early years I often struggled to get the attention of companies *cough* ABIT */cough* and decided to take the initative and instead of asking for a review sample I would simply buy the product I wanted, do a review and see what happens.
Long story short.. Review got posted, I sent a link to the marketing department and two days later got a reply, "Thanks for the review".
Aside from getting my name added to a list and the occasional email correspondance it did nothing. So, that was the end of that.
