Techconnect Review Round-up 22/1/10
CPU & Motherboard
- Gigabyte X58A-UD7 and P55A-UD6 motherboards @ FiringSquad
- Intel Core i5-750 @ APH Networks
- Intel Core i3 530 @ AnandTech
Storage
- Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB @ Techgage
- Toshiba T6UG1XBG Solid State Drive Controller (Kingston SSDNow V+ SNV325 SSD) @ Benchmark Reviews
Graphics cards
- ATI Radeon HD 5670 512MB Graphics Card Video Review @ eTeknix
- ECS NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 512MB @ Phoronix
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 Graphics Card @ iXBT Labs
Enclosures & PSUs
- Xigmatek Midgard Mid-Tower Chassis @ TweakTown
- Lian Li PC-B25F Case @ Neoseeker
- Glacialtech GP-AX950AA Power Supply Unit @ Real World Labs
- Ultra X4 500W Modular PSU @ BCCHardware
- Nexus RX-1K 1000W PSU @ PureOC
- Coolermaster Elite 100 Mini ITX Case @ ProClockers
- Cougar 1000CM 1000w PSU Revisited @ OC3D
- INEO 3.5 HDD enclosure @ Bjorn3d
Displays
- Dell UltraSharp U2711 @ AnandTech
Cooling and modding
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler @ Hi-Tech Legion
- Prolimatech Mega Shadow CPU cooler @ Testseek Labs
- Koolance CPU-LN2 Rev2 Liquid Nitrogen Pot @ Legit Reviews
Peripherals
- Vidabox Premium Wireless ACC-KBLTB Keyboard @ Madshrimps
Sound
- Hercules XPS 40 2.0 Slim Speakers @ OCIA
- Nitrox x735 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones @ BigBruin
Other
- Nitrox iConn+ iPhone Battery Case @ ThinkComputers
- Sony BDP-S760 Blu-ray Player, Pure Sensia - Internet & DAB Radio and Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth Speakerphone @ TrustedReviews
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Thermaltake intros the SilverRiver II series HDD/SSD enclosures
As just announced, Thermaltake is readying the release of a new family of stylish hard (and solid state) drive enclosures named SilverRiver II. The upcoming aluminum enclosures have 3.5-inch (ST0016 and ST0017) and 2.5-inch (ST0018) form factors, measure 195 x 125 x 70 mm and 136 x 79 x 17 mm, respectively, and support SATA 1.5 Gbps/3.0 Gbps drives. The ST0016 features both eSATA and USB 2.0 connectivity, while the ST0017 and ST0018 models have to settle only for USB 2.0.
Expected to become available in the next few weeks, the SilverRiver II series ST0016, ST0017 and ST0018 enclosures have recommended price tags of $39.99, $29.99 and $19.99.
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MSI rolls out the Kombustor graphics card test tool
MSI in collaboration with the Geeks3D team (kudos JeGX) has today introduced the first public beta version of Kombustor, an OpenGL graphics card benchmarking and stress testing tool based on FurMark.
Available as a standalone app but also linked with the Afterburner utility (if installed), Kombustor features OpenGL 2 and OpenGL 3 rendering paths, multiple customization settings (for the test), and a GPU temperature reader so you'll know how hot and heavy things get while running the software.
To download Kombustor 0.7.0 (beta) just click on this link.
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PhotoFast unveils the G-Monster2 SFV1 SSD
After a couple of months of silence, PhotoFast has taken the mic once again to announce its newest solid state drive, the G-Monster2 SFV1. This 2.5-inch solution comes in 50GB, 100GB, 200GB and 400GB capacities, has MLC (multi-level cell) NAND memory, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, a MTBF (mean time before failure) of over 1 million hours and maximum read and write speeds of 260 MB/s and 160 MB/s, respectively (75 MB/s measured for 4K random writes).
PhotoFast doesn't say what controller the G-Monster2 SFV1 uses but given the lack of any mention of on-board cache and the SF in the name, we'd guess we're dealing with a SandForce-based SSD. The new drive is backed by a one-year warranty and is expected to start selling next month.
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EVGA Precision updated to work with GeForce 196 Series drivers
EVGA has issued a new update for its Precision graphics card tool through which it provides a workaround for the overclocking problems reported by those using the latest GeForce driver (196.21). According to EVGA, the "workaround is applied only to 196.00 - 196.21 driver versions range in order to ensure compatibility with future fixed Nvidia drivers."
To download Precision 1.9.1 see this page.
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Viking Modular Solutions to release SandForce-powered SSDs too
California-based Viking Modular Solutions has announced that it too is partnering up with SandForce and will use the company's controllers for its future enterprise class and industrial grade solid state drives. Viking Modular will be entering the SSD market with 2.5-inch drives boasting SAS 6.0 Gbps and SATA 3.0 Gbps interfaces that make use of SLC (single-level cell) or MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips. The company is also planning to offer 1.8-inch SSDs and solutions that come in non-HDD-like form factors.
"Today's announcement represents the results of collaboration between Viking Modular Solutions and SandForce for current and future high performance SSD products that target enterprise, storage and multiple other applications requiring superior performance and security," stated Hamid Shokrgozar, President of Viking Modular Solutions. "The SandForce team has delivered a truly remarkable device and this family of processors will enable Viking Modular Solutions to deliver enterprise class, ultra reliable and high performance SSD solutions."
The first SandForce-based SSDs by Viking Modular are currently being sampled to OEMs.
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Google generates more envy with its solid Q4 results
Continuously-expanding internet titan Google has confessed to having a pretty good fourth quarter of 2009 in which it made sales of $6.67 billion, up 17% on-year and up 12% sequentially. In Q4 Google sites saw their revenue top $4.42 billion (up 16% on-year), while partner sites contributed with $2.04 billion (a 21% increase on-year). The company's net income for this past quarter was of $1.97 billion, compared to $382 million in Q4 2008.
"Google had a strong fourth quarter, with 17% year over year revenue growth," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. "Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year. Our performance in 2009 underscored the strength of our management team, the resilience of our business model and the pace of innovation within our product and engineering teams, which continued unabated throughout the downturn. As we enter 2010, we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not only of our users and customers, but also the wider web."
At the end of Q4, Google had cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities of $24.5 billion, and 19,835 full-time employees - up from 19,665 in the previous quarter.
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Fujitsu to deliver two Arrandale-powered FMV-LIFEBOOK laptops
Fujitsu Japan has this week announced the upcoming addition of two new models in the FMV-LIFEBOOK laptop family, the FMV-A8390 and FMV-S8490. The FMV-A8390 features a 15.6-inch (1366x768) display and boasts a 2.13 GHz Core i3-330M or 2.40 GHz Core i5-520M CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and integrated graphics.
The FMV-S8490 makes use of the Core i3-330M and also has 1GB DDR3 memory and 160GB worth of storage space, but packs a 13.3-inch (1366x768) screen. Both laptops come with Windows 7 Professional installed.
Set to become available in Japan next week, the FMV-A8390 and FMV-S8490 have starting prices of about $1,680 and $2,303, respectively.
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Cooler Master readies the Centurion 5 II chassis
Cooler Master has recently revealed its second generation Ceturion 5 mid-tower chassis which, compared to its predecessors, offers an increased drive bay capacity, more airflow, and new easy-to-install features. Coming with or without a side window (in black or black/silver schemes), the 7.5 kg Centurion 5 II has a steel body, it measures 202 (W) x 440 (H) x 485 (D) mm, and features four exposed 5.25-inch bays, an I/O panel with USB 2.0, eSATA, audio and optional FireWire ports, five 3.5-inch bays and a nice adapter for installing two 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch drives into one 3.5-inch holder.
The new case boasts a retaining hole for easy CPU cooler installation, and comes equipped with two fans - a 140mm spinner (1200 RPM/ 19 dBA) with a blue LED in front, and a 120mm fan (1200 RPM / 17 dBA) at the back. The Centurion 5 II should become available in the near future.
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Google Wave added new permission option, restore feature
Google's all-in-one communication and collaboration software is being updated this week with two new features that will help users better manage their waves and restore a wave to an earlier state. First up, we have the addition of a read-only setting which can be used to limit the access level of participants on a wave. As the name suggests, the option will only let them view the activity on the wave and will prevent them from making any modification to the wave.
The restore feature lets users with full access to, yes, restore a wave to a previous state visible in playback. After restoring a wave the playback history remains unchanged so you won't lose anything in the process, the restored stat will just be added to the end of the history.
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