gfxCardStatus 1.6 enables 2010 MacBook Pro GPU Switching
If you recall from our 15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro review, one of our only criticisms was the inability for users to manually change between lower-power integrated Intel HD graphics and the discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU. As it stands, within OS X users can only disable the Intel HD graphics in favor of using the discrete, but more power-hungry GT 330M full-time. Since being tipped in the comments section on one of our MacBook Pro articles, we've been keeping our eyes on a particular utility developed by independent OS X developer Cody Krieger called gfxCardStatus. Until now, this has been a useful tool exclusively for reporting at-a-glance which GPU was in use in the menu bar. But now, there's something more:
Now, in verison 1.6, users can manually change GPUs on the fly, whenever they so desire.
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MSI has announced the HTPC oriented 740GM-P25
Announcing high end products and 'Halo' type hardware is relatively easy for manufacturers - slap some snazzy artwork next to a few pictures, wring a few industry related endorsements, put the major selling points in big letters, write a website page for it, and maybe run a competition to let a couple of people win one. For entry level boards, it's a different matter - make it work well, and price it right. This is exactly what MSI are trying to do on their new 740GM-P25.
Pre-orders costing around $59, this latest microATX board from MSI combines AMD's 740 and SB710 chipsets, and support for AM3 processors. Along with the board including core unlocking software, there are two DDR3-1333 memory slots, one PCI-E Gen2 x16 slot (which MSI markets as supporting Hybrid Crossfire which is odd), 2 PCI-E x1 slots, 6 SATA 3Gb/s slots (4 parallel to the board, 2 sticking out of the board), an IDE port, Atheros Gigabit LAN and VIA 8-channel audio. Onboard video is supplied by the integrated HD2100, while onboard RAID is the standard 0 / 1 / 0+1 and JBOD affair.
In terms of HTPC, here we see a low-end board that ticks some or most of the boxes people will look for - just drop in a low profile video card, audio card, and a HDD RAID controller for RAID 5 to start. The positioning of that 4-pin 12V CPU power connector may cause issues in cases, and there may not be enough USB 2 ports (four on the back panel), but you get what you pay for. Check online retailers soon for pre-order information.
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Inno3D announce triple slot GTX 470 Hawk
The Fermi cards have now been out (and only just available) for the just over a month. Like the AMD 5xxx series, the first cards used reference PCBs and reference coolers - the only way you could distinguish between the different companies was by the branded sticker on the large chunky cooler. Given time, and knowledge of the system, custom coolers were just around the corner. This is what we see in the new Inno3D GTX 470 Hawk.
What we have is essentially an Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme cooler on top of a GTX 470 chip - three PWM controlled fans that run from 900 to 2,000 RPM on top of aluminium fins in a five-heatpipe design. Inno3D claim the Hawk gives a maximum noise level of 30dB, and is 22ºC cooler than the reference design. Two DVI-D connectors and a HDMI with integrated audio port are provided as standard.
This is, in our opinion, a bit of an ugly card (at least compared to the Galaxy 470 reported on earlier), that won't be taking home many beauty awards. By taking up three PCI slots with a massive cooler, the Hawk may annoy those wishing to run other peripherals that require slots, or even running 2 or 3 in SLI, as the layout of most motherboards gives two slot spaces between PCI-E 2.0 x16 connectors. The last caveat is that this card comes out the box at stock speeds, however, with any luck, Inno3D will also market a pre-overclocked version.
No word of exact release date or pricing at this time, but expect to pay the cost of a normal GTX 470 + $30~50 on top.
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