Kingston SSD Now 300V 120GB Review
We take a look at the latest SSD Now 330V 120GB from Kingston.
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Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital SE External Multi-Display Adapter Review A review of the Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital SE External Multi-Display Adapter Read More ...
Extending Battery Life with Tunnel Transistor Electronics Much of modern technology relies on the physics of electricity in a somewhat classical form. In the future though, quantum mechanical effects may be utilized to improve the performance of these electronic devices. Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology, the SEMATECH consortium, and Texas State University have recently constructed a new transistor that uses one of this quantum effects: tunneling. In classical physics, when a moving object comes to a hill, it will try to climb it, and if it cannot get over the summit, it will roll back the way it came. Quantum mechanics however gives the object a means to skip the hill altogether, as though it went through a tunnel. There are several advantages to having signals tunnel through barriers or hills, including that this can be accomplished with considerably less energy than having to go over the barrier. What the researchers did is build the first tunneling field effect transistors that are able to operate at large enough currents to be practical replacements for modern transistors. If these new transistors were used to replace modern ones, battery life could increase by a factor of 10, thanks to the lesser energy needed for the tunneling phenomenon. Source: Rochester Institute of Technology Read More ...
REDengine 3 Unveiled by CD Projekt RED - Screenshot Features Amazing Detail CD Projekt RED, maker of The Witcher games and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, likes giving the best possible experiences to the PC community. Both Witcher games look impressive, with The Witcher 2 pushing the limits of what modern hardware can do. There's no doubt Cyberpunk 2077 will do the same, especially since CD Projekt just unveiled its new REDengine 3 that is powering the game. REDengine 3 is the next version of CD Projekt's in-house game engine, with the first one powering The Witcher 2 for PC and the second running the game on the 360. The third version is "created for RPGs set in vast open-worlds with improved tools for spanning truly nonlinear stories that are based on real player choices and consequences." Adam Badowski, head of CD Projekt RED studio, had the following to say on the new engine:
If we look at RPGs nowadays we find two approaches, one which emphasizes the story but limits the game world and one that builds a vast open-world but hampers and simplifies the story. With the REDengine 3 we combine the positive aspects of both approaches for the first time, creating an open environment with a complex, multi-thread story. Together with believable characters, a captivating tale and a world where players can roam freely without loading times, we will be able to move gaming to a new level with a realistic feel and full player immersion. When working on our previous titles, I didn’t dream that we would achieve something like this. Thanks to the support of all our fans, now we have the possibility to use REDengine 3 and create something many RPG fans dream of.CD Projekt's goal is to make RPGs comparable to "top-shelf shooters" in terms of presentation and immersion, if not better. REDengine 3 is next-gen ready and blurs the line between pre-rendered CGI and rendered graphics, so there should be almost no visual gap between the two. There are new face and body animations for a realistic range of expressions, high dynamic range rendering with 64-bit precision to guarantee "superior picture quality with more realistic and precise lighting without losses derived from reduced contrast ratio," and plenty more. A flexible renderer provides for a variety of effects like bokeh depth of field, color grading, and lens flares, while a high performance terrain system lets multiple layers be blended together and take advantage of tessellation for the utmost detail. Animation and physics can be seamlessly mixed together, too. There's plenty more CD Projekt isn't telling us about REDengine 3, but it did say a new version of its REDkit editor will allow for pretty much anything a modder can dream of, even complex questlines. The studio really sounds like it went above and beyond with REDengine 3, and hopefully it won't be long before Cyberpunk 2077 is in our hands to check it out in full. There's also a chance The Witcher 3 gets revealed in the next several days, since it's long been known CD Projekt has a second game in development alongside Cyberpunk 2077. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the REDengine 3 screenshot below. Source: All Games Beta Read More ...
Students’ Online Interactions Connected to Grades A major concern for a great number of people is finding the most effective means to teach others who then get good grades. Many professors are trying to encourage their students to interact online in order to share information and do better in the class. Now researchers at the University of California, San Diego have analyzed these interactions to learn what works and who works together. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those students who were most active online were most likely to receive high grades. These high achievers also were the most likely to form strong connections and use more complex methods to share information. The researchers also discovered that these same students formed cliques and had the effect of shutting out poorer performing students. Those shut-out students then appeared to be more likely to drop out of the class. As with many studies, it is important to remember that correlation does not imply causation, though the researchers are going to try to use this to identify students at risk of dropping out before they actually do. Source: University of California, San Diego Read More ...
Intel Focusing on Mobile World Congress with Atom Chips Intel has announced its intention to hold a booth at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Yesterday, Intel announced that it aimed to show off a previously unseen mobile dual-core, dual-graphics platform that it's developing. It will also showcase a number of Android cell phones on display running its low cost Atom Z2420 processor. This continues Intel's attempt to gain traction in the mobile processor market, a field in which it has previously lagged behind the likes of ARM and Samsung, its main competitors. Intel aims to take back some of this market this year with the advent of a number of advancements in its Atom SoC technology. The company will also showcase a number of tablets and convertibles running the Windows 8 operating system. Source: CNET.com Read More ...
Day One: Garry's Incident Gets a Kickstarter If you follow my weekly Steam Greenlight Spotlight column, you may remember my Week 3 Spotlight back in September for Day One: Garry's Incident. If you don't remember (and are too lazy to click the link), Day One is an episodic, open-world, survival FPS that tasks you with crafting your own weapons and ammunition, searching for food and shelter, and avoiding traps left behind by an ancient lost civilization. Earlier in the week, developer Wild Games Studio launched a Kickstarter to help fund the last bit of development and polish needed to finish up the first episode. Pledging $10 or more gets you a digital copy of Episode 1, either through the studio's digital store GamerZ Rebellion (DRM-free) or through Steam, when the game is greenlit. According to Wild Games Studio, Day One currently ranks 16th on Steam Greenlight, so that day should be soon.
Study Suggests Shift in Simulation Science Ever since the first computers were used, scientists have been trying to model the world around them, to improve their understanding of it. With computers becoming ever more powerful, these simulations are becoming for complex and comprehensive. Now some researchers are suggesting that the way we use and view simulations needs to be re-examined, as reported by Springer. The researchers make multiple points in their paper about how the simulation methods being used are not always appropriate. For example, breaking something into unit cells can make macroscopic information useless, as the cell is of a finite size and what effects it may not scale up. Also some algorithms that are used within simulations can fail to produce important information concerning the simulated system, such as entropy. Another important point the researchers make is that while newer simulation methods may have the benefit of new technology, they are not necessarily superior to older methods. Overall the researchers appear to promote a need to critically examine the use of simulations in science, to ensure the most appropriate simulation methods are used and that data from simulations are not interpreted incorrectly. Source: Springer Read More ...
Hardware Roundup: Friday Edition In the roundup today is a review of the Reveen Arcziel 12 CPU cooler that features six 6mm heat pipes and a 120mm PWM fan to keep your processor cooled. Neoseeker has just posted a review of the CM Storm QuickFire TK mechanical keyboard sporting Cherry MX Blue key switches, but you can also get red and brown versions. We also have a review article on the Intel 525 series solid state drives. Cases Lian Li PC-A76 Full-Tower Case @ [H]ardOCP Cooling Reveen Arcziel 12 CPU Cooler @ ThinkComputers Input Devices CM Storm QuickFire TK Mechanical Keyboard @ Neoseeker Storage/Hard Drives Intel SSD 525 Series Full Capacity Roundup - Intel Sweeps mSATA @ PC Perspective Miscellany Podcast #236 @ PC Perspective Read More ...
NVIDIA-Powered 'Eurora' Supercomputer Sets New Record for Energy Efficiency Most times when a supercomputer is in the news, it's for pure power. However, Italy's top supercomputer, the "Eurora," is in the news for a different achievement altogether. The Eurora has set a new world record for data center energy efficiency, with 3,150 megaflops per watt of sustained performance. That efficiency is a full 26% higher than the former system atop the Green500 list of the world's most efficient supercomputers. Video card giant NVIDIA is rather proud of Eurora's achievement, as the supercomputer uses 128 NVIDIA K20 Tesla accelerators combined with Eurotech's Aurora Hot Water Cooling technology. Eurotech's tech uses direct hot water cooling on all electronics and electrical components in order to keep temperatures in line. Pairing the Tesla K20 accelerators with the Aurora Hot Water Cooling technology allows for a more efficient and compact build than air-cooled configurations. Energy bills could be reduced by as much as 50% and lower cost of ownership between 30 and 50% with the combination. NVIDIA estimates CO2 emissions can be dropped by as much as 1,500 tons compared to convential CPU-based systems. It can also eliminate the need for air conditioning, since the "thermal energy the system produces can be used to heat buildings, drive adsorption chillers for air conditioning or generate tri-generation, the combined production of electricity, heating and cooling." The current Eurora supercomputer is a prototype system built for Cineca in Bologna, Italy, to "provide a sustainable, high-quality infrastructure" for the most demanding high-performance computing users. It'll be used to study "all types of physical and biological systems," and thanks to the energy efficiency record, power consumption and cost won't be an issue. Source: NVIDIA Read More ...
In-Game Superpower Promotes Out-Game Helpfulness For years many people have argued against the playing of video games, especially violent video games, by children, claiming that the games will make children violent. While some researchers tackle that theory directly, others take one of the key assumptions of that theory and see what they can do with it. A Stanford University study has recently been published in the PLOS ONE open access journal that shows a specific kind of mechanic in a video game can actually make children more helpful in real life. The researchers created a virtual reality video game with two separate mechanics that could be combined to give the players four distinct play experiences. Within the virtual world, players could move around a city either within a helicopter or via super-flight, and this movement could either be to find a missing diabetic child in need of insulin or to simply tour the city. After playing the game, one of the experimenters would spill a cup of pens, giving the players an opportunity to help them by picking up the pens. Those players with super-flight, whether they helped the child or toured the city, were faster to help pick up the pens and picked up more pens than those who travelled in the virtual helicopter. The researchers suggest that the reason the players with super-flight were more helpful after playing the game was because the game play triggered stereotypes of superhero behavior. Basically, because they had a power typically associated with a helpful person, they themselves became helpful. Source: Public Library of Science Read More ...
New 3DMark Arrives Next Week Futuremark has been releasing screenshots and videos of the newest version of 3DMark for the past few months and the company has now given a release date for the popular benchmark software. It will be available on Monday February 4 for the Windows OS, but no launch date is yet available for Android, iOS, or Windows RT. Full details and preview images can be found on the company website. Source: Futuremark Read More ...
3D Spintronic Microchip Developed One of most important developments for city growth was steel strong enough to allow skyscrapers to be built. With these tall buildings, cities confined to a limited amount of area could still grow by building up. Now researchers are trying to do the same thing by developing 3D microchips, and those at the University of Cambridge have finally achieved this. The typical microchip has a fairly flat design and information within it can only move within a plane. The new microchip though has multiple layers that store information, with messenger layers in between to move the information from one layer to another. The information is not stored electronically but instead utilizes electronic spin, or the magnetic moment of individual electrons. The storage layers are made of cobalt and platinum while ruthenium atoms act as the messengers. Using a laser probe and switching a magnetic field on and off allowed the researchers to watch as information climbed through the layers. The ability to have information travel through a 3D space like this could greatly affect the world of electronics by enabling much higher data storage densities. To achieve similar movement with today's technology, one would have to employ a series of transistors, which would be much larger than the atoms used in this design. Source: University of Cambridge Read More ...
NVIDIA Details Origins of Project SHIELD NVIDIA revealed its handheld gaming device known as Project SHIELD at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas this year, and has just released a bit of background information in a blog post. The device was developed in secret over several months using the latest mobile chip from NVIDIA which features impressive graphical capabilities. The all-in-one device features a controller, screen, and a number of interesting features. It is powered by the Android Operating System and will be able to run all games developed for it, and it will also be able to stream games from a PC with a GeForce GTX 650 or better. People inside the company had wanted to create a gaming device for years, and with the work of engineers from NVIDIA locations around the world, it was made possible. Source: NVIDIA Read More ...
Mac Pro Sales to Stop in EU on March 1 Due to amendments to EU electrical safety regulations, sales of the Mac Pro in Europe are to stop on March 1st, according to Mac fan site Macworld. The standard IEC 609501 was revised in December 2011, but only comes into effect at the beginning of March, which directly affects sale of the Mac Pro. This is due to the power provided to the system I/O ports as well as the placement of the product fan guards. The current version of the product, however, has not had a revision since 2010, so it is likely that a new Mac Pro will emerge soon afterwards. Apple CEO Tim Cook also stated that Apple is working on the successor to the popular desktop in 2012, who also stated that the product would be released sometime in 2013. Source: Macworld.com Read More ...
Designing Better Organic Solar Cells While the theories behind solar cells are certainly promising, current technology is struggling to deliver the performance and affordable cells we want. Silicon solar cells have decent performance but can be exceedingly expensive while organic cells are cheaper but are poorer performers. Researchers at Northwestern University however have recently found a way to potentially increase an organic solar cell's effectiveness, thanks to a genetic algorithm. Genetic algorithms mimic evolution by combining successful designs and analyzing the offspring for success, before repeating the combining process. The researchers put such an algorithm to work finding a new pattern for a scattering layer, placed on top of an organic solar cell. The scattering layer scatters what light falls on the solar cell in order to increase the time the light is within the cell, thus increasing the amount of light that can be converted to electricity. After twenty generations of the genetic algorithm, the researchers had their new scattering layer design that performs three times better than a thermodynamic limit for how long a photon can exist within a semiconductor. Now the researchers are working with others at Argonne National Laboratory to create and test the scattering layer design on an organic solar cell. Source: Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Read More ...
Hardware Roundup: Thursday Edition In our roundup today is a direct touch heatpipe CPU cooler from Spire called the X2 9884. Also in the mix today is a TridentX 32GB memory kit from G.Skill reviewed by our colleagues over at Neoseeker and a Fractal Design 600W power supply. If you are constantly looking for a place to plug in another USB charger for one of your many portable electronic devices, you may want to check out the Arctic USB Charger PRO 4 Rev.2 which could be especially useful while traveling. Cooling Spire X2 9884 CPU Heatsink @ [H]ardOCP Gadgets Arctic USB Charger PRO 4 Rev.2 @ Benchmark Reviews Memory G. Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 32GB Kit @ Neoseeker Power Supplies Fractal Design Newton R3 600W Power Supply @ ThinkComputers Read More ...
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