Tech News
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Intel i5 661 3.33GHz Dual Core CPU @ Bjorn3D
Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: WillThe next big thing for Intel is not only having a i5 dual core processor, but having intergrated graphics in the chip as well. Then to top it off the chip is on the new 32nm size as well. Plus some room for overclocking maybe?
It's that time of year again, Christmas is in the air, the smell of pine trees gracing the lab, CES just around the corner, and above all else the smell of a new CPU going through burn in testing on the test rig.
Intel was nice enough to send in one of their LGA 1156 i5 661 32nm dual core CPU's that run at a blistering 3.33GHz out of the box. They also sent in an LGA 1156 DH55TC motherboard which is primarily designed for HTPC/Media applications. We'll be taking a look at both with the primary focus on the CPU with it's newly integrated graphics that sit on the processor itself. Yes Intel has delivered a CPU with graphics integrated on the CPU.
We can hear the groans from the serious enthusiasts already, 'Oh no integrated graphics'. Well we were a little skeptical ourselves until we ran it. It's not a powerhouse integrated graphics but it's more than adequate for Blu-Ray playback, light gaming, and most end users won't need anything more powerful than the integrated graphics built into the chip. That's saying a lot for an integrated graphics solution. We also ran the i5 661 in a high end Asus Maximus 3 board with a discrete GPU to see if the integrated graphics were going to interfere with discrete GPU usage and had no problems with running several discrete GPU's we tried so if integrated graphics isn't what you need the i5 661 will allow you to go to a discrete GPU. Before you think discrete GPU though you might want to look at the 3DMark Vantage results on the Intel HD integrated graphics.Hey, What The...wasn't AMD supposed to have this out first.
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NL: Case & PSU Roundup
Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: WillWe have been getting a few Case & PSU reviews starting to stack up from around the net. So why not do a roundup.
Case
- XClio Nighthawk Case Review @ DriverHeaven
- Thermaltake Element V Big Tower Computer Case Review @ TweakPC
- NZXT Lexa S Case @ Rbmods
- Zalman MS1000-HS2 Professional Tower @ Pro-Clockers
- Azza Helios 910R ATX Mid Tower Case Review @ BayReviews
- NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputersPSU
- Zalman ZM600-RS 600 Watt Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
- Thermaltake Evo_Blue 750 watt PSU @ Bjorn3D
- Ultra X4 Fully Modular 850 Watt Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews
- Nexus RX-6300 PSU @ Rbmods -
Dual Processor 1366 Motherboard for Enthusiasts
Published: Friday, January 1, 2010 | By: DennisThis might be the coolest thing I have ever seen. EVGA has released a teaser pic for a new motherboard that will be on display at CES. So far there are no details beyond what you can see in the photo but rumors have speculated that the dual processor board will come in the typical "Classified" trim and color scheme.
For years I have been telling the various motherboard makers that we really need a dual processor enthusiast motherboard and something that doesn't require the extremely slow ECC Registered memory. Well it seems that EVGA might have finally paid attention.
You can be assured that this board will most likely require XEON based Intel processors and while an enthusiast platform would suggest overclocking it will ultimately come down to memory support and power delivery.
I have a meeting scheduled with EVGA during CES so stay tuned for more details behind this board and other cool things from EVGA.
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Happy New Year from Ninjalane
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: DennisOn behalf of Ninjalane I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
2010 is a huge milestone for Ninjalane and marks 10 Years of hardware review, overclocking, mods and more. While we celebrate our past achievements and look towards the dawn of another 10 years I thank you.
Have a good one!
See you all in 2010
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ASRock ION 330HT Nettop Review @ ThinkComputers
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: WillWe first had the Netbook platform that really swept the laptop area big time. Now it looks like the tiny systems are ready to take on the desk solutions. To be honest these look to be a great way to add a touchscreen computer into about any place in the home. This is without sacrificing to much space or power at that.
"Home Theatre PC's or HTPC's have been around for a few years now and are very popular. Most people use their old PC for a HTPC. The problem with that is that they are loud, not that powerful, and take up a lot of space. Well ASRock has got your HTPC needs covered with the ION 330HT Nettop that is capable of full 1080p high definition video playback and true-fidelity 7.1 surround sound audio. This system is powered by a Dual Core Intel Atom 330 (1.6GHz) processor, NVIDIA ION Graphics Processor, 2GB DDR2-800 memory, 320GB hard drive, DVD player and even WiFi!"
On agenda to check out at CES.
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NL: PC Game Reviews Roundup
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: WillHere is a few games to bring in the New Year for some PC gamers.
One of the most surprising announcements at last year's E3 was that Valve's zombie-survival thriller Left 4 Dead was already getting a sequel. The game would only have been out for exactly one year from Left 4 Dead 2's date of arrival, November 17, 2009. The gaming industry was swept with a broad range of emotions, from excitement to enough resentment to incite a boycott. Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) has been out for a few weeks now, and we've sat down with it to see if it not only has deemed itself worthy of a full core game, but helped to heal the wounds that a rocky launch left behind.
Resident Evil 5 Review @ ocaholic
With the first part of Resident Evil back in 1996 Capcom did pioneers work regarding horror shooters. A good story, small quests and an a terrifc atmosphere were able to chain lots of players to the PSone. Meanwhile the horror goes into the fifth round and if the brand Resident Evil still stands for solid action and awsome horror that's what we will show in the following pages. But be careful, it could infect you!
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Nvidia Says Fermi Not Delayed
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 | By: DennisSadly not direct from nVidia, but its supposed to be dual core so I'll let it slide.
“We are excited about the attention surrounding GF100 as it forms the foundation for the fastest and most feature rich graphics cards ever designed," said Nvidia's Bryan Del Rizzo. "Great things come to those that wait, and the wait will be over in Q1 as we have said previously. The release date has not changed since our initial comments last November."
Can anyone say CES?? ya that is what I'm laying my money on.
Then again given this is Tom's, we might want to give this a 97% truth rating.
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The Legit Reviews Best of 2009 Hardware Awards @ Legit Reviews
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 | By: WillWith the New Year just around a few days away I guess it is time to look at what all hardware and technology hit in 2009. Here is a good roundup to remind us of everything that was in 2009.
It is hard to believe that another year flew by so quickly, but it has! That means Legit Reviews has turned seven years old and that you have likely come across one of the hundreds of reviews that we have published this year. Since the year is almost over and new product launches are pretty much done for the year that means we can pick out the best products that were introduced in 2009!
Heres to new hardware in 2010.
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SATA 6Gbps Implementation Investigated ASUS vs. GIGABYTE P55
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 | By: WillWe are all waiting to see the real world performance jumps from SATA 3.0 to SATA 6.0. Then we would care more on how implementation of SATA 6.0 is done. Still let's get some education on the subject while we wait.
At first the lines appeared to be drawn down manufacturers lines; GIGABYTE chose to use a digital switching mechanism and ASUS chose to add an additional bridge chip from PLX. The lines became blurred when it came to light that ASUS also used a switch on the P7P55D-E and P7P55-E LX, similar to GIGABYTEs method. For all of the marketing that came from ASUS, their IO Level UP appears nearly identical to what GIGABYTE has done on their P55A boards.
The first shot in the marketing war was clearly fired by ASUS; reviewers were getting hit with digital fire before we even saw a SATA 6G hard drive or USB 3.0 drive enclosure. Today we are going to look past the marketing and take a look at two motherboards and see how they perform with SATA 6G."SSD and SATA 6.0 FTW!
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EVGA P55 Classified 200 LGA1156 Motherboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 | By: WillAfter we at Ninjalane played with the EVGA P55 FTW motherboard we are addicted to the EVGA boards. So check out our review on theEVGA P55 FTW then check out this sweet looking Classified version in this review from Hardware Canucks.
What is black and red and full of sexy all over? Well we can't tell you because it is Classified. That's right, this is another installment of the EVGA Classified show. Our guest star is of the P55 variety sporting the latest mainstream LGA1156 socket from Intel. The term mainstream, which is what the Intel P55 chipset is billed as, doesn't exactly correlate with ultra high-end which is what the Classified name from EVGA is generally paired with. It is this sort of oxymoron that makes this board quite intriguing.
Such sweet looking color scheme.
