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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 7/2010 )
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: General Tech
There are a wide variety of questions in the Tech Talk Forum, especially now that the Webmastering forum has been merged into it. You can find questions and recommendations on system builds, printer choices and choice software but a request for viruses is always going to have a mixed reception. For more targeted information you can check out the various other Forums, for instance if you feel that your router is holding back your network speeds you can post your question in the Tech Talk Forum but your chances for an indepth answer improve greatly if you head to our Networking Forum. The Graphics Forum will help you with esoteric graphics issues, like streaming audio over HDMI on an AGP graphics card though once you hit the Off Topic Forum all bets are off.
The members of the PC Perspective Forum will be glad to help you whichever sub-forum you do ask your question in but many members frequent the subforum they are most interested and knowledgeable in so by trying to pick specific sub-forums will net you quicker and more insightful answers. On the other hand, if you are looking for a more passive way to absorb all of the latest and greatest tech news and find out which of your hosts have already been playing StarCraft II then look no further that this weeks Podcast, brought to you by the number 115.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AMD | Subject: Graphics Card
No more jaggies in Starcraft 2 for AMD GPU users with the release of the Catalyst 10.7 beta as Anti-Aliasing is now supported at the driver level. For those like Ryan playing on a six screen EyeFinity setup this is a huge improvement even though it is also a huge performance hit. Drop by to grab yours, but remember that this is a BETA, not a WHQL driver so you may find some bugs that haven't been fully ironed out yet.
We have just released the ATI Catalyst 10.7a beta driver for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. This update brings Anti-Aliasing support (which must be enabled through the ATI Catalyst Control Center) for StarCraft II, as well as a performance enhancement for Eyefinity users running with Quad ATI CrossFireX configurations. Performance Improvements The following performance gains are noticed with this release of Catalyst 10.7:
Resolved Issues for All Windows Operating Systems
Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclock3D | Subject: Memory
The Mushkin Blackline 12GB kit consists of three 4GB 1600MHz DIMMs running at 9-9-9-24 which lets you up the total memory available to your system without resorting to six DIMMs. That extra density doesn't seem to have much of an effect on overclocking, Overclock3D took the DIMMs past 1900MHz after they loosened the timings a bit. Check out how it changed the performance in the full review.
"4GB density RAM sticks are starting to appear on the market, so it was time for OC3D to have a look at one. Mushkin obliged..." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: techPowerUp! | Subject: Editorial
Not everyone is willing to dump $100 or so on a gaming mouse, especially if they have been using a cheaper one their whole lives and have never tried a higher end mouse. Razer is looking to tempt that crowd with the Abyssus which uses the same sensor as the more expensive DeathAdder 3G. It only sports a pair of buttons along with a scroll wheel/button but is designed to be equally comfortable for left handed users as well as right handed ones. TechPowerUp came away from their review with the feeling that while the mouse's features were certainly trimmed to reach the below $50 price tag, Razer left the really important things in.
"Razer is mostly known for their expensive gaming mice, however, this new mouse changes all. Dubbed the Abyssus Razer is offering a gaming grade mouse at only $49 MSRP. We test the mouse and see if it stands a chance against some fierce competition." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: SemiAccurate | Subject: General Tech
It looks like AMD was trying to get an idea of how their new chips will work by running a little bit of distributed computing and someone noticed. BOINC does only measure two types of performance in their benchmark, floating point and integer speeds but that is still enough to tell us about the performance of the chips. The Ontario core hit 1,300+ million ops/s on with its floating point performance and just over 3,000 million ops/s in integer speeds, which puts it above the Atom at 871 million ops/sec for floating point and 2,249 integer. SemiAccurate does express concerns about the Llano core as it only managed 1,196 million ops/sec and an integer performance of 3,711 million ops/sec.
"WE'RE STILL AT least a couple of months away from AMD's Ontario announcement and even longer from Llano, but some very early performance figures have tipped up online courtesy of, well, distributed computing. To be more precise details of various distributed computing apps being tested on AMD Llano and Ontario systems have appeared on BOINC or the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing if you prefer." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Graphics Card
Since having only nVIDIA Surround on a machine with a pair of GTX480's doesn't allow you to compare the real differences between nVIDIA and AMD's multiple monitor solutions [H]ard|OCP is upgrading one of their machines with an ASUS ROG Matrix 5870 Platinum. Drop by to see a video of it in action along with a few hints as to how powerful (and overclocked) this particular personal build will be.
"Looking to replace my Radeon HD 5970 and decided to go with ASUS' ROG Matrix 5870 Platinum that we recently reviewed. It is loaded with features rarely seen on video cards and I thought it would find a good home in my personal rig. And yes, we have a purpose behind our upgrade too." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Case and Cooling
NZXT has designed something a little more luxurious than their usual, the Phantom. Whereas cases like the Hush are priced well under $100 this case should retail just above but with some very good reasons. For instance the included air cooling consists of
an blue LED 200mm fan on the top as well as a rear mounted 120mm fan and there is room for another 120 or 140mm fan at the front, an additional 200mm on top and you can either add a second 120mm fan or swap out the existing one to replace it with a 200 or 230mm fan. To make things more interesting there are six integral fan controllers operated by sliders on the exterior of the case allowing you to switch your cooling on the fly. That isn't all as you will see when you read Steve's full review.
"After examining the exterior, interior, cooling options, tool-less options, and other intricacies I concluded that I'm very satisfied with how the Phantom was designed. It's obvious that NZXT gave PC builders every air cooling option they could stuff into this case, but they also went the extra mile and added options for watercooling enthusiasts to install their custom components too. Whether you like using air cooled or water cooled solutions, the Phantom case has got you covered." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: General Tech
As is usual, Intel declined to comment on the information that DigiTimes has uncovered about the plans Intel has for 2011 but don't let that shake your confidence that DigiTimes is probably right on the money. The upcoming Waimea Bay platform will consist of a Sandy Bridge E-based processor in conjunction with the Patsburg chipset and will handle the upcoming generation of DDR3 as it will support RAM speeding up to 2666, though it may be a while before we see that RAM. Bromolow will be giving some love to the server room and the mobility lineup will sport the name Bromolow and all will be using the Sandy Bridge E CPU family. The first to arrive will be Sugar Bay, sometime around Christmas, so start saving those pennies.
"As Intel plans to ship its next-generation 6-series chipsets (Cougar Point) in the week 42 of 2010 (October 2010), sources from motherboard makers believe Intel will officially announce its new Sugar Bay desktop platform at CES 2011 in the US, but the makers will start distributing their motherboards to the channel in December of 2010. The initial launch of the Sugar Bay platform will include a Sandy Bridge-based processor, featuring a quad core CPU and integrated GPU; and will be paired with P67 chipset-based motherboards, targeting mainstream markets. The new platform will support the latest Hyper-Threading technology and Intel Advanced Turbo Boost technology. Intel, at a later time, will continue to launch more Sandy Bridge CPUs with unlocked multipliers and dual-cores. Meanwhile, Intel will launch the Waimea Bay platform for high-end markets to replace the existing Tylersburg. Waimea Bay consists of a Sandy Bridge E-based processor and motherboard based on Intel's Patsburg chipset. Sandy Bridge E will feature an integrated memory controller and PCI Express connection, and will support memory up to DDR3 2666. For the company's server line, Intel will launch the Bromolow platform, which also adopts Sandy Bridge processors. Intel in the week 50 of 2010 will start shipping its Huron River platform for notebooks to partners and related products are expected to start appearing in the channel after mid-January 2011. In 2012, Intel will launch 22nm Ivy Bridge processors. Intel declined the opportunity to respond to this report saying it cannot comment on unannounced products." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: Display
Usually when we discuss DisplayPort adaptors on PC Perspective it is to talk about active DisplayPort to DVI adaptors used to bring a half dozen screens to a Crossfire setup. There is another use for this connection type however, as evidenced by the Accell UltraAV DisplayPort to DVI Multi-Monitor Adapter that ThinkComputers just reviewed.
Without the need for Eyefinity or nVIDIA Surround you can have up to three monitors running at a combined resolution of 1024x3840. This is not going to find usage in gaming machines, nor with people who want the displays to act as separate units, the adaptor will only create one very large desktop as opposed to being able to distinguish between them but for anyone looking for a very long desktop, this is worth checking out.
“I’m a multi-display guy and I have been for a long time. It is very hard for me to work with just one display. I really like to have my work on one screen and other things like instant messenger, iTunes, and Twitter on the other screen. This is pretty easy to do when you have a desktop system, but what about a laptop. Many people are moving away from desktops and going to a laptop as their main system. I would love to do the same, but I cannot work on a small laptop screen. Well Accell has just the thing for me the UltraAV DisplayPort to DVI Multi-Monitor adapter. This little device will allow you to enjoy multiple monitors from a single DisplayPort output, let’s take a look…" Here are some more Display articles from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Mobile
NVIDIA Optimus technology is a feature that allows discrete NVIDIA GPUs to interact with integrated graphics, either on a chipset or on a CPU package like Arrandale, in such a way that allows the performance of the discrete option to be available only when it is necessary and idle otherwise. This ability allows notebook vendors to include a discrete graphics solution in their design without having to worry about have it sucking up power and bringing down battery life when not in use.
We have tested a handful Optimus-enabled machines at PC Perspective and even if we haven't always loved everything about the notebooks themselves, the graphics technology has continued to impress.
Yesterday NVIDIA posted a new blog and video that demonstrates the updated Verde driver (that is what NVIDIA calls their own packaging of the graphics driver for mobile platforms) and some of the features it introduces. One addition I liked was the ability to enabled a task bar icon that will let you know if the GPU is powered on or off more easily.
Good stuff from the NVIDIA team as they continue to try to find a way to compete and innovate in the mobile space. The only change I would personally like to see is some color changing or icon changes that will let me know if the GPU is enabled or powered down without having to mouse over the icon. Also, an overlay that the user could enabled/disable while in full screen applications (like games) would also be a plus.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tech ARP | Subject: Storage
SSDs are great, they offer speeds that were previously only seen from system RAM for long term storage but their one weakness is price. While that price doesn't sting quite so much when you are looking to purchase a 60GB SSD for your OS drive, those who need several hundred gigabytes of storage are going to need to dig deep in their pockets if they want an SSD. That is where the expansion to WD's Velociraptor line comes in as they have just released a 600GB model that is priced under $0.50/GB. That gives you plenty of space and for a spindle based drive this particular line has always rated highly for its speed. Drop by Tech ARP to see just how impressive the doubling of storage capacity, buffer size and even interface speed is.
"Western Digital may be marketing their new VelociRaptor family of high-speed hard
drives as enterprise-class hard drives but they are also very popular with
hardware enthusiasts who just cannot resist their 10,000 RPM spindle speed.
To cater to this exclusive group of enthusiasts, Western Digital first introduced the Raptor and Raptor X hard drives with capacities of 36 GB to 150 GB. These Raptors evolved into the first-generation Western Digital VelociRaptor hard drives with twice the storage capacity in a much smaller 2.5" drive form factor. Western Digital has since introduced an improved version of the VelociRaptor, with double the storage capacity and support for SATA 6 Gb/s. The new VelociRaptor 6 Gb/s is available in storage capacities of 450 GB or 600 GB. Today, we will look at the Western Digital VelociRaptor 600 GB hard disk drive - the WD6000HLHX, which comes with the IcePack mounting frame. Let's find out how well this drive performs" Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
It has become usual for the release of a PC game to disappoint anyone who tries to grab it on the first day, as brick and mortar stores can't be bothered to carry enough physical copies and the publishers download service collapses under what should have been an expected demand, but many people are now happily playing. Many of those are probably finding that their actions per minute aren't quite as impressive as they were a decade ago but the nostalgia combined with the new experience is a formidable pair.
Here at PC Perspective we covered the performance aspect of the game last week but there is more coverage out there about the anti-aliasing issue. If you are still sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to pick up the game, both Wired and Gaming Heaven have pulled themselves away long enough to publish full reviews. Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Intel Press Room | Subject: General Tech
The big news from Intel yesterday was the announcement of photonic signalling to transfer data at an incredible 50Gbs and that is just to start. Using four non-interfering wavelengths of light in the form of silicon lasers, Intel has found a way to combine the four wavelengths each capable of 12.5Gbs into a single signal which can be passed across to a receiver that can then split the signal into the original four beams. They are talking of scaling up to 40 beams or 1Tbs which sounds a lot more interesting than TBS reruns.
There were quite a few participants in Intel's announcement, such as The Tech Report and Ars Technica if you wish to see just how well this new technology is being received. Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Mobile
Yesterday Ryan finished up his review of the ASUS N61Jv Optimus Core i5 16" notebook. As the name implies this notebook does have Optimus technology allowing you to switch between the GeForce GT 325M GPU and the Intel HD graphics that are a part of the HM55 chipset. It is a bit on the heavy side at 6lbs, though a part of that weight is the battery which lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes
during Ryan's testing. Another feature worth mentioning is that this laptop has USB 3.0, something that can be very handy moving files back and forth when you are on the road. Check the review for a full list of the features and performance of the N61Jv.
"My overall experience with the ASUS N61Jv was extremely positive thanks to the performance the Core i3 processor and NVIDIA GT325M GPU offer, the large screen and keyboard/touch pad combination. For a 16-in notebook coming in over 6 lbs, which definitely puts it closer to the desktop replacement category than the thin and light, getting 2 hours and 23 minutes in our very strenuous battery testing was actually pretty solid making leaving without your power cord at least an option. The added goodies like USB 3.0 support definitely add the value of a notebook that sells for $899 which should make it a great option for a summer or fall college-bound consumer or anyone else on the lookout for this combination." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MetkuMods | Subject: Motherboard
Though they are based on the same chipset, the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H and ASRock 890GX Extreme3do have differences. The Gigabyte board is a member of the Power of 3 family, so it sports USB 3, S-ATA 3 and USB Power 3x as well as a pair of PCIe 16x slots. The ASRock also has threes, advertising USB 3.0, SATA 3 and e-SATA 3
(even though the later pair are the same) and three PCIe 16x slots. ASRock also decided to drop IDE completely from the board and you can also spot differences on the back panels. Take a peek at MektuMods for the full details.
"Two motherboards with AMD's 890GX chipset goes head to head to see which one takes the top spot." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Processor
The Westmere-EP is a 32nm process and it's current representative is the Xeon 5680, a 6 core 3.33GHz CPU though it will hit 3.6GHz via Intel's TurboBoost technology. If you want a dual CPU PC then the Xeon family is currently the way to go, though you might not choose to use the board that The Tech Report did. The focus of TR's review was not the ultimate in high end machines, instead they chose to test it using low power components as it would have in a server role, though they did go all out and use an SDD for storage. Drop by to see just how well this new CPU will fit into its role in server rooms, especially considering it can be a drop-in upgrade from a 5500 series Xeon.
"Intel's new Xeons promise two more cores per socket at the same clock speed and power envelope. How good are they? We collected a host of systems in Damage Labs to find out." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: General Tech
DigiTimes has some news on AMD's release plans for the near future. We should see an integrated USB 3.0 controller on the upcoming Hudson D1 southbridge chipsets that will be arriving before the end of the year. Along with that release a number of processors including the Phenom II X6 1045T; dual-core X2 560; a pair of quad-core Athlon II X4s and triple-quad Athlon II X3's and even a single-core Sempron 150. Hopefully those releases will keep AMD's CPU business going until the release of Llano early next year.
"AMD is currently in talks with Renesas Electronics, which was merged with Japan-based NEC, about the licensing of USB 3.0 technology, and is considering integrating USB 3.0 support in its upcoming Hudson D1 southbridge chipsets, according to sources from notebook makers. The Hudson D1 chipset will be introduced for AMD's 40nm Ontario APUs that are set to be shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010. The new platform will mainly target the ultra- thin notebook and netbook markets. In 2011, AMD will launch Llano-based processors for its mainstream desktop and notebook segments. AMD is set to launch six-core Phenom II X6 1045T; dual-core X2 560; quad-ore Athlon II X4 645 and 650; and triple-quad Athlon II X3 450 and 455 processors in third-quarter 2010. The company will also launch the single-core Sempron 150 in the fourth quarter." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
Today should have been a good day for NVIDIA - StarCraft II was released and only their cards support anti-aliasing out of the gate AND the new Fermi-based Quadro graphics offer a significant jump in performance over previous generation parts and AMD's FirePro options. Apple apparently had other plans though and has updated its entire line of iMac and Mac Pro computers with a collection of new hardware that apparently leaves NVIDIA out in the cold.
The all-new iMac system line up moves completely into the world of the Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors which means the use of any NVIDIA chipsets in the base models is no longer possible. The 9400M/ION chipset was dependent on Apple continuing to use the Core 2 processors and with that gone we are left with integrated CPU-based graphics options and discrete solutions from AMD/ATI.
You can see in the image above that all four of our starting configurations include ATI options, the least expensive of which is the aged 4670 card. The highest available option on the 27-in model is the HD 5750 which currently sell in the discrete PC market for about $125; these are much better options than the integrated Intel graphics but are no where near the performance level of the options available to PC users. UPDATE: It was just pointed out to me by a couple people that Apple had in fact removed NVIDIA options from the iMac in its previous update 6-9 months. So while the timing our news post here is a bit off, the point is still valid that Apple has slowly been fazing NVIDIA solutions from its computers.
The product description pages talk about the inclusion of discrete graphics for "3D applications and games" but there is a conspicuous lack of promotion of OpenCL-based GPGPU applications that were talked about when NVIDIA was the discrete GPU of choice in the iMac. This either means that the new ATI graphics cards don't support OpenCL to the same degree as NVIDIA's options but I think Apple would likely not have made the move if ATI didn't support the existing software infrastructure.
There is also no mention of the on-the-fly GPU switching that was introduced with the updated MacBook Pro machines and the Intel Arrandale CPU / NVIDIA GPU combination. Because these are desktop systems the need for power efficiency is less vital so not being about to integrate the feature with ATI's graphics could easily be overlooked. There are other interesting hardware changes than the move to ATI graphics cards on the iMac lineup including the option to select BOTH an SSD and standard HDD in the 27-in model for both speed and capacity. That option will increase your system cost by $750 or $900 depending on your choice of a 1TB or 2TB hard drive to go along with the 256GB unnamed SSD and quickly brings the total system to the $3000 mark. Processor options have also increased across the board with the lowest end model feature a dual-core HyperThreaded Core i3 processor running at 3.06 GHz and the highest cost option based around the quad-core Core i7. Also announced was an update to the Mac Pro desktop system (coming in August) that includes dual-socket 6-core Gulftown processors from Intel that we have had access to on the PC space since March. The base price on that model will run you $4999 while the quad-core Mac Pro being the entry point at $2499. Still, the default GPU has changed to the ATI Radeon HD 5770 which is a bit confusing as this is still a mid-range option by anyone's scale though the Mac Pro will have the option to upgrade to an HD 5870 for more serious 3D power. 
Those of you with money will also be able to throw as much as 32GB of memory, 4TB of standard hard drives and as many as four SSDs in there for a truly impressive workstation. Just make sure you have that corporate AmEx at the ready for the August release. What will the move away from NVIDIA graphics mean for the Mac lineup and for NVIDIA in particular? While the Mac sales weren't keeping the NVIDIA financials afloat, they were definitely a feather in the cap for the company in terms of design wins. Over the few years the NVIDIA exclusive has existed though there have been numerous technology problems from their products including over heating mobility GPUs and delayed chipsets and Apple was more than willing to give AMD a try to fulfill their customers needs. Now, will this lead to seeing AMD processors in Apple computers down the line as well...?
Let the conspiracy theories begin!
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
If you haven't checked out my wicked-awesome StarCraft II Performance Review, you definitely should, and where the hell have you been? The game is out now so you might already have it in your system, but now you should be even more interested in my results and the news we have for you tonight.
One of the big keys to the SCII article linked above was the issue surrounding AA (anti-aliasing): Blizzard didn't feel the need to include it (and why the hell not is beyond me) but NVIDIA enabled it in their driver using a brute force method that, by the company's own admission, was less efficient than it could be with developer assistance.
Here is one example of AA at work in the StarCraft II game - surely you can see the advantages of having the ability to enable it on your system can provide, given appropriate GPU horse power. 
Yes, on the GTX 460 for example, it does take a LOT of the performance away from the game in terms of raw frame rate. But even the aging GTX 260 was able to eek out 38 FPS with AA turned up to 4x in our testing.
When I wrote the original article I said this: While I was excited to learn that NVIDIA had been working on a way to get AA working with StarCraft II even if the developer didn't take the time to implement one, I was disappointed to basically see no response from AMD and its driver team when I asked about the possibility of seeing it for users of ATI cards as well.
... Anti-aliasing is another bonus for NVIDIA card users who pick up SC2 on launch day as it is something that only they will have unless ATI's driver team really gets on the ball and can integrate support in the next week or so. It would appear ATI took some of that to heart, but unfortunately, as we sit here on launch night, ATI users are still going to be without AA support in StarCraft II for some time longer. I got this official note from AMD tonight: As you know, AMD constantly strives to deliver great gaming experiences for our customers and the upcoming launch of Starcraft II is no exception. Blizzard’s focus on incredible game play for all, means that gamers using ATI Radeon products can enjoy smooth HD gameplay and industry leading image quality with our current generation of ATI Radeon products as well as many of our past generation cards.
Yes, this is the case; we proved it in our performance review from last week. I also find it interesting that AMD credited Blizzard's goal of "game play for all" rather than AMD's own hardware or software. Honesty is great, but not enough marketing/PR people read this note I guess. In discussions during the development of StarCraft II, Blizzard indicated that they would not initially include options to set levels of in-game anti-aliasing (“AA”). This meant that support for AA within StarCraft II would only be made possible by including it in the driver, an approach that could significantly impact performance.
Yes, it definitely does have an impact on the NVIDIA card performance as we mentioned in our performance article. Some third party reviews of the Starcraft II beta echo our concerns that AA can cause gameplay impairment. In these reviews, the third parties found that 4x AA led to a reduction in fps rendering at lower screen resolutions, which only became more noticeable at larger resolutions.
Again, also very true. They may be referring to our very piece. But I think the word "concerns" might be inappropriate. We have "concerns" about a great many things in life but what I had about AA in StarCraft II were "discoveries" that allowed me to recommend options to our users based on their hardware and our performance results. After evaluating our options, our engineering team opted not to provide AA support for StarCraft II within the Catalyst Control Center, even though the competition has included AA support in their driver at launch.
Hrrm. So AMD says it is not a technical limit but rather a deliberate decision made based on weighing options. We are committed to making AA perform at an acceptable level before we release it to our customers. We will continue to work with Blizzard on this matter and hope to offer our customers an acceptable AA solution at a later date.
AMD is basically telling us that enabling AA in the control panel didn't live up to their standards in terms of performance; fair enough I guess but wouldn't it be more fair for the user (and the press) to decide if it met "standards"? If I have a Radeon HD 5870 in my system (and I do) and I want to run at 1920x1080 at 4xAA with half the performance (still about 50 FPS) then I would consider that an "acceptable level" for me. So either AMD is being really picky here or there performance drops were going to be more noticeable than NVIDIA's. 
Here is my theory: if AMD's cards had their performance cut in half with the enabling of anti-aliasing then ATI's options would have looked even further behind the NVIDIA cards available today. From a marketing stand point I can see it being more beneficial to wait and integrate the feature later rather than implement it now and have another "loss" on the record books going into the game's official launch. It's disappointing for all of those gamers with ATI cards that might want to TRY to enable AA and see if they like the experience, but for now all we can do is wait. Happy gaming and good luck getting to work on time!! UPDATE 8/2/10 - AMD has released the Catalyst 10.7 beta driver that enables AA support. Check out our updated performance results for more information!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Case and Cooling
As wonderful as the performance of the GTX480 is, the ability to power them has become somewhat of a running gag on online review sites. A recent review by Lee offers a solution to the power concerns that doesn't involve building your own pebble bed nuclear reactor. His solution is the Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 power supply which not only provides huge amounts of power but does so with an 80+ Gold rating, the highest available. As well, no matter how much load he placed on it the PFC sat at or near 1.00 and there was barely a ripple on any of the lines. This is a must for anyone considering a system that requires 1200W of power.
"Corsair is well known for producing some of the best PC power supplies on the market today and the AX1200 continues that trend. The Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 power supply delivers clean DC outputs, with excellent efficiency and good voltage regulation. Under normal operating conditions (below 600W load) the AX1200 is relatively quiet. The AX1200 comes with an excellent assortment of all-modular cables that can support the latest CPUs and multiple, high-end video cards. And let’s not forget active PFC, universal AC input and Corsair’s 7-year warranty! "" Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jonathan Hung | Source: engadget | Subject: Mobile
In the most current installment of the Slate of the Nation - Your Guide to Upcoming Slate Devices, I listed the MeeGo mobile OS as something worth keeping an eye on, but not necessarily something to go out of your way to acquire because of its early development state.
Well it seems MeeGo is getting a big boost on two fronts today and we may see MeeGo being used in a lot more places than you'd expect. The GENIVI Alliance (the "IVI" portion I suspect standing for "in-vehicle infotainment") announced today they will use MeeGo as the OS of choice for their in-car infotainment system. The Alliance, which consists of big automakers like BMW, GM, Mitsubishi, and Peugeot Citroen, didn't say when or which car models will get this feature, but I suspect it will be at least 1 model year before we even see prototypes in place (MeeGo handsets haven't even reached the market yet). Additionally, Intel today is announcing that it will be setting up an Atom and MeeGo research group in China to focus on mobile technology. According to the DigiTimes, sources say that the R&D group will work with "100 of the company's embedded product partners to develop about 1,000 types of Atom-and-MeeGo combination-based applications". That's a pretty specific number of partners and a specific target for prototypes. Intel's heavy investment in MeeGo is an interesting business maneuver to distance (or diversify) Atom processors from the cumbersome, yet capable, Windows 7. Sources: Nokia Blog, via Engadget. Digitimes.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: X-Bit Labs | Subject: Graphics Card
X-bit Labs took a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 Super-Mainboard and attached two different sets of GPUs for testing, four Radeon HD 5870s in one case and three GTX 480s in the second. This board sports a pair of Nvidia NF200-SLI chips so there are plenty of PCIe lanes to go around and with the addition of a Xigmatek 1500W PSU to the installed Zalman 1000W PSU there is 2.5 kilowatts of power available for the system. While the results in and of themselves are incredible, showing off the incredible graphical power available to those who can afford it there is another important factor to remember when looking at the results; while the difference between the AMD and nVIDIA scores are definitive you should pay careful attention to how much benefit you get from adding that fourth HD5870 or the third GTX480 to the system. "We are going to test four Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards in CrossFireX configuration and compare them to a 3-way SLI configuration of three GeForce GTX 480 cards using the newest super-expensive mainboard with seven PCI Express slots onboard, four of which work in 16x mode." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Case and Cooling
The CoolIT ECO C240 is similar to the other self contained liquid based CPU coolers, what CoolIT has done differently is offer more surface area for cooling and tried to make it the easiest of the bunch to install. The radiator sports a pair of 120mm fans, so those hoping to mount it within their case had better ensure they have the space, otherwise those watercooling grommets are going to be needed. [H]ard|OCP had no trouble installing the waterblock and did choose a case almost big enough to contain the radiator but once the testing started the were a little disappointed by the performance as CoolIT is charging a pretty penny for this cooler. Still, as far as hassle free cooling goes, this is not a bad choice.
"Other companies made the closed loop self contained CPU water cooler famous. CoolIT
Systems intends to make it one of the easiest to install and best optimized and
efficient liquid cooling systems around. The ECO C240 doubles up on cooling surface
area. Does CoolIT hit its mark?"
Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Extremetech | Subject: General Tech
Setting up a hardware firewall is not quite like it was just a handful of years ago when the appliances were purpose built and rather expensive. Now with dd-wrt you can flash your routers firmware and change it into a powerful security appliance with far more options than the router had previously. There are numerous Linux distributions specifically designed to be small a run as a high end network router and firewall, assuming you can get all the configuration correct. ExtremeTech is reporting on another choice called Astaro Security Gateway which seems a rather attractive choice. Burn the image of the Linux based install disk and run it on a PC with at least a P4 @ 1.5 GHz, 1GB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, and two Network Interface Cards (NICs).
Run through some simple configurations and you are safe. If you are looking to set up a hardware firewall with the least investment of time and money, then this software is worth a look.
"Enterprise networks don't just rely on security software installed at every workstation. They run all network traffic through dedicated security servers that filter out spam, block dangerous Web sites, and generally protect the network. If you have above-average network skills and a spare computer lying around, you can get similar protection for your home network using the free Astaro Security Gateway Version 8 Home Edition." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
While you can get lost in the complexities of the tech world, especially if you listen to the PC Perspective Podcast, but on the forums you will be welcomed be you totally new to the wide weird and wonderful world of PCs or a seasoned old salt. A basic question about the fundamentals of networking will never bring a demeaning reply, instead at least one of our members will take you through the steps required to fix your problem. If you have been lurking in the forums or even just reading the front page articles, know that you will be welcomed in the forums, especially if you hang out in some of the more social forums like the Distributed Computing forums or drop by the Fragging Frogsfor some gaming action.
If you are looking for more technical posts, not to worry. For instance a forum member has posted a very comprehensive thread about the new unlockable Intel i7-875K and what it is capable of. You can get see what kind of success people in the Graphics Forum have had with enabling PhysX on a second nVIDIA GPU or get a grip on the pins needed to pass through audio on the S/PDIF on a XI-Fi audio card. The Storage forum currently has a discussion about partition efficiency for those with a new HDD to set up or you can drop by the Windows Forum to read about a partition gone bad and the attempts to rehabilitate it back into a productive member of society. If that doesn't do it for you then why not get into a heated debate at The Lighting Round, blow off some steam in the Off Topic Forum or even just barter for new parts at The Trading Post.
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Graphics Card
AMD's Gaming Evolved program is finally launching during the Comic-con event in San Diego. PC Perspective first saw the fruits of this developer and consumer campaign during GDC where AMD detailed its targets for innovation, industry standards and development support for gaming. The triple-headed goal for the program is summed up nicely with this Venn diagram:
While the goals are lofty the task is not an easy one as it involved many other companies and the ability to AMD to maneuver the industry in way that not only benefits the gamer but also that falls in line with AMD hardware, both CPUs and GPUs.
AMD is obviously attempting to passive aggressively take on NVIDIA's multiple programs that tend to keep gamers inside the NVIDIA ecosystem. Those include SLI (certification for motherboards), PhysX (only works on NVIDIA-only systems) and even 3D Vision. Whether or not PC gamer's really care about the different political views at play here has yet to be seen.
But AMD is obviously pulling out our openness and fair-play heart strings:
Also of interest, AMD and EA are showing off the upcoming Medal of Honor game that looks friggin' sweet!! 
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Canucks | Subject: Storage
Other World Computing, aka OWC, has been a major supplier of components for Apple and they are branching out with their new Mercury Extreme Pro 120GB SSD. Using the Sandforce SF-1222 controller which implies a certain level of performance, the drive retails for ~$320 putting it at a reasonable price point for an SSD of that size. There is a slight downside unfortunately as Hardware Canucks discovered during their testing to do with the new Sandforce firmware. While the performance was not bad, per se, but it constantly finished at the bottom of the group of Sandforce drives they testedso it seems that this new firmware is not a huge step forward but it is not a step back by any means either.
"Having cut their teeth with the Apple crowd, OWC isn't a company that is well known to most PC users. However, with the Mercury Extreme Pro series of SandForce-based SSDs, they're trying to break into the enthusiast PC market in a big way. In this review we look at the 120GB version to see if it measures up to the competition." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bjorn3D | Subject: System
At $200 the Hauppauge HD PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder is a small box that connects to any video source and records it. To test that claim Bjorn3D tried recording from their cable set top box, an Xbox 360 game, a Xbox game, satellite television, Blu-Ray movies in 1080i, a SD DVD movie, and even a movie off of a VCR. All were completely sucessful, the HD PVR did not have a problem recording from any of those sources. The only qualm that Bjorn3D had was the lack of HDMI input.
"For years, I have been trying to find a HD recorder that can not only record any Cable/Satellite show, but also one that would allow me to record my dad's old VCR movies onto the computer so that we can optimize them to today's standards. I am always on the lookout to try new things, to review the unique or unusual devices that can or will make our lives a whole lot easier.The Hauppauge HD-PVR is such a device that can make our daily movie/show watching lives a lot easier." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Mobile
Similar to the SSD Decoder Ring that Allyn created to bring some illumination to the internals of the new breed of hard drive, Jon spells out what you can find inside that tablet. From the OS that runs on the hardware to the internals themselves, he has covered all the current ultramobile platforms available. There is even a downloadable pdf at the end of the article so you can have a synopsis handy.
"Asus has two devices coming to market this coming quarter: the EP121 and the EP101TC. The EP121 reads more like a netbook than a slate device - it uses an Intel CULV Core2 Duo CPU and is loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium. On the other hand, the EP101TC uses Windows Embedded Compact 7 which is Microsoft’s portable device OS that is streamlined for shorter interactions." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: General Tech
The ARM Cortex, especially the more recent models like the A8, are showing up just about everywhere. HTC, Apple, Samsung and just about any other company producing smart phones depend on ARM for their processing power. It is estimated that there is around 20 billion ARM processors in use when you count them all, almost putting the x86 and x86-64 architectures to shame. ASUS was showing off an ARM based tablet running Win7 at Computex so running Windows on an ARM has been done. Perhaps that is why it is not much of a surprise that Microsoft is now licensing ARM architecture, bringing the two companies three year relationship to a new level. [H]ard|OCP can fill you in.
"ARM and Microsoft Corp. today announced that they have signed a new licensing agreement for the ARM® architecture. The agreement extends the collaborative relationship between the two companies. Since 1997 Microsoft and ARM have worked together on software and devices across the embedded, consumer and mobile spaces, enabling many companies to deliver user experiences on a broad portfolio of ARM-based products" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
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