IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 10/18/2013

Thursday, October 17, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 10/18/2013

TweakTown

Apple's iPhone sensor issues stem from switch in component suppliers
You might remember a few weeks ago when we covered a story from Gizmodo that suggested that Apple's new iPhone 5S had major issues with its positioning sensors being pretty far off. Today Gizmodo released a report that explains why the sensor data is so far off from proper calibration.

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It appears that Apple has switched manufacturers of its motion sensors from the 5 to the 5S and a difference in how the sensors measure bias is causing existing apps to be off by several degrees. The previous iPhone models use sensors from STMicroelectronics and the new iPhone 5S features sensors from Bosch. Simply put, the sensors are calibrated different, resulting in a need for different coding.
Since Apple did not account for this change during the hardware calibration phase, devs must now account for it in the coding of their apps. Apps would need to be individually calibrated by the user which requires each app to be updated with new code. While this is a pain in the rear, it appears to be the only known fix at the moment.

AMD will demo its Radeon R9 290X video card tomorrow in Montreal
Tomorrow while NVIDIA host many of the biggest names in tech media at an event in Montreal, Canada, AMD will be hosting a smaller event a at the Hilton Bonaventure hotel just down the road. The event will be based around the company's new Radeon R9 290X GPU and is open to the public.

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AMD says that there is an open door policy for gamers to come in and check out the new GPU and play some games. The Event takes place between 3PM and 8PM. The game of choice will be Bioshock Infinite which will be displayed on 4K monitors. Sources say that AMD will also have systems set up beside the R9 GPU that will be running NVIDIA's GTX 780 as a comparison.

Netflix for Android gets updated, now faster with smoother navigation
Today Netflix rolled out version 3.0 of its app for Android. This update features a completely redesigned user interface that is refined, faster and easier to navigate. Overall, the layout is very similar to what we are use to seeing, but the entire skin is sharper, and more crisp.

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Netflix redesigned the backend of the app from the ground up and as a result, things are more responsive. When you touch the screen, your touch is instantly recognized, and the screen scrolls like you would expect. Netflix has also improved compatibility with Chromecast and the service feels much more snappy now when casting to your Chromecast. Netflix is slowly rolling the new app out over the next few days so if you have not gotten the update yet, be patient and it will arrive soon.

ReportTT: Apple cuts orders for new iPhone 5C units by 20-percent
A new Report from Reuters is cluing us in on how well Apple's iPhone 5C is doing. According to the article, demands for the iPhone 5C has not been as high as Apple had expected. It appears that Apple fans like the 5S much more than they do the 5C, which has led to Apple cutting production by 20-percent on the plastic bodied 5C.

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While Apple may not have expected this, many industry analyst saw it coming the moment Apple released the pricing on the device. Investors and consumers widely expected the 5C to retail in the $199 range off contract, with a contract version in the $50-99 range for a 32GB model. This aggressive pricing was needed in order to take hold in the emerging markets, but apple failed to see that, and the result appears to be a plastic phone that may very well be a total flop.

Square launches Square Cash, a service to send money via email
Today Square officially launched its cash by email service known as Square Cash. The new payment system functions much like Google's Wallet service in that you can transfer money to friends, sellers, or even strangers simply by sending an email. Square has been beta testing this with a few users now for several months and it has been met with rave reviews.

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The service works by composing an email to the person you want to send money to. The sender must CC cash@square.com and only place the amount of money they wish to send in the body. If the sender has a credit card on file with square and the email address matches up, then the transfer will go through. The recipient must also have a debit card or bank account on file for the transaction to complete. The company has also released native apps for Android, and iOS that facilitate the process on mobile as well.

Oregon Scientific debuts new MEEP! X2, and Android tablet for kids
With tablets growing in popularity, it only makes sense that we begin to see more feature rich versions for children begin popping up. Today Oregon Scientific launched a completely redesigned version of its MEEP! Android-based tablet for kids. The MEEP! X2 is a Wi-Fi enabled tablet that is both liquid resistant and shockproof.

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Oregon Scientific says that the MEEP! X2 features front and rear cameras, bluetooth connectivity, and runs an dual-core ARM Cortex 1.2GHz processor. 1GB of RAM is present and a microSD slot is included for added storage. The tablet runs Android 4.2 and has been designed with the ruggedness in mind that is needed to survive multiple trips to the playground and being tossed around in both the car and playroom.
Oregon Scientific has built in parental controls into the operating system as well as online which allows parents to have complete control over what content their kids see and what they can access. Going the extra mile, the company has also built its own app store which features over 800 kid-friendly apps that can be downloaded to the MEEP! X2. The device is available at Toys-R-Us stores now and retails for $149.99.

BenQ launches a new 27-inch full HD monitor
Lovers of large monitors will be happy to hear that today, BenQ unveiled a new 27-inch monitor that features full HD resolution and a decent contrast ratio. The all new EW2740L is the latest addition to the EW40 series of monitors offered by the company and features a native resolution of 1920x1080-pixels.

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BeenQ says that the monitor uses a VA Panel display that allows for flawless streaming that provides for flawless streaming from any MHL-compatible device. The display also has a flicker-free backlighting system that provides relief from eye strain. The monitor features a contrast ratio of 3000:1 and a 4ms GTG response time. Input connections include D-Sub, and dual HDMI with the display being backed by a three-year warranty. The new EW2740L retails for about $400 and is available now.

Battlefield 4 will have a 12GB footprint on Xbox 360
Xbox 360 users with slow internet connections may want to schedule their first Battlefield 4 round a bit later than they had previously thought. Today EA released a blog post that suggested that players will need to download an extra 12GB of content to their hard drive in order to get the best gameplay experience possible.

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Those who do not care about quality, can simply stick to the 2GB install to play file, but EA says that for the optimum experience, users will need to install an additional 6.6GB file for multiplayer, and another 5.8GB file for singleplayer. This will ensure that customers have the highest resolution textures, maps, and file system updates. This will most likely apply to PS3 players too, but PC gamers, need not worry as you will install all the high-resolution files from the beginning anyway.

Apple receives approval to build its "spaceship" campus in Cupertino
After over 2 years since Steve Jobs first pitched the new radically designed campus to the Cupertino City Council, Apple has finally been given the greenlight on its new home. Reports are coming out today that state that the City Council voted unanimously to approve the project.

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"Steve transformed Apple into one of the most innovative companies in the world and we understand the responsibilities that come from carrying his legacy forward with this project," said Dan Whisenhunt, Apple's head of real estate and facilities. "We've designed it with the same care and attention to detail as we do with all Apple products."
The new campus has often been referred to as a "spaceship" in the media, and once completed it will house more than 12,000 Apple employees. The campus is said to cost upwards of $5 billion and will be one of the "greenest" corporate headquarters on the planet. No mention was made on when construction would begin, or when it will be finished.

What is 3D NAND? Jim Handy launches new series to educate us
Many of you will remember when Samsung launched its V-NAND 3D NAND product back in August. Samsung has said that 3D NAND is the future of storage and it fundamentally changes the way NAND flash is manufactured. As with any cutting edge technology, wrapping our head around how this new NAND flash works is a little tough.
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Fortunately, our friend Jim Handy of Objective Analysis has taken it upon himself to educate the world on what 3D NAND is, why it is needed, and how it is made. Handy has started a new series on his personal blog, The Memory Guy, that will span over 9 weeks and will educate us on everything 3D NAND. Handy has posted an overview of the series and we highly encourage you to head over to his blog and check it out!

Samsung unveils high-efficiency Green Memory Solutions at MSF 2013
Early this morning, Samsung announced its fifth generation of green memory solutions that greatly reduce energy consumption and save customers money. The unveiling came at the company's Memory Solutions Forum that is being held today in Seoul Korea and were presented under the theme of a "New Memory Paradigm."

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"With the introduction of these innovative memory solutions that maximize IT investment efficiency, we have set the stage for sharply strengthening the value of advanced memory," Executive VP of Sales, Young-Hyun Jun, said in his keynote. "We will continue to benefit society with the introduction of green IT technology in cooperation with our global partners to lead the global IT industry in creating greater shared value for customers."
Samsung says that the new memory solutions are optimized for the next-generation of data centers which feature cloud computing that is based around big data. Samsung offered three new green solutions to the market including DDR4, PCIe SSDs and a combo of the two technologies. These solutions have been designed to achieve dramatic improvements in performance and energy savings over existing IT technology.

Green DDR4, which delivers high speed, low power and high reliability
A Green PCIe Solid State Drive (SSD) which enhances system efficiency with six times faster performance than that of a 600MB/s SATA SSD
A high-efficiency green memory solution that combines green DDR4 with a green PCIe SSD

The Green DDR4 solution achieves a server data transfer speed of 2,133 megabits per second (Mb/s), a leap over DDR3's performance limit of 1,866 Mb/s. This enables a 15 percent performance boost and consumes 24 percent less energy. It also provides a greater amount of error correction in further improving system reliability. Samsung is planning on expanding the high-speed DDR4 DRAM market even more in the future with additional next-generation products and will be able to eventually offer DDR4 with a data transfer speed of 3,200Mb/s, 1.5 times faster than today's DDR4 enterprise products.
Samsung's new green PCIe SSD solution offers a data transfer speed of four gigabytes per second (GB/s), which is six times faster than 600MB/s SATA SSD's, while reducing the delay in data transfer by 67 percent. These performance upgrades further maximize IT return on investment by increasing the level of energy efficiency approximately 2.6 times. Samsung plans to introduce other next-generation PCIe SSDs, based on its new 3D V-NAND technology and a new proprietary NAND controller, at a later date, in further expanding the premium SSD market.
A combination of Samsung's DDR4 and PCIe SSD green memory solutions will enhance the performance of server systems approximately 1.6 times and quadruple system capacity by eliminating unnecessary data duplication in the enterprise storage systems. As a result, the combined solution can achieve the highest level of efficiency among widely used green IT solutions and overcome difficult prerequisites for new server systems involving budget, power consumption and space optimization.
If all server systems adopted Samsung's fifth generation green memory solutions, an anticipated power savings of 45 terawatts per hour could be achieved. This translates into six billion people saving the power needed for everyday smartphone use for two years, which is equivalent to planting 800 million 10-year-old trees.

Intel delays Broadwell production to 2014, cites defect density issue
During IDF back in September, Intel announced its new 14nm Broadwell processor and said that we should see it begin to ship to OEMs sometime around the end of 2013. Unfortunately, that will not be the case. During the company's quarterly earnings call, Intel said that Broadwell has been delayed until the first quarter of 2014.

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The delay is due to a recent issue with defect density in the silicon wafers that were being produced. Intel says that this issue has been fixed and yield levels are back up to an acceptable number. Some analyst speculated that the delay was actually due to an excess of Ivy Bridge inventory to which CEO Brian Krzanich replied "absolutely not." From the beginning, Broadwell has been expected to go retail in 2014, and a setback of three months is not that big of a deal.
A transcript of Krzanich comment on the matter is below:

While we are comfortable with where we are at with yields, from a timing standpoint, we are about a quarter behind our projections. As a result, we are now planning to begin production in the first quarter of next year...
It was simply a defect density issue. This was on the issue -- as we develop these technologies, what you are doing? You are continually improving the defect densities and those resulted in the yield, the number of die per wafer that you get out of the product and what happened as you insert a set of fixes in groups, you will put four or five, maybe sometimes six or seven fixes into a process and group it together, run it through and you will expect an improvement rate occasionally as you go through that. The fixes don't deliver all of the improvements, we had one of those.
Why do I have confidence? Because, we have got back now and added additional fixes, gotten back onto that curve, so we have confidence that the problem is fixed, because we have actually data and defects and so that gives us the confidence that we are to keep moving forward now and that happens sometimes in these development phases like this, so that's why we are going to over it a quarter.

Feedly updated, includes new 'discover' section, Galaxy Gear support
One of my most used services would be Feedly, which has been updated today with a bunch of additions. First, we have the usual speed improvements, a new 'discover' section, and support for Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

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Feedly for Android has seemingly been ripped apart and put together again, with a nice spring clean. Feedly says that its Android application has close to 300% faster start times, and a more fluid scrolling experience. Some visual changes have made the cut, with fonts being re-tooled for easier readability. One of the problems that people had with Feedly - where it auto-refreshed when switching back to the app - has been fixed.
The updated RSS reader has also received a new "discover" feature, which sees the day's most popular stories featured. New Facebook SDK integration and support for Samsung's Galaxy Gear has been implemented, too. You can grab the latest version of Feedly for Android from the Google Play Store.

Kickstarer to go live Down Under and in NZ next month
Kickstarter has been absolutely massive for some companies, with products like Oculus Rift and OUYA being born from the crowdfunding website. Now Kickstarter will make the jump to Australia and New Zealand starting November 13.

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The crowdfunding site has requested that interested parties begin their projects now in preparation for the launch, with Kickstarter holding a "school" in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Those who are interested should sign up now, as it should be capped out in no time. You can check out the Kickstarter site for more details.

Huawei to build $200 million R&D center in the UK
Huawei is set to build a new R&D center in the UK, where the Chinese telco giant will spend around $200 million on it as part of its $2 billion investment plans. At the moment, Huawei employ around 80 R&D staff in its office in Ipswitch, with this number ballooning out to 300 once the new R&D offices are opened in 2017.

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This is big news as it pushes Huawei to be bigger and bigger, with the Chinese company now the biggest telecommunications equipment maker in the world, where it employs over 150,000 people across the world. Over the next couple of years Huawei will employ an additional 5,500 people throughout Europe as it focuses on making inroads into Europe after the US accused it of having strong ties with Chinese military and the government.

Watch Dogs delayed on all platforms until spring 2014
One of the most anticipated games of this year, Watch Dogs, has been delayed until spring of 2014. Ubisoft announced in the last 24 hours that its open-world title will not be launching this year, citing that it wanted more development time.

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Ubisoft said "Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we've made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014. We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now? We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience."
It's disappointing that Watch Dogs has been delayed, but let's hope that the increased development time gives us an even better game. It might give Ubisoft more time with the next-gen titles to squeeze some more performance and increased graphics, which will filter over to the PC so we all benefit.

Apple officially announces October 22nd event, begins sending invites
Apple is preparing to hold what many expect to be its final launch event for 2013 in just a few days. Today the Cupertino based company began sending out invitations to press and partners for a launch event being held on October 25th in San Francisco.

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The invitations read "We still have a lot to cover," leading us to believe that we will see the rest of Apple's refreshed products launched including the iPad 5, new MacBook Pro's and even the all new Mac Pro. OS X Mavricks should finally be released as well, with some insiders speculating that a new Apple TV, and a smartwatch may be unveiled as well.

Corsair launches new Graphite Series 230T PC Chassis
Today Corsair released yet another well designed chassis to its Graphite Series of PC cases. The Graphite Series 230T is a mid-tower chassis that combines dramatic, angular styling, while retaining the builder-friendly features that Corsair chassis are famous for. Corsair says that the new case is designed for multi-GPU setups, and light watercooling builds.

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The all new Graphite Series 230T has expansive storage configurations as well as air and watercooling setups. The case features room for four 2.5-inch drives alongside four 3.5-inch drives. Three 5.25-inch bays are present as is dual LED lit 120mm front fans, and a rear 120mm fan. Up top is room for two additional 120mm or 140mm fans or a single dual radiator. The bottom of the case also features room for dual fans.

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"Our Graphite Series cases are designed to be visually exciting, with a design aesthetic that reflects their superior performance and quality," said Xavier Lauwaert, Director of Product Marketing at Corsair. "The Graphite Series 230T exemplifies this, making it a great platform for gaming PCs, graphics design workstations, or any application where high performance and high style both matter." The 230T will retail for $79.99 and is available now.

Rovio shows off Angry Birds Go, a Mario Kart-like racing game
Rovio's Angry Birds franchise is arguably one of the most popular video game series of all time, and a newly released video is showing that Angry Birds is not slowing down anytime soon. Today Rovio released a new teaser video for the upcoming Angry Birds Go installment into the series.

This time, the birds are not being launched through space, or into buildings made of stone and glass. In this new installment, bird and pig alike don their racing gear and hit the track for a fun-filled, and very Mario Kart racing experience. The video shows that the game is based around downhill go-kart racing in which you can use power ups to knock your opponents out of the race. Rovio says that we should see the all new Angry Birds Go launch later this year on December 11th.

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Cooler Master launches the all new HAF Stacker series of PC chassis
Today Cooler Master announced the all new HAF Stacker series of PC chassis, and to kick things off the company released three new PC cases that are connectable and configurable. The HAF 915F and 915R are both mini-ITX cases that support extra long GPUs and even water cooling. The HAF 935 is a full-tower chassis that is stackable with the 915 cases and supports the latest extreme performance hardware.

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The HAF Stacker series is anchored by the HAF 925 which is your typical full-tower HAF case from Cooler Master. The chassis features all the standard features we have come to expect from the HAF line, but what makes this case unique is its ability to be stacked on top of, and/or have other cases stacked on top of it. This is accomplished by Cooler Masters new patent pending rail system that is said to be inspired by the accessory rail found on many military rifles.
HAF 915F

MITX supporting long graphics card (310 mm), standard PSU and water cooling
Front mounted power supply for better cable management
Supports larger CPU coolers including Hyper 212 plus
Supporting up to 360 mm radiator in water cooling box mode
Supporting up to 6 hard drive bays with optional storage mode

HAF 915R

MITX supporting long graphics card (310 mm), standard PSU and water cooling
Supporting up to 360 mm radiator in water cooling box mode
Supporting up to 9 x 3.5" hard drive bays or 12 x 2.5" in optional storage mode
First expandable MITX chassis
Front 92 mm fan offers direct storage cooling

HAF 935 (925 + 915R)

Stack extra 915A/B for dual system or unlimited water cooling space
Dust filtered intakes and sliding filter frames
Easy to use cable management
Flexible removable drive cages can be transferred to HAF 915

Limitless Configurations
Stack to your heart's content. HAF Stacker Series - 915F, 915R, and HAF 935 - can be attached to the top or bottom of each other to work with whatever configuration you need. Here are some, not all, of the many possible configurations:

Primary system + Guest computer
Folding or Mining farm
NAS Box
Radiator Box
Primary system + home server
Game Server

This is something I have waited years for and I feel that a modular system like this is something everyone else has been hoping for as well. TweakTown's own Chad Sebring published his review of the HAF Stacker 915F this morning and Cooler Master has just launched a pretty cool micro-site based around the HAF Stacker line.

Yahoo updates Flickr again, makes main images 25-percent larger
Just a few months ago, Yahoo announced that it had completely redesigned Flickr in an attempt to make the service more modern and user friendly. Yahoo has once again updated its image hosting and sharing service and has focused on making individual photos as large as possible.

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Alongside the large photos, Flickr has moved all of the extra info, additional images, and relevant information off to the left hand sidebar. This really cleans things up and makes navigation easier than ever. Additionally, the new layout really speeds things up, which is something many Flickr users had complained about since the redesign was launched.
"With the new photo experience the image is about 25% bigger than on the previous photo page," Flickr said in a blog post. "You'll see more pixels, get a cleaner view without any elements on the top or the bottom of the screen, so that photos can really be the center point."

T-Mobile ending grandfathered data and voice plans, pushing new rates
Many cellular customers around the country are currently on voice and data plans that are no longer offered by their carriers. This type of plan is known as a "grandfathered" plan, meaning that the contract was signed before changes were made, and perpetuated by both the customer and the carrier for years since the plan was stopped being offered.

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Often times, these plans are costly to a cellular company's business model, and it appears that T-Mobile is looking to dump them as fast as possible. Today T-Mobile has confirmed that it will be laying to rest all plans that are considered to be "grandfathered in." A spokesperson for the company told Engadget that customers affected by the closure of legacy plans will be offered new plans with similar or even better features at the nearly the same pricing point.
T-Mobile's full statement can be read below:

Maintaining thousands of rate plans is the norm in the industry, but we think it creates unnecessary complexity. Simple is better, which is why we're reducing the number of older plans in our systems. We're giving customers on these plans the opportunity to choose a plan that best meets their needs. For the vast majority, their plan will provide similar or better features at a comparable price.

Microsoft says Xbox One will not run AMDs Mantle API
During the GPU14 event in Hawaii a few weeks back, AMD touted its new Mantle API as being the great unifier between consoles and PCs and would allow more pc games to see "console like performance and optimization." This really struck a nerve with many PC gamers as they feel that the consoles should catch up to the faster PC gaming market rather than the PC being dumbed down to console levels.

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Many of us in the industry assumed that this meant that Sony and Microsoft would be using the Mantle API to power its consoles which run AMD APU processors. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case. In a recent blogpost, Microsoft said that its upcoming Xbox One console will not run AMD's Mantle API, but would feature the company's own Direct 3D 11.2 API. Additionally, AMD has also pointed out that Mantle will actually be exclusive to the PC.

ASUSTOR launches online accessory store for its products
This morning ASUSTOR announced the launch of a new online accessory store for its products. The new store was implemented after ASUSTOR realized that many of its customers had little to no local access to its products and accessories. Going the extra mile, the company has decided to offer free shipping on all orders, something it feels will make its customers very happy.

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The store also allows customers to compare products via a new comparison table function, and users can also quickly find accessories by searching using keywords. I navigated the website for a few minutes this morning and am quite impressed to be honest. As a former web developer, the site seems very responsive, snappy, and well laid out.

LSI announces VMware support for LSI Nytro XD Acceleration solution
VMworlds 2013 - LSI announced today that its Nytro XD Application Acceleration Solution now features integrated support for VMware Software. The combined solution utilizes a PCIw flash card with intelligent, host-based caching software that has been designed specifically for virtualized environments.

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"With a relatively small investment in PCIe flash storage, the Nytro XD solution delivers an incredibly cost-effective method for improving application performance and VM density for existing storage infrastructures," said Robin Wagner, senior director of marketing, Datacenter Solutions Group, LSI. "For key applications such as databases and virtual desktops, the ability to intelligently cache hot data in low-latency PCIe flash storage accelerates access to data and helps enable faster boot times and greater business productivity."
The Nytro XD solution customer benefits include:

Cost-effective acceleration of existing SAN, DAS and NAS (VMware only) storage through automated and intelligent caching of hot data to PCIe flash storage.
Up to 3x greater VM density, allowing for server consolidation, reduced rack space requirements and lower power, cooling and licensing costs.
Improved CPU power utilization, enabling idle CPUs to support additional business applications
Reduced network storage load by removing frequent-read I/Os from network storage, leaving the storage free to devote more IOPS to writes.
Non-disruptive IT operations by not requiring the installation of agents or drivers for each guest OS.

Those interested in checking out a preview of the Nytro XD for VMware solution can stop by Booth #E507 in the Solutions Exchange at VMworld in Barcelona, Spain, October 15-17, 2013.

Samsung 840 EVO 500GB RAID 0 SSD Report

Introduction

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Today we're going to RAID 0 a pair of Samsung's newest SSD's for your viewing pleasure. So far Samsung is the only player to implement TLC (Triple Level Cell) NAND technology into a retail product. Samsung is looking to revolutionize solid state storage by producing products that have more capacity at a lower cost.
Samsung first introduced us to TLC based solid state drives with their original SSD 840. Samsung's SSD 840 proved to be a solid performer as well as a very reliable platform. Samsung proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that TLC NAND is a totally viable option for consumer based storage implementation.
Samsung's recently launched SSD 840 EVO is a second generation TLC based SSD. Building on the success of the original SSD 840, Samsung is taking TLC implementation to a whole new level. EVO stands for "evolution", so, as you might guess, Samsung is billing their new SSD 840 EVO as "the next evolution in solid state storage".
What makes the EVO the next evolution in solid state storage? In my opinion, the most important technology implemented into the EVO is what Samsung calls "Turbo Write" technology. Turbo Write technology is a write acceleration layer Samsung's baked into their new 19nm TLC NAND.
Turbo Write is an emulated SLC (Single Level Cell) layer baked into the EVO's NAND array. Special programming allows a portion of the EVO's TLC based NAND array to operate like SLC NAND. This pseudo SLC layer allows for write acceleration because programming one bit per cell (SLC) can be accomplished at a lower latency than programming three bits per cell (TLC).
Turbo Write technology successfully mitigates the shortcomings of TLC NAND by accelerating write speed, lowering write amplification, and greatly increasing endurance. Turbo Write technology allows Samsung to offer the consumer a solid state storage solution that has class leading performance AND pricing all-in-one product.
... Read the rest in your browser!

Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 Mod-Tower Chassis Review

The Build and Finished Product

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With the front bezel of the 925 removed, you can now see the locations for the optional 120mm fans in the front of the chassis. The covers for the bays here and on the 915R are only removable from the inside, but the bezel needs to be back in place prior to installing optical drives or bay reservoirs.

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With the build now completed, both sections of the 935 match nicely, and there is even a little drop panel on the 915R to take up a bit of space between them at the front. Even though the design is somewhat aggressive, I liked it out of the box, and I still like it now.

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I know I did not do much to the 915R other than to make sure we powered the fan in the front. The rest of the build was fairly easy with little to nothing to complain about. All of the wiring reaches, everything fits, and it is not a flimsy piece of junk once all the weight is added in.

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Out in the back, we closed off the PSU and the rear I/O on the upper section, and the motherboard, card, and PSU fill out the lower section.

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There were no issues with the wiring or tending to it in the HAF Stacker 935. First we ran the chassis wiring, and then layered the PSU wiring over it, and even here, we still are able to easily slide the panel back on so we can get to the testing.

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Before we get all of the panels back on the HAF Stacker 935, we went ahead and added the 915F to the bottom of the chassis. So now I have both an ATX build in the middle, and the M-ITX system in the bottom, there is still plenty of room for me to grow into water cooling or adding yet another air cooler M-ITX build into the top section.

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Even though we are testing the limits of my photo booth with the tallest chassis ever to be in the booth, I really like the looks of this three piece assembly. I know there is some additional cost with this configuration, but you will be hard pressed to find anything else in this price range that does what the new HAF Stacker from Cooler Master brought to the table.

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When we powered things up, there is very little noise from the HAF Stacker 935. This does make the thermals inside of the chassis suffer as it is delivered, but the idea here is to offers fully custom expandability, and the amount of noise that this chassis produces for you, is up to the choices you make when purchasing extra fans.
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Seasonic M12II 750W EVO Edition 750-Watt 80 PLUS Bronze PSU Review

Introduction

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Lately we've been trying to focus on mid-wattage units as they seem to fit the needs for a majority of users who have up to a pair of discreet video cards. It's nice to look at the top end hardware day after day after day, but it is always nice to go back to something more for the masses. It helps keep things in perspective with what people can actually afford and need versus what they dream about and will never have a use for.
We decided to do double duty with this latest unit from Seasonic. Most of the power supplies that we have looked at from Seasonic are well towards the full enthusiast spectrum in that they are very high quality power supplies that exhibit superb performance but they always come at a cost.
The M12II EVO Edition power supply is meant for those who want the Seasonic quality, but don't want the price. It gives a little on performance, but gains a ton on the price.
We've seen this many times before and it sometimes has bad results as too much is shaved in order to save more money. Let's check out what the M12II-750 EVO Edition from Seasonic has to offer and if they've found a solid balance with price and performance or if they've gone too far.

Specifications, Availability and Pricing

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Seasonic keeps things simple with a single 12V rail. It is rated for 62A or 744W. Both the 3.3V and 5V rails are rated for 25A each with a combined maximum output of 150W. The 5VSB rail is rated for 3A or 15W. Maximum combined output for the Seasonic M12II-750 is 750W.

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Just as you would expect from Seasonic, the power supply is chock full of features. Protections are often the first to be slashed when cutting costs, but all protections are present including over-temperature protection. The power supply is fully modular and all cables are either fully sleeved or of the flat ribbon type. The Seasonic M12II-750 EVO Edition is rated for 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency. Finally, while Seasonic doesn't rate the unit for 100% continuous output at 50C, they do rate it for it at 40C.
Seasonic lists the M12II-750 EVO Edition with an MSRP of $99.99. This makes it a very comparatively priced power supply and priced right in the middle of the road. Shopping around won't save you too much, but Provantage does have the unit in stock for $98.87 at the time of writing. Seasonic backs the M12II-750 EVO Edition with a five-year warranty.
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CMStorm SF-17 Gaming Notebook Cooler Review

Introduction

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CMStorm has been very busy, and in turn, they tend to keep me pretty busy with the vast line up of products that they have in the past, and are currently offering. We have seen some of the best in mechanical keyboard offerings, cases, mice, padz, and even an occasional oddity like the Skorpion mouse wire retention device. What I like about most of these CMStorm products is that they tend to all stick to a similar theme, so no matter if you bought a keyboard from them two or three years ago, their mice and other accompanying offerings will still match the rest of the kit you already own. This isn't always true with other manufacturers; they just expect you to keep spending to get matching components.
So, where is CMStorm taking us today? Well, they have delivered us a new notebook cooler. If you follow my reviews, or have done so for some amount of time, you may remember when we took a look at the SF-19 that coincided with the release of a specific notebook from Dell that it was designed and engineered to be used with. This time around I have caught no word of any specially released products that were designed to go with this new model, but it does get quite a bit of its DNA from the SF-19. And just like that design, CMStorm is pushing the bounds of what a truly ergonomic notebook cooler should offer.
This time around we are again dealing with a rather bulky device with thick components, harsh lines, and chunky bits of rubber that make up most of the styling of the newest SF-17 gaming notebook cooler. As we get up close and personal with this SF-17, its genealogy can easily be traced back to the original design, but there are a couple of tweaks done here and there that to me makes this edition to the SF series of coolers the best overall offering that CMStorm has put together thus far.
For those of you looking for a serious cooler that won't be dwarfed by the notebook that sits atop it, like a bit of LED lighting, and require a notebook cooler with more ergonomic adjustment options than I have seen from any other maker, this new SF-17 may just be the cooler needed to fill those shoes. Stick around as we cover the specifications and packaging, so we can then show you this new cooler and point out all the things that make this a much better solution than many of the others we have looked at previously.
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