Here's a list of the US Congressmen who voted for, and against the amendment to stop the NSA spying on the world
Ah, US politics - it's all a House of Cards. Well, the NSA nearly had their funding cut earlier today, but there were more 'for' votes than 'against' votes with Congress today.
We're not trying to start anything here, but any Congressmen who votes for the spying of the American people doesn't sound too patriotic now, do they? Check out the list here.
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NVIDIA unveils the Quadro K6000, or what they're calling 'the fastest and most capable GPU ever built'
You can always count on NVIDIA to release something that gets your wallet craving an emptying, and today is no different with the announcement of their new professional-grade GPU, the Quadro K6000.
Just how fast is NVIDIA's Quadro K6000? Well, Nissan have said they can nearly load almost-complete vehicle models using NVIDIA's new GPU. Impressive. It's actually not too badly priced either, comign in at $2250.
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The man in charge of BlackBerry's PlayBook resigns
David J. Smith, BlackBerry's Vice President in charge of their PlayBook tablet, has resigned. Smith had been working for the company for 8 years, taking over the PlayBook project after it was released back in 2011.
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Google unleashes Android 4.3, hits Nexus 4, Nexus 10, the first-gen Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus, today
Finally. The day has arrived: Google have unleashed Android 4.3 to the world, keeping the "Jelly Bean" codename intact. What exactly does Android 4.3 bring to the tablet versus Android 4.2?
Well, we have a bunch of multi-user settings, which includes the ability to restrict profiles for younger people. This is a great feature to keep your content, or the ability to access adult content, from children. You can restrict app content at the user level, with a user enjoying the ability of restricting a number of puzzles within a game to a specific profile.
On top of this, you can prevent kids from going crazy and racking up huge bills with the in-app purchases. This is a must-have for all parents, in my opinion. Apple, where are you?
When can you get your grubby hands on Google's latest iteration of their awesome mobile OS? Well, right now it is rolling out to Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Galaxy Nexus and the first-gen Nexus 7 (now that there's a refreshed version out). The HTC One and Galaxy S4 Google Editions can expect it "very soon."
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Tweakipedia: Performance with a Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 FleX overclocked at 720p on our BitFenix Prodigy PC
Our Tweakipedia section has a new post.
Last week we took a look at the stock performance of Sapphire's Radeon HD 7770 FleX Edition GPU, where we were pretty impressed. But, we didn't expect to see a huge overclock from the mid-range GPU. You know what we did - we cranked the clock speeds, let it heat up and benchmarked it again at 720p with some very impressive results. You can read more on the Tweakipedia article right here!
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FTC and Google come to terms in Motorola Mobility case
Today, Google and the FTC have finally settled a case in which the giant was accused of attempting to ward off competition with its acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The FTC says that following a public comment period, it has approved a modified final order that requires Google to abide by its commitments to license its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.
From the FTC Release:
After considering the 25 public comments that were submitted, the FTC made technical modifications to several provisions in the Order, including those pertaining to the arbitration process established to resolve disputes over FRAND terms. In a letter sent to the commenters, the agency also provided further explanation for the basis and the rationale behind several other provisions in the Google-MMI Order.
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Microsoft says that the Xbox One will feature self publishing
This afternoon, Microsoft announced via Facebook that the Xbox One would allow self publishing of apps and games. The announcement says that every Xbox One can be used for development by anyone and everyone. We will not know more until Gamescon next month, but this announcement does point towards a consumer-level, easy entry development kit rather than using something like Visual Studio which almost requires 4 years of college to use efficiently.
Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We'll have more details on the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August.
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Google launches Google Play Games, a new app that condenses social games into one place
In a day that seems to be all about Google, the company has released yet another new and exciting product. Google has just launched a new Android app named Google Play Games, which will serve as a central location for social gaming as well as game and content discovery. We first heard mention of this new app at Google I/O but details were a bit scarce and we almost forgot all about it.
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Google spends $600,000 to bring free Wi-Fi to 31 San Francisco parks
For years now, San Francisco citizens have wished for there to be a free Wi-Fi service in their parks, and now thanks to Google, 31 of the city's plazas, playgrounds, parks, and rec centers are getting just that. Google donated $600,000 to install the free service, which is still pending approval.
A full list of the areas getting the new free Wi-Fi are listed below:
Alamo Square, Balboa Park, Bernal Heights Recreation Center, Boeddeker Park, Chinese Recreation Center, Civic Center Plaza, Corona Heights, Crocker Amazon Playground, Duboce Park, Eureka Valley Recreation Center, Gene Friend Recreation Center, Hamilton Recreation Center, Huntington Park, Joseph Lee Recreation Center, Justin Herman Plaza, Margaret S. Hayward Playground, Marina Green, Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center, Mission Dolores Park, Mission Recreation Center, Palega Playground, Portsmouth Square, Richmond Recreation Center, St. Mary's Recreation Center, St. Mary's Square, Sue Bierman Park, Sunnyside Playground, Sunset Playground, Tenderloin Recreation Center, Upper Noe Recreation Center, Washington Square
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Newegg has been denied Motion to Compel Discovery from patent troll, says it will seek further review
Any of my regular readers know that I absolutely, positively, 100 percent hate patent trolls. They do nothing to further innovation and quite frankly, they hurt the US economy more than anything else. Today, Newegg informed us of updates in a pending patent infringement case in which they have been battling a lawsuit filled by the notorious patent troll TQP Development, LLC.
Magistrate Judge Payne of the Eastern District of Texas denied Newegg's Motion on July 23, and said that the communication between TQP and IP Navigation was privileged as "work product" and were to be treated as mental impressions and notes created during litigation. This ruling came even though TQP never argued that its privilege applied to any of its briefs. Additionally, the judge ordered Newegg to pay 50 percent of TQP's reasonable costs and legal fees that occurred as a result of the motion filed by Newegg.
Lee Cheng, Newegg's chief legal officer, stated:
We believe the ruling was erroneous and that the communications at issue are not privileged. We requested those communications in good faith in order to mount a reasonable defense and to promote transparency in a lawsuit where we believe a bad patent is being asserted abusively, and solely to force defendants to settle due to the high cost of legal defense. We intend to seek all lawful remedies, including appeal if necessary, to obtain the TQP/IPNav communications and vacate the sanctions award. We have vindicated our rights on appeal in previous patent matters, and we believe that in this case, justice will ultimately prevail.
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Amazon lists Chromecast for sale, is cheaper than through Google Play
Earlier I reported on Google's new HDMI media streaming dongle dubbed Chromecast. I was so enthralled by it that I immediately went to the Google Play Store and placed my order. Fast forward a few hours and the Chromecast has now popped up on Amazon and if you are an Amazon Prime Member, the dongle is actually cheaper than if you were to purchase it from Google.
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EA says that Apple is now its largest retail partner
Yesterday, Electronic Arts released its quarterly financial results, and along with that release was a small announcement that during the previous quarter, Apple had became EA's biggest retail partner. The company said that games being sold through the App Store are earning the company more than any other retail outlet. That is pretty big news when you consider that their games are sold on Origin, Steam, and even in Walmart and GameStop.
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Google updates its Drive app for iOS, now allows users to open links in Chrome or Safari
Google pushed out an update to its Drive app for iOS this morning. The update brings forward several new features including the ability to open links from within files in either Chrome or Safari. The app also allows users to insert new rows and columns by using the "+" button in Google Sheets.
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ROCCAT launches Kone Pure Optical Mouse and new mouse pad
This morning, ROCCAT announced the release of a new gaming mouse alongside a new mousepad to match. The new Kone Pure Optical Gaming Mouse is designed for those who do not want the high dpi resolution of a laser mouse, but prefer the softness of an optical mouse. Additionally, the company released the new Sense Meteor Blue Mousepad which is the latest installment in the company's praised Sense line.
The critically-acclaimed Sense mousepad, which entered the market in 2008, has been reissued by ROCCAT, and is now available in a slick Meteor Blue design. The extremely thin textile pad, 2 mm thick, provides precise cursor control - allowing for absolute accuracy. The special micro-crystalline coating minimizes frictional resistance efficiently, and therefore provides a noticeable improvement in the gliding capability of accompanying mice.The large surface area, 400 x 280 mm, ensures the pad is of a size optimized for low- and high-sensitivity gamers alike. The Sense mousepad also remains available in Chrome Blue.
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LeakedTT: BlackBerry sees its upcoming A10 smartphone leaked in images and video
By now anyone who follows the smartphone world has heard about BlackBerry's upcoming flagship, the A10. This BB10 based smartphone is the larger sibling to the already released Z10. Although it has leaked in the past in image form, today a new video has surfaced of the device, which lends us a completely new insight into the A10.
The BlackBerry A10 is said to feature a 5-inch AMOLED display with an unspecified dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and several features like NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, and even a nice sized rear camera. Industry insiders are suggesting that where BlackBerry has always focused on the business minded consumer and corporations, this new phone will be targeted at the mobile gaming community.
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Google officially unveils the second-generation Nexus 7, it is everything we already knew
Today during its breakfast event, Google officially unveiled the next-generation Nexus 7. Unfortunately for Google the cat has been out of the bag for well over a week now as the next-gen Nexus 7 is one of the most leaked devices of the year.
The second-gen Nexus 7 features a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 display and is set to life by a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, while 2GB of RAM handle the memory duties. An Adreno 320 graphics processor crunches HD video and games, while Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and Wi-Fi handle the network connectivity. The long-anticipated Android 4.3 is the Nexus 7's OS of choice, which brings forth a new camera app and several other exciting features.
The devices comes in two versions with the 16GB model retailing for $229.99, and a 32GB version costing just $269.99. The device is available for pre-order at major electronics retailers, as well as the Google Play Store, and will ship to consumers in the coming weeks.
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Intel confirms 4.5 watt Haswell processor aimed towards fanless tablets
Today Intel confirmed the existence of the 4.5 watt Haswell CPU that popped up in a datasheet last month. Intel says that the chip will hit markets before the end of the year and that it will be geared towards fanless tablets and convertibles, which do not have much space for cooling hardware.
It should be noted that the 4.5W rating is the SDP or Scenario Design Power, which describes the sustained power consumption for sustained workloads, and that Intel has not released any information on the processors TDP, which is used to describe power draw in short burst.
The data sheet in which we first saw the new processor also says that the 4.5W SDP only applies when the clock speed is capped at 800MHz.
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Google announces Chromecast, a $35 media streaming dongle for your TV
This morning Google announced the release of a new media streaming dongle dubbed Chromecast. The small $35 HDMI dongle mirrors content that is being played on a nearby smartphone, computer or tablet. Coming in at just 2-inches long, the device plugs directly into your HDTVs spare HDMI port.
Chrome apps that work with Chromecast will feature a "cast" button that will push the video feed to your Chromecast connected television. "Once Chromecast is plugged in, you just go to YouTube on your smartphone," Google reps said. "You'll see the cast button in your UI and you press it -- Chromecast will pull the info you requested from the cloud and play it on your TV." Google demoed the device at this morning's breakfast event and showed how Chromecast could display a YouTube video from your tablet onto your TV, and still allow you to use other apps on your tablet at the same time.
I just ordered mine and it should be here early next week. Keep an eye on TweakTown for a full review of the device. At the moment Chromecast is available on the Google Play Store for $35 and will launch in Best Buy stores on the 28th.
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Canonical's crowdfunding plan for the Ubuntu Edge is losing steam
Earlier this week I reported on Canonical's master plan to fund the highly anticipated Ubuntu Edge smartphone. The Indiegogo campaign in which the company hopes to raise $32 million appears to be losing its momentum. After the first 24 hour special of $625 ran out, the price of the phone went up by $200 to $830, which saw much less investors than expected.
Currently the campaign has raised just over $4.5 million and with a goal of $32 million, the Ubuntu Edge crew have a long ride ahead of them over the next 29 days.
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Best Buy launches pre-orders for next generation Nexus 7 before it is even officially announced
If what we have previously seen about the upcoming new Nexus 7, then today's news equates to a virtual dam breakage. This morning, Best Buy opened up pre-orders for the new 7-inch pure Android tablet. This major leak comes just hours before Google is expected to unveil the new Nexus at a breakfast being held in Mountain View at 9AM Pacific today.
The new Nexus 7 will be available in both 16GB and 32GB configurations, with both devices featuring Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, and NFC. Falling right in line with recent rumors, the tablet will run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which also lends credence to the rumor that we will see 4.3 detailed at today's event. The product listing shows that the 16GB model will run consumers $229.99 while its 32GB brother will cost just $269.99. As of this publishing, the pre-order button has been removed.
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YouTube will celebrate all things geek on August 4 when it kicks off its first ever Geek Week
YouTube's Comedy Week has widely been considered a smashing success and the company is now looking to follow up that success with another week of themed, highlighted content. On August 4, YouTube will kick off its first annual Geek Week event in which the video sharing service will highlight more than 100 channels that feature Geeky and Nerdy content.
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Flickr will go offline tomorrow for maintenance, do not panic
Yahoo has announced that it will be taking Flickr offline tomorrow, July 25, between the hours of 4pm and 10pm Pacific. The downtime is scheduled so that the company can perform some much needed maintenance on the now quickly growing photo sharing site. Yahoo did not specify what maintenance would be performed, but we assume that it has something to do with networking hardware.
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Apple says that iOS in the Car is 'very important' to them, is 'part of the ecosystem'
During Apple's third-quarter earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was asked about iOS in the Car, which was an important part of Apple's presentation at WWDC. The Apple CEO said that iOS in the car was an important "part of the ecosystem", just like the App Store, iTunes, messaging and Siri.
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LG sells a record 12.1 million smartphones in Q2 2013, earnings are slightly lower
Just how are South Korean electronics giant LG faring this year? Well, their Q2 2013 earnings report is out, pointing to profits dropping $139 million compared year-over-year for the same quarter.
TV revenue dropped year-over-year, with the South Korean company blaming lower demand and increased competition in the TV space. But we have noticed that Ultra HD and OLED TVs are coming, which should either have an overall positive, or negative effect on LG going into the second half of 2013.
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Samsung moves onto 3GB low-power DDR3 RAM for smartphones
Just when you thought having 2GB of RAM in your smartphone was great, Samsung have gone and moved the goal posts, yet again. The South Korean company have just announced they are mass-producing 3GB LPDDR3 packages.
I'm guessing we should expect it to be built into the Note III and maybe an upcoming Galaxy S5?
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Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
Today we have the unique opportunity to look over one of Kingston's top tier offerings in the USB flash drive market, the DataTraveler HyperX 3.0. If we go by marketing specs, we should expect the DT HyperX to top our charts, with performance in the 225MB/s read and 135MB/s write arena. Capacities for this product range from the 64GB model we have in house today to a larger 128GB and even a massive 256GB model. Warranty period for all DataTraveler products sits at five years.
One of the lesser-known features of running Microsoft's new operating system Windows 8 is the native capability of USB Attached SCSI or UASP. In benchmarking flash drives, we utilize ATTO Disk Benchmark followed by DiskBench and our custom set of real-world data, and is by far the most important comparison when looking for a flash drive for everyday use.
Recently we added our very own Price vs. Performance charts for both read and write performance of each drive, for these charts we take the average sequential performance over five runs and divide it by the price per GB. All pricing information is updated before a new drive is added and is taken from certified channel retailers such as Newegg or Amazon.
As I stated in the beginning of the review, Kingston does not slap their HyperX brand on any old drive and send it to the market - performance seen here today should be much more than enough to demonstrate it. In our CDM testing, we watched as the drive touched just over 300MB/s read, in an area where only a handful of drives ever touch 250MB/s.
In addition to the top-tier performance, the HyperX carries on the aesthetic pleasure of the brand, with its black rubber enclosure dawning sleek blue aluminium fairings. The capped design does often get associated with frustration, especially after the cap goes missing. To counter this Kingston designed the cap to fit the drive one-way, and very snug.
Pricing at this time for the 64GB capacity is set at $89.99, while the 128GB model is set at $159.99, and if you are hungry for top-notch capacity, you will even find the 256GB model for $389.99. Each of these drives carries a complete five year warranty from the factory.
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SilverStone ST45SF-G 450-Watt 80 PLUS Gold SFX Power Supply Review
Introduction
There are a few little gems that come along though that are exciting to take a look at and this new unit on the bench from SilverStone is one of them. The power supply I'm speaking of is the ST45SF-G. It is a 450W power supply with a single 12V rail, rated for 80 PLUS Gold efficiency and is fully modular. Now that doesn't sound particularly special compared to everything else that we take a look at here, but there is a little bit more to it that just those specifications.
The SilverStone ST45F-S is also a Small Form Factor (SFX) power supply. For those who aren't familiar SFX power supplies and want to do some technical reading on them, I highly suggest that you take a look at the SFX12V Power Supply Design Guide. In it you'll find that SFX power supplies are essentially identical to that of ATX12V power supplies, but they are smaller in size. The big difference is that there are about five different fan configurations that can be used so that the fan can be placed as needed. This does change the dimensions of the unit too, but makes it a lot more flexible for specialized uses such as in a NAS or various SFX cases. The ST45SF-G that we have today has the fan on the bottom of the unit just like your typical ATX12V power supply.
You'll find that the ST45SF-G is a bit beefier than other SFX units out there as most are meant to power systems needing 250W or less. SilverStone wants you to be able to do more than turn on a calculator, so they've upped the ante a bit. Let's start digging in to this little beast and see what it is made of.
Specifications, Availability and Pricing
Silverstone's ST45SF-G has an MSRP of $93.99. The cheapest we can find it for at the time of writing is $100.89 after shipping at Newegg. Without a doubt, that makes this one of the most expensive units in its class, but there aren't too many SFX units out there - especially around 450W. SilverStone backs the ST45SF-G with a three year warranty.
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Super Talent Express RC4 "Windows to Go" 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
The Express RC4 is one of a very few drives that have been certified for use with Windows to Go. The RC4 is available in 32, 64, 128 and 256GB capacities with the 32GB capacity in house today. Marketing performance shows that the RC4 is a very capable drive with 320MB/s read and 120MB/s write in the specifications. Each capacity in the RC4 series has a three year warranty.
With the RC4, Super Talent has created an additional option for corporate users that have the need for a Windows workspace on the go. Aesthetically the RC4 exudes professionalism with its sleek design; additionally the build quality with its internal aluminium structure offers ample durability.
Performance of the RC4 was exceptional when it came to sequential read, where we touched 278MB/s in both ATTO and CDM. With large block random read the RC4 excelled slowing down just a touch at 268MB/s.
Pricing for the Express RC4 has the 32GB model we tested here today at $99.99. This effectively puts this drive in the high $3 per GB market, and to be honest, this is the only fault I could find with this drive.
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Thermaltake Urban S71 Full-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
Essentially, the core frame of these chassis designs follow right along with what was found in the Chaser series. This means if the feature set of the Chaser A71 and the layout on the inside of the chassis was something you could see yourself using, moving over to the Urban series gives you a similar foundation. Aesthetically things have changed with the external layout and design, to give a rounded, sleeker, and more subdued external look. I for one am one of those who really liked what the Chaser A71 has to offer, but the styling is too aggressive for my taste to spend any real-time on my desk, and from what I have already gathered in looking at the first Urban chassis design, I really like what I am seeing.
Today we are going to be looking at the largest and best equipped offering in the Urban series with the S71 full-tower chassis. For starters, things are much more rounded for a softer appearance, the light blue accents are gone, but Thermaltake kept things that are most important like great front I/O panel access and a HDD dock, but also does things like adding a front door, changing the windowed side panel, and even adding a basic fan controller.
From what I can tell Thermaltake is really stepping up their game with the release of these new chassis designs, and the Urban S71 is one of those chassis designs that will fit in to most decors or themes, and suits a much wider audience. This is never a bad thing to widen your market, and I really think it is worth the time and energy to stick with me as we get in depth with this new chassis from Thermaltake.
Editor Note: For this review we are using press images provided by Thermaltake. After the product was returned, we had an image disaster, which left us without our own images.
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NZXT Phantom 530 Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
The Phantom case series has been a huge hit since day one. The sleek, shiny, plastic outer skin was something that took case buyers by storm. No one had ever produced a chassis with so much use of plastic, which was just truly awesome in appearance. We also saw in the Phantom 630 what happens when you take an exterior design that everyone was already on board with, and gave the chassis a serious upgrade to the interior, making that chassis one of the most feature rich designs I have ever seen from NZXT. Where the Phantom 630 was a super-tower chassis, this new delivery is scaled down to a full-tower. Some of the interior has changed since the 630, as well as trying new things on the exterior to give this newest chassis its own identity, as well as its own chance to make its name.
The latest release from NZXT to arrive at my door is the Phantom 530. While certain things have been reduced in quantity to allow for the smaller form factor, don't write it off just yet. Even with a few little losses along the way of the new interior design, the exterior is yet another very tasteful take on what the Phantom is in the new times.
With every look at a new Phantom, over the years, they get better and better, and from what I have seen in my time with this chassis, the NZXT Phantom 520 is anything but a disappointment. This thing is just super cool and well worth the time to have a closer look over the next few pages.
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LEPA G850-MA 850-Watt 80 PLUS Gold Power Supply Review
Introduction
Today we are reviewing the new LEPA G850-MAS. It is a single 12V rail Gold rated power supply with both native and modular connectors. What is really interesting is that LEPA has turned to CWT to manufacturer the G850-MAS for them instead of Enermax.
I haven't heard back from LEPA on this yet, but I can only assume that Enermax will more than likely focus on higher-end units, while LEPA will handle the mid to lower-end units. That is only speculation at this point, but one should most certainly be able to see the similarities between these two companies compared to what goes on with OCZ and PC Power & Cooling.
I'll dig deeper into that situation at a later date and see what I can find out, but for now, let's just focus on the G850-MAS and see what it is made of.
Specifications, Availability and Pricing
LEPA has an MSRP of $169.99 on the G850-MAS power supply. The price puts it squarely in the middle of the road for 850W Gold rated power supplies. As always, a little bit of searching will make sure that you save some money. In this case, you can a little over $26 when you order from Provantage and get it for a total of $143.68 after shipping at the time of writing. LEPA backs the G850-MAS with a three year warranty.
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The Lone Ranger (2013) Cinema Review
I guess that's what happens when the company hauls a dump truck of $50m on the door step to reprise the role of staggering pirate Jack Sparrow. You see, Johnny Depp is an immensely talented actor; he's done some amazing work in his career, but by constantly returning to his Jack Sparrow shtick, he's runs the danger of losing audience interest. With the box office figures pointing to disaster for The Lone Ranger, perhaps that time has now come.
Of course, a great film could have been achieved despite that handicap, but whilst frequently entertaining, The Lone Ranger is far from a great film. For one, the script is painfully boring - there are literally no surprises throughout the films 150 lumbering minutes. And there is so much padding - whole subplots and characters, including the extended cameo of Helena Bonham Carter as a Wild West hooker are utterly redundant to the core narrative and superfluous.
Still, I don't want to give the impression that The Lone Ranger is a total train wreck - there is a lot of fun to be had and it thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously, but some more judicious editing process might reveal a better film hiding inside, even if it's a structure is built on an admittedly rocky platform.
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Monsters University (2013) Cinema Review
In many ways, Monsters University mirrors my thoughts on Pixar's Cars sequel from 2011. Sure, it furthers the wholly original world and it's admittedly fun to return to it, but as many sequels go, its attempt to justify its own existence fails. For Pixar, whose films are somewhat revered by the worlds critics, going back to the well runs the risk of cheapening the experience of the first - and that's the battle that Pixar fights by pumping out sequel after sequel.
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MSI GeForce GTX 770 Lightning 2GB Overclocked Video Card Review
Introduction
Today the GTX 700 series which has been graced with the new Twin Frozr Gaming Series name finally sees its first Lightning based model. While we'd normally expect it to be the GTX 780, it's the model just below that, the GTX 770. The good news is, though, just the other day, we got a teaser video for a Lightning based GTX 780, which will hit us towards the end of this month or early next.
Let's get into the new MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB to see just what MSI are offering with the latest model we're testing. So, let's buckle down and start with the package before moving on from there.
Package
On the right hand side you can see the main Military Class III features are outlined including Copper MOSFETs, Highly Conductive Capacitors, Golden Solid State Choke and Dark Solid Capacitors, which all help make for a higher quality card that should overclock stronger than others.
Other features include the Unlocked Digital Power, which give us the ability to over volt the Core, Aux and Memory. We've also got the GPU Reactor which is designed to provide a higher current of capacity, hence offering better power support and overclocking stability. The other big feature is the 3x3 OC Kit which is the V-Check Points, Triple Overvoltage we just spoke about and Triple Temp Monitor.
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Crucial M500 480GB SSD Review
Introduction
On the other side of the capacity range, the 120GB and to a lesser extent, the 240GB have issues with sustained write speed and write latency. Both the 120GB and the 240GB use one die per package NAND - 8 packages for the 120GB and 16 packages for the 240GB. Both of the smaller capacity sizes also share the same 128MB DRAM buffer as well.
Crucial claims the M500 480GB shares the same 500MB/s sequential read and 400MB/s sequential write performance with the 960GB. The claimed IOPS performance is the same as well - 80,000 4K IOPS for both read and write. The 480GB model uses three-die per package and increases the DRAM buffer size to 512MB. This isn't the 1GB buffer found on the 960GB model or the 4-dies per package, but it could be good enough to get to competitive performance in the 512GB class category.
Today we're going to finish our coverage of the Crucial M500, at least until Crucial releases new firmware. We have a number of high capacity SSDs to compare the 480GB to and a number of benchmarks see where everything lands.
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MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC Video Card Review
Introduction
If you wanted to spend a bit more money, though, then the MSI GTX 780 3GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC we looked at and overclocked recently might be a better option. Today, though, we're checking out the video card that sits in between these two models, the MIS GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC. While we would also normally go down the path of overclocking this card, we won't be today for two reasons.
The first is that we've already looked at the GTX 770 overclocked a few times, but are yet to check out the performance of a pre-overclocked card at its pre-overclocked settings. The second reason is coming up straight behind the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming will be the MSI GTX 770 2GB Lightning, a video card that is designed with overclocking in mind. For that reason we'll be diving into depth of MSI GTX 770 overclocking with that card in the coming days. With a couple of new benchmarks added into the mix, having a record of out of the box speeds is going to make our comparisons stronger in the future.
For now, though, we want to see the final piece of the Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 700 series cards. It's a series that has done a great job of impressing us and we'll have to see if the GTX 770 2GB is also able to do just as great a job. Let's get into the package and move on from there.
Package
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MSI Z87I (Intel Z87) ITX Motherboard Review
Introduction
While the ITX form factor has been around for ages, the honest truth is that it's probably only really gained a massive amount of momentum in the last 18 - 24 months, thanks to quality ITX based chassis from companies such as BitFenix.
First we'll start with the package and then follow on from there. So with haste let's get stuck into the MSI Z87I to see just what MSI are offering us in this tiny form factor motherboard today.
Package
Looking on the right side you can see we've got Hi-c CAP, SFC and Solid Caps to bring higher quality power. Along with that we've also got Humidity, ESD, EMI and High Temperature protection. On the left you can see the main specifications along with a look at the I/O panel.
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Crucial M500 240GB SSD Review
Introduction
The M500 120GB has eight NAND packages (the black squares you can see) and inside each package is one NAND die. The Marvell 9287 controller is an 8-channel design so that means each channel is responsible for one piece of flash.
Today we're looking at the Crucial M500 240GB model. This model uses sixteen NAND packages with one die per package. The M500 240GB uses the same 8-channel controller so that means each channel connects to two NAND die. This brings us to interleaving or more than one NAND talking to each channel on the controller.
In the easiest terms to understand, interleaving gives us the same effect that double data rate (DDR) RAM gave us. It isn't so much the rise and fall of the clock cycle, but its more operations per clock cycle.
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Cooler Master V8 GTS CPU Cooler Review
Introduction
Getting back to why we are here today, we are about to see the latest take on the V8 released a couple years ago. With the V8 there were four towers of fins, a staggering eight heat pipes and 180W TDP support. The design team over at Cooler Master thought to themselves what would happen if we took the Vapor Chamber technology we were working on with the TPC coolers, and try that in the V-series? They also took considerations with the design to allow for much better memory clearance, and have also included a new hardware kit to mount this new design, but honestly, these are some of the more mundane things about this new cooler.
Cooler Master brought us here today to look at the V8 GTS. This refresh of an old design has been completely redesigned from head to toe with just hints of the original V8. Four towers have been reduced to three, the single fan of the V8 has been doubled so that the V8 GTS has plenty of air flow, it keeps eight heat pipes, but his time offers a TDP of 250W since the Horizontal Vapor Chamber used in this design allows hot spots from the CPU to even out, and also allows all eight pipes a way to transfer the heat since eight pipes in a base is way too large to work on a CPU IHS.
I am pretty sure that with this list of features and the newer heat rating, we may very well be looking at the new top dog from Cooler Master, but you will just have to continue reading to find that out.
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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [15 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!
- Aerocool Xpredator X3 Devil Red Edition Full-Tower Chassis Review
- DEEPCOOL M6 Audio Cooling Laptop Pad Review
- Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Chassis Review
- Thermaltake Chaser A71 Full Tower Chassis Review
- G-Technology G RAID Mini 2TB External Storage Review
- GIGABYTE Z87X-UD3H (Intel Z87) Motherboard Review
- GIGABYTE Z87X-OC (Intel Z87) Motherboard Review
- Patriot Viper PC3-19200 16GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
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Corsair Obsidian Series 900D Super-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
For a guy like me who keeps his day to day work rig in a showcase environment, and tests coolers in a $400 InWin open air chassis, I for sure am spoiled. Another factor that makes me not want to change cases all the time is that fact that it is my work rig, so down time to customize a case to do what I want is out of the question. I need ready to go solutions that in some way or another, easily offers water cooling support, great ventilation, aesthetic appeal, and has to have room for me to swap parts out if I am testing, or just simply replacing my gaming hardware. From what I have just seen, there is a new big dog in town, and it is no longer my SilverStone TJ11.
Corsair has had a few fumbles as far as I am concerned with a couple of their designs as of late, but with the chassis we are going to see today, this case is on a whole other plane of reality of what an enthusiast tower should be. Just like when the 800D was released, Corsair is now delivering the Obsidian Series 900D that really just kicks ass and takes names. I have a feeling it will be quite some time until there is another mainstream company that can come up with a similarly designed chassis with these sort of offerings, and at a price that any enthusiast will have no issues paying to get the best of the best.
Make sure all your bills are paid and you have already eaten today, because by the time you finish reading this review, I have a feeling you may be clearing out the wallet to get an Obsidian 900D of your very own.
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Aerocool Touch-2100 Fan Controller Review
Introduction
Today we are in the realm of chassis mounted fan controllers, a five channel controller to be exact. In this design, Aerocool stepped up their game and bring a product that is not only technically sound, offers a bit of elegance with the black aluminum front panel, it even offers 3.5mm jacks for HD Audio, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports (and is reverse compatible to USB 2.0). What makes this fan controller worth some real attention is that you have the ability to just touch the screen of this dual bay fan controller, and with just the tip of a finger, you can control a full system of fans.
The new Touch-2100 from Aerocool has a lot to offer in what I have already told you, but as you will see today, it even has more to offer. Things like multi-colored options for the display, the fact that it offers an alarm system that will react to both the failure of one of the fans on the controller, but it even offers temperature probes with controllable alarms. There are a couple more cool features that the Touch-2100 has to offer, but if you want to know about them you are going to need to continue reading to find out what they are.
At first glance and with a bit of time using it now, I really do think that The Touch-2100 is well worth the time to glance through and see what this fan controller is all about over the next lot of pages.
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Patriot Viper PC3-19200 16GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
As we've mentioned a few times already, a new chipset to the market means that we see new kits of RAM. We must admit, though, the launch of the Intel Z87 platform has been a little slower than we expected. We've seen a couple of kits, but normally we'd think a lot more would be coming through for review.
This becomes an even stronger thought with the improvement on the Internal Memory Controller that is brought with the latest generation of Intel chips. When we saw the Ivy Bridge platform launch, we saw a surge in high performance memory kits due to the stronger IMC that was offered. With an even stronger IMC being seen in the latest generation of Haswell chips from Intel, we're surprised that we're not seeing more RAM released.
We do wonder if one of the main reasons we're not seeing a massive surge of memory kits, though, is because companies aren't able to get enough chips at these new high speeds to create the models they want. With 3000MHz DDR being something that seems to be achievable on many CPUs, it's possible that getting a hold of the ICs to create a decent amount of RAM at this speed is difficult. Instead it might take a few months before we see companies offering us a much larger range of new kits.
With all that said, though, let's move away from talking about RAM in general, and start to talk about what exactly we're dealing with today. Towards the end of last year we saw Patriot show of the Viper 3 series in the form of the Limited Edition Intel Extreme Masters memory kit.
Today we're looking at another kit which is part of the new Viper 3 series, but has just been released for the all new Z87 platform. Taking a look below you can see the heatsink design is as you'd expect identical to what we saw from the IEM kit we looked at last year. Of course the big difference is that this one comes in red. Along with coming in red, though, you can also get the kit in black or blue depending on your preference.
Having just finished testing the GIGABYTE Z87X-OC motherboard, we thought that we'd pull out the kit of RAM that was sitting in that and replace it with the Patriot Viper kit we've got on hand today. We headed into the BIOS and set the kit to Profile 1 under the XMP options and proceeded to reboot the system.
If you had a chance to look at some of our recent motherboard coverage, you would know that we got the chance to get a hold of a new CPU that's capable of running at a higher core clock. Unfortunately we don't know the quality of the IMC and until we ultimately get a kit that is guaranteed to do a certain speed, we probably won't know just exactly its maximum limitation is. It's also important to remember that just because a CPU can clock higher on the core, it doesn't necessarily mean that it also carries with it a stronger IMC. Saying that, though, we intend to find out just what we're able to get out of this Patriot kit of RAM today on our new i7 4770K CPU.
Back in the BIOS, we headed over to the memory multiplier section and increased it. We hit 2800MHz DDR and ran into no problems. We then jumped up to 2933MHz, which is the next option, but didn't have any luck. At this speed our system wouldn't boot. So, with 2800MHz DDR being the starting point, we then headed back into the BIOS to adjust the CPU BCLK to see if we could get anything else out of the kit.
Messing around with the BCLK we couldn't get anything else out of the kit. As we moved the memory divider, though, the motherboard also took care of the timings and when we moved to 2800MHz DDR the timings loosened from 10-12-12-30-2T to 11-13-13-35-2T. With no room left on the MHz front, we thought we'd see if we could do anything with the timings.
The numbers above are quite interesting. While we manage to get a good jump in raw MHz, you can see that the loosened timings have brought down read numbers ever so slightly. If we look at the copy write numbers, though, we can see a decent increase in performance. while copy speed also manages to see a nice little bump. Another area where we see a nice performance increase is in latency, which sees a drop of almost 10%.
With those two tests looking good we headed into the BIOS one more time to do a little bit more overclocking. In this case we bumped up our CPU speed by a good chunk to see just what kind of performance we could get. What's really interesting, though, is that the latest Intel platform has brought very little to extra memory bandwidth when overclocking is thrown into the mix.
Just as we expected, you can see that the numbers are nearly identical. We see a little fluctuation here and there, but nothing much to get excited about when it comes to raw MB/s. Saying that, though, you can see the overall latency does get a bit of a drop and now comes in at under 40ns. We don't see those big write number improvements, though, that we saw on the previous generation Intel chips.
In typical Patriot fashion, the company has put together a nice kit of RAM. While we would normally move from this point and get into the price of the kit, it's unfortunately not yet available. We expect to see it in the next few weeks.
If previous pricing is anything to go off, the kit should come in at a good level. Being a 2400MHz DDR kit means that it's not going to carry a massive price premium like kits that go into the 2800MHz DDR and 2933MHz DDR range. Of course we'll have a slightly bump in the price due to the fact we're dealing with a 16GB kit, but overall it's nothing that should shock us.
While not yet available, the Patriot Viper PC3-19200 16GB kit looks to be a good option. The kit looks great, performs as you'd expect out of the box and manages to offer some strong overclocking headroom with an extra 400MHz DDR seen and the ability to lower the Command Rate to 1T.
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ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO (Intel Z87) Motherboard Review
Introduction
As the weeks go on, though, and we get the chance to test more and more motherboards, while at the same time sometimes sourcing new CPUs, we're able to get a better idea of the platform. With over a month passed since the launch of the new Haswell platform and a new i7 4770K on hand that is clocking better than our initial one, we're looking forward to seeing what the latest ASUS board offers.
Unlike the initial ASUS board we looked at, the MAXIMUS VI HERO, as the name suggests, falls into the popular Republic Of Gamers or ROG category. One that has gained a strong reputation for performance. Of course that performance has always carried with it a significant price tag.
With the "more accessible while packing major ROG features" tag line over at the ASUS website under the new MAXIMUX VI HERO product, ASUS are trying to bring us ROG based boards at a more competitive price point - and this isn't the first time we've seen this. Both ASRock and GIGABYTE offer boards that focus on performance, but cut down on some of the bells and whistles, giving us a strong performing board at an excellent price point.
How's it going to work with ASUS, though, and the new MAXIMUS VI HERO? Well, there's only one way to find out, and that is to get down and dirty with it.
Package
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Far Cry 3 PC Review
In Far Cry 3 you take control of Jason Brody, a young college kid with rich parents enjoying life to the max on an island paradise when things go awry. Jason and his friends are captured by pirates and the infamous Vaas. Taken for ransom from their wealthy parents, Jason manages to escape with his brother and from there the story becomes that you as Jason must rescue your friends, but also as you build acquaintances on the island, decide how you want the future to be for those people. There is a point where the story just becomes boring and formulaic unfortunately, but until then it's one of the best stories of this generation.
As expected based on the first two games, Far Cry 3 puts you in a massive open world with side missions and main story to complete. One of the key facets of the title is exploration and the game significantly rewards you for exploring. Whilst there are scripted elements to some of the missions, sometimes it's just interesting to wander about the island and see what the enemy and other NPCs are doing. One example was we were closing in on an enemy kill, only to see a crocodile jump out of the water to take him alive. If someone else was to go to that exact spot, it may not happen because those sequences are not scripted.
For example, if you get some shark skins, you can craft a new pouch which improves your inventory level - something which is a lot more interesting to do than just buy a new pouch. You can pick up leaves and plants to help you concoct medicine to heal Jason. At no real point in the game are you forced to buy things. For example, one area which encourages exploration is the local stores. If you manage to take over the local radio tower, the shops will give you free weapons as a reward whilst that tower is not held by the enemies. It's a really interesting mechanic that rewards exploration in a manner that is tangible rather than just 'let's see this entire island'.
For the most part the missions are also enjoyable to play as well. There are over thirty campaign missions with quite a number more side missions to complete. To complete Far Cry 3 without doing side missions will take you about 10 hours and so it is a fairly meaty game when you compare it to most releases. The game does contain fast travel once you have visited a location although sometimes it is better to just explore and see the world on offer.
What Far Cry 3 manages to achieve is a believable world. This island could be a real world thing (although it's not), and the developers have clearly put a lot of work into building a fantastic world for the game. It has the crazy professor and the tribal warriors to complete the mix. But what takes it to the next level is the various fauna milling about the place. You can be swimming quietly in the rivers or ocean and the next minute a shark or crocodile attacks. The first time this happens you will literally jump in your seat and it's generally over before it even starts. You can imagine this is how it happens in the real world as well with most victims attacked before they even know it's happening.
On the PC at least, Far Cry 3 is a visual tour de force and one of the best games graphically we have ever played. If you have the hardware and video card to push this to the max you will see a visually stunning world with amazing graphics. Tone the graphics done a little and the game still shines even on older hardware, so it is clear Ubisoft has done its job in optimizing this game for fairly run of the mill systems as well. This is something that the original Far Cry game was criticised for not doing.
The game also features a co-operative multiplayer portion for up to four players to take part in. It is set six months before the actual events of the single player campaign and so in many ways is its own story. Introducing co-operative into such an awesome, open world game is something that Ubisoft had to do to take this game to the next level. With a length of about six hours, you certainly get your money's worth even though it's not the main campaign.
Far Cry 3 started out with a great E3 presentation that put the hype levels through the roof. Usually when this happens games significantly let us down, but in this case Ubisoft has delivered. No doubt they felt the pressure of such an awesome opening with Vaas and our main character, but instead of crumbling, they produced what is sure to be one of the best games of 2012.
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Hitman: Absolution Xbox 360 Review
This game became Kane & Lynch which had middling success in both sales and critical format. So six years later we have the return of Agent 47 and it's not without changes. Absolution completely changes up the series in many ways and we still aren't sure if all the changes and decisions made were the right ones.
Absolution picks up with Agent 47 being tasked to kill his agency handler Diana. She has gone rogue and has been selling secrets to enemies of the agency so his final contract becomes her. The agency has produced another agent from a child, Victoria with Diana on her deathbed asking 47 to protect her at all costs. This is what the story primarily revolves around; the protection of Victoria and escaping from the agency that 47 once called home. From the outset this shows just how much of a departure Absolution is to the regular format with previous games tasking 47 with contracts to fulfil for the agency.
This is only apparent on some of the levels. On many levels within the game there are no targets and instead it is 47's goal to reach another area to continue the story. As well as this there are times where the game takes control from you and performs kills in cut scenes. For a series which has focused so much on clean quiet kills from a gameplay perspective, to have this happen is frustrating. There are some sections in the game where quiet kills just cannot occur.
This is where you will like this game or not. Whilst in the past each mission was one huge environment for 47 to traverse and come up with sneaky ways to take out the target, in this game you are instead tasked with basically getting from point a to point b. Hitman in many ways becomes a third person shooter with the amount of sandbox missions able to be counted on less than two hands. Given that there are 20 missions overall in the game, this is a bit disappointing.
However, on those levels which do give you the freedom to explore and come up with various ways to take out the targets, the game absolutely shines. Previously seen at E3, the King of Chinatown level is one such example where there is many different ways to take out the target such as poisoning fish or blowing up a car. And it is these missions that you will revisit over and over again to try and come up with different ways to end the mission without being seen.
As well as the actual targets each mission contains a number of challenges to complete. Sometimes these challenges are to take out the targets in various different ways whilst other times it can be tasks such as finishing the mission only using 47's suit. Given that you very often traverse areas where you should not be, doing this is harder than it sounds.
Many of the elements we have seen in previous titles have again come back. You can still take the disguises of other characters although this is a bit harder than last time around.
Enemies will spot that you are not one of them quite easily and so it becomes a case of still having to focus on stealth even when blended in. To aid with this, 47 now has an instinct ability which allows you to see enemies through walls and walk near enemies in disguise without being spotted. You gain more instinct by performing quiet kills and tasks.
One of the more frustrating elements of Absolution is the change from limited save games to checkpoints. Instead of being able to save at any point in the game (within a limited number), you now have to track down and find checkpoints in the level. They are generally off the beaten track and this can be very frustrating especially on the tougher levels. The checkpoints also do not get retained if you leave your game which we have no idea why IO Interactive decided that was a good idea.
On the visual and environmental side of things the game is generally impressive. Whilst there is quite a variety to the locations that you will visit during your time with the game, it is not as varied as it was in Blood Money with some locations being visited more than once. Some of the missions are quite large in size whilst others are almost corridors only. It goes without saying the larger missions are the ones where 47's abilities can really shine. One thing that is true is that in general IO Interactive has used the environments to the best of their abilities with 47 being able to perform numerous environmental based kills on his targets.
Multiplayer comes in the form of contracts mode and in an ironic twist this system is much closer to that of the older games. You can either build or download contracts from other users and basically you are dropped into a world and have to kill targets silently to fulfil the contract. As you do so you gain money which can be used to upgrade your weaponry in multiplayer. This is an interesting take on multiplayer and we hope that users really embrace this system because it's entirely possible this could give the game a lot of legs.
Hitman: Absolution is a game that made us think about how we review games in many ways. Should we review a game based on what the name is on the box, or what the content actually is. Of course the latter is the answer, but we can't help but feel that this is not the greatest Hitman game. It's significantly different to other Hitman titles, but it's also not a bad game. If you come into the game expecting Blood Money 2 you will be disappointed, but if you look past this you will find a competent Hitman game that has just enough elements of its predecessors to ensure you should play as 47 again.
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Assassin's Creed III: Liberation PlayStation Vita Review
However, with the release of a new platform, the PS Vita, Ubisoft decided to give the portable space another crack with the AC series and have come out with mixed results. Liberation is not necessarily a bad game, but there are some areas which can be quite infuriating to play.
Liberation for the first time introduces a female character as the main lead. You play as Aveline, the black daughter of a rich businessman in the 1700's. A result of infidelity, Aveline lives with her step mother and father in New Orleans as one of the wealthy and famous. However, Aveline wants to rid the world of slavery, especially for her people and sets about trying to bring down the tyranny which existed in the time. Set in the 1700's, the game takes place during the same timeline as that of the main console game, and to get the most out of the story, you need to play both.
This is probably the most interesting change to the franchise because it means you often have to change your clothing to complete tasks. Having to change clothing to complete a task can be a tad tiresome (especially when it's not clear which clothing you should be wearing), but all the same the addition enhances the franchise.
As well as the main city, you will also visit the bayou of New Orleans which gives you the opportunity to partake in tree climbing and jumping. Ripped directly from the console game with Connor you can at will climb trees and often have to when completing assassination tasks. The game controls well and it's very obvious when you can and cannot climb trees. The Bayou has a very Metal Gear Solid 3 feel to it - a large, lush jungle full of crocodiles and other animals that can hurt Aveline. The main difference being that Aveline does not need to eat animals to survive.
The structure of the game takes on that of its console big brothers. The game includes nine sequences to complete which is a little on the short side and you will have this game down in around six to eight hours depending on how good you are at it. There is no difficulty setting so once you finish it, that's it really.
There are a number of side tasks to complete and there is a meta game where you can control a shipping company to gain money, but really in the grand scheme of things, you can ignore these and easily complete the game. One of the interesting elements is that the story you get if you just play the main missions is not the actual story. To get the real ending you need to take out a particular hidden character in each sequence.
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One of the biggest bugbears we have with the game is the PS Vita controls. The main controls themselves are fine, but when the developer is trying to shoe horn in the touch mechanics of the game, it just starts to break. For example, the game will at times ask you to put the Vita camera near a bright light. It took us a while to find a light that would give the Vita what it wanted, and there was no indication at all whether we were getting closer or not.
There are also other sections of the game which use the back touchpad such as paddling a canoe. There is nothing wrong with trying to include Vita specific controls, but when they work like they do in Liberation (it's a lucky dip as to whether your motions will be picked up), it would have been best to leave them out.
The environments that the game is set in are impressive for a handheld product. The city of New Orleans is beautifully represented by period buildings and the actual city itself is quite large, but nowhere near what you find in the console games of course. The split of the bayou and the city is an interesting feature with both environments having graphical problems as well as also some impressive sections. Voice acting on the system is impressive especially for a handheld and whilst the soundtrack can become repetitive, it suits the game and setting well.
There is no doubt that Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is the most impressive handheld version of the series yet. Ubisoft has used some of Vita's power well, but also included some utterly frustrating mini games based on the touch and camera features. It is on the short side and that means it's not really suitable as something for a long distance trip, but for short spurts on the way to work, it works almost perfectly.
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Samsung Unveils New Solid State Drives at its Annual SSD Global Summit
SEOUL, Korea - July 18, 2013 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today held the 2013 Samsung SSD Global Summit at the Westin Chosun Seoul in celebration of the launch of its new solid state drive (SSD), the Samsung SSD 840 EVO. Along with the announcement of its latest SSD and under the theme of "SSDs for everyone," the Samsung SSD Global Summit also explored the future of the global SSD market, which is quickly replacing the hard disc drive (HDD) market.
"After accelerating the growth of the SSD market with last year's launch of entry-level, high-performance SSDs, we are introducing much faster SSDs with up to 1TB capacities offering consumers a wider range of choices," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung continues to enhance its SSD brand image by delivering the industry's highest quality solutions and continuously increasing its SSD market share by expanding the adoption of higher density SSDs especially in client PC segments."
At this year's event, Samsung unveiled new high-performance, high-density SSDs. Among the highlights were the 840 EVO, a consumer-oriented entry-level, high-performance SATA based SSD offering up to 1TB capacity.
As part of its strategy to expand into the consumer market and further popularize SSDs, Samsung plans to initially introduce the Samsung SSD 840 EVO to major global markets in early August. Samsung will expand into additional markets at a later date.
The new Samsung SSD 840 EVO line-up makes use of the industry's most compact 10-nanometer class** 128Gb high-performance NAND flash memory, which Samsung began mass producing in April. With these chips and Samsung's proprietary multi-core MEX controller, the Samsung SSD 840 EVO achieves unrivaled value for performance with improved sequential read and write speeds.
At this year's Samsung SSD Global Summit, approximately 150 global business press, consumer media and power bloggers from twelve countries were invited, allowing Samsung to introduce high efficiency SSDs to global consumers and show participants just how simple it is to install and utilize SSDs in their notebooks.
Consumer-Oriented High-Performance Entry-Level SSD '840 EVO' Line-up Launch (up to 1TB)
Samsung has released the entry-level SSD '840 EVO' line-up with significantly higher sequential write performance. Utilizing the industry's most compact 10nm-class 128Gb high-performance NAND, Samsung proprietary controller and Turbo Write drive, the Samsung SSD 840 EVO boasts superior performance.
Compared with the 250GB 840 Series SSD, the highest selling capacity of the 840 lineup, the new 250GB 840 EVO now delivers 520MB/s sequential write speed - making it more than two times faster than the previous generation. In the case of 120GB model, the 840 EVO achieves up to 410MB/s sequential write speed, which is approximately three times as fast as that of the 120GB 840 Series SSD.
For the 1TB 840 EVO SSD, the sequential read/write performance has reached 540MB/s and 520MB/s. Furthermore, both the random read and write performance have improved, reaching 98,000 IOPS (Input Output Operations Per Second) and 90,000 IOPS, respectively. This significantly enhances the user's real-world computing experience, especially when he or she is dealing with very large data files.
The Samsung SSD 840 EVO line-up is available in five capacities: 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB, supporting a wide range of computing environments and IT applications. It has also significantly narrowed the capacity-induced differences in performance, which gives consumers a broader spectrum of devices to choose from.
For more information about Samsung's memory and SSD products, please visit http://www.samsung.com/GreenMemory and http://www.samsung.com/SSD.
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TRENDnet Ships TEW-751DR N600 Dual-Band Router
TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, today announces the availability of the N600 Dual Band Wireless Router, model TEW-751DR -- which offers an attractive mixture of wireless dual band performance and value.
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Sharkoon Announces Drakonia Black Laser Gaming Mouse
Sharkoon is expanding their range of gaming peripherals and presents a new version of the popular green Drakonia Gaming Laser Mouse. The new "Drakonia Black" comes in a gray-black design, rubberized surface and an Avago ADNS-9800 Laser Sensor with a sampling rate of 8200 DPI.
The Drakonia Black features the same ergonomic design with eleven buttons, 4-way scroll wheel and internal memory for user profiles. Through the corresponding configuration software, the functions of the buttons as well as the scroll wheel are freely programmable. However, the color of the Drakonia is new. The design of the dragon scales is now gray and black. In addition, a ADNS-9800 laser sensor from Avago is added, supporting up to 8,200 DPI and a maximum 12,000 FPS. The LED display on the mouse constantly indicates the DPI setting. Also new: the rubberized SoftSkin surface provides a soft feel with a maximum grip.
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ASUS Brings Haswell Processor Overclocking to H87 and B85 Motherboards
ASUS today announced that the latest UEFI BIOS for its motherboards based on Intel H87 and B85 chipsets unlocks previously inaccessible overclocking features for 4th generation Intel Core processors. Before this update, the overclocking features of new Haswell 'K Series' processors could be enjoyed only with motherboards based on the Intel Z87 chipset. Now, however, performance enthusiasts can exploit the power of Haswell K Series processors using ASUS 8 Series motherboards like the ASUS H87M-PRO and B85-PRO. The BIOS update is a free download for 10 ASUS motherboards - the H87-PRO, H87-PLUS, H87M-PRO, H87M-PLUS, H87M-E, H87I-PLUS, B85-PRO, B85-PLUS, B85M-E and B85M-G.
All ASUS motherboards based on Intel 8 Series chipsets feature high-endurance 5X Protection technology for the ultimate in reliability and durability. DIGI+ VRM voltage regulation ensures precise digital control over power delivery to the processor for reduced energy consumption and enhanced stability, while resettable fuses protect I/O ports and DIMM slots from short circuits and voltage spikes.
Electrostatic-discharge guards also protect sensitive components from electromagnetic interference and high-quality solid capacitors that are industry-rated for a lifespan for over 50 years of continuous use under typical operating conditions (at 65 degrees Centigrade) - over twice as long as traditional electrolytic capacitors.
The newly enabled overclocking features for Intel Haswell K Series processors and the superior reliability of 5X Protection technology reaffirm the ASUS commitment to giving customers the best in PC performance at a price they can afford.
UEFI BIOS updates for ASUS motherboards based on Intel H87 and B85 chipsets can be downloaded from:
H87-PRO
H87I-PLUS
H87M-PRO
H87M-PLUS
H87M-E
H87-PLUS
B85-PRO
B85-PLUS
B85M-E
B85M-G
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Thermaltake Massive 14 Laptop Cooling Pad
Thermaltake, being an industry leader in computer chassis, thermal solutions, and power supply units introduces from the same Massive series, Massive 14² Laptop cooling pad. Built with two 14cm LED fans at the bottom enables laptop cooling capacity pushed to extreme. The ergonomic design of appearance and the most comfortable viewing angle while using are suitable for 17-inch or relative types of laptop.
Two 14cm LED fans built in the middle of Massive 14² for maximum speed up to 1200 RPM, enabling laptop to produce cold air and create the best cooling performance.
Easy control on the side
The fan speed controller and LED lighting switch located at the side of the cooling pad enables an intuitive fan speed adjustment helping create a balanced cooling performance. Massive 14² also equipped with 2 USB2.0 ports for easy additional USB devices.
Massive 14² designed with all ergonomic concepts, test out three appropriate ways for user, with the best visual angle and the height position of the hand, it is totally comfortable.
Hexagon shape mesh for maximize airflow
Large area of hexagonal shape cooling mesh reduces wind resistance and wind noise, increase airflow through the area. Supports all 17-inch and below of the major laptops in market.
For more details on the Thermaltake Massive 14² information please visit the official product page.
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Genius Introduces SP-D150 Notebook Speakers
Genius is pleased to announce the launch of SP-D150, a pair of USB-powered cube-shaped speakers, in North America. Now, buyers no longer have to choose between style and sound. These aluminum-finished speakers boast a clean, modern look and feel. Meanwhile, their rich bass and crisp, clear audio will transform notebooks or portable music players into hi-fi stereo systems. The SP-D150 speakers help eliminate clutter, as they only need to be connected to a computer: no other wires or power outlets are needed. The speakers connect through a USB cable and a 3.5mm jack, which means it works PC, Mac, MP3 players, phones and tablets.
The volume control knob on the side of one of the SP-D150 speakers provides a convenient way to adjust the sound output. This saves users the trouble of adjusting the audio through the operating system, and also provides a broad volume range.
Price and Availability
The SP-D150 notebook speakers are now available in North America in shiny black or white for the suggested retail price of $16.90.
Technical Specifications:
- Total output power: 4 watts (RMS)
- Driver Unit: 5 x 5cm (2 x 2in.), 8ohm
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 70 dB
- Power Source: USB powered
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Cooler Master Announces CM Storm Pitch Gaming Earphones
Cooler Master, a leading creator, innovator and manufacturer of desktop components, today announces the CM Storm Pitch, their first gaming in-ear headset built from the ground up to serve the needs of gamers and their many devices. Precision, Clarity and Power. Protected within its premium aluminum housing, lie instruments that produce high quality sound that emanates from each Pitch. This clear, powerful, and direct sound is delivered directly to the gamers' ears via comfortable ear tips that also function as powerful, passive, noise cancelling "distraction blockers" for those intense gaming moments.
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Razer Announces Hammerhead Series In-ear Gaming Headsets
Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, announced the launch of the Razer Hammerhead series of in-ear headsets, two all-new audio solutions for mobile gaming and music. The Razer Hammerhead in-ear headsets offer incredible durability and fantastic audio quality from their 9 mm neodymium drivers, making them excellent choices for music listening on the go. The headsets come in two versions - the Razer Hammerhead and the Razer Hammerhead Pro, with the latter sporting an omni-directional microphone with an in-line remote for phone-call control, perfect for convenient voice communication.
About the Razer Hammerhead Pro Analog Gaming & Music In-Ear Headset
The Razer Hammerhead Pro In-Ear Headset is an in-ear monitor (IEM) engineered from the ground up to set the standard in portable gaming audio. Machined out of aircraft grade aluminum, the Razer Hammerhead Pro embodies ultimate durability packaged in a lightweight, comfortable form factor. Encased within each sleek, brushed shell is a high performance, precision-tuned 9mm neodymium driver. Paired with an optimized inner acoustics chamber in each shell, these in-ear monitors produce a sound signature that packs a mean, earth-shattering bass while maintaining crystal clear mids and highs. The Razer Hammerhead Pro comes through with a full-bodied low-end frequency, pounding in the beats without distortion.
Supreme quality sound would be wasted if drowned out by stray, ambient noises. That is why the Razer Hammerhead Pro comes equipped with interchangeable ear-tips in 3 sizes, along with an optional pair of bi-flanges to provide superior sound isolation and bass response. This exceptional audio solution also features an in-line omnidirectional microphone with one-touch phone call control for crystal-clear, convenient voice communication with mobile devices on the go. Topped off with a compact carrying case for portability, the Razer Hammerhead Pro epitomizes the way in-ear monitors should be experienced - with style, comfort and aural fidelity.
Price: Razer Hammerhead Pro - U.S. $69.99 / EU €69.99
Availability: Razerzone.com - Order Now; Worldwide - August 2013
Product features:
- Machined lightweight aluminum body
- Advanced passive noise isolation
- Interchangeable ear-tips with bi-flanges
- Powerful drivers for supreme audio fidelity with extreme bass
- Compatible with iPhone, Android and mobile devices
- Omnidirectional microphone
- Audio/Mic splitter adapter for PC connection
- Drivers : 9 mm Neodymium Magnets with CCAW
- Frequency Response : 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Impedance : 16 Ω
- Sensitivity @ 1 kHz : 106 dB
- Input Power : 1 mW @ 126 mV
- Cable Length : 1.3 m / 4.27 ft
- Approximate Weight : 12.5 g / 0.03 lbs
- Connector: Analog 3.5 mm Combined Jack (Headphone and Mic)
- Frequency response : 50 Hz - 10 kHz
- Signal to Noise Ratio : 55 dB
- Sensitivity (@1kHz) : -42 dB +/-3 dB
- Pick Up pattern : Omni-Directional
Price: Razer Hammerhead - U.S. $49.99 / EU €49.99
Availability: Razerzone.com - Order Now; Worldwide - August 2013
For more information, visit the product page.
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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [15 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!
- Chromium-Based Opera 15 Has Arrived
- Tt eSPORTS Reveals the VOLOS Gaming Mouse and CRONOS Gaming Headset
- TRENDnet Ships Powerful NAS Media Server
- Palit Announces the GeForce GTX 760 JetStream Graphics Card
- ZOTAC Announces its GeForce GTX 760 Series
- Origin PC Offers GeForce GTX 760 Option on all its Gaming Desktops
- BitFenix Unveils Ronin PC Chassis
- ASUS Launches GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU Graphics Card Lineup
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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [08 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!
- Chromium-Based Opera 15 Has Arrived
- HighPoint Unveils the Industry's first 6Gb/s SATA Expander Module
- Windows 8.1 Preview Now Available
- 3x Battery Life for Nexus 4 From Mugen Power
- Biwin Introduces Half Slim H6201 Embedded SSD
- TRENDnet Ships Powerful NAS Media Server
- ADATA Launches Sleek New DashDrive HV620
- Origin PC Announces its New Online Gear Shop
- SteelSeries Siberia V2 Now in Heat Orange
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