IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 30/06/2014

Sunday, June 29, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 30/06/2014

TweakTown

DOTA 2 'The International' tournament surpasses $10 million prize pool
We've already reported that the upcoming DOTA 2 'The International' tournament had the biggest prize pool in eSports history with $6 million, but now it has burst through the huge ceiling that is $10 million in prize money.

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The total prize pool for The International sits at $10,045,615 (at the time of writing) and will only increase until the finale. There are stretch goals that Valve has placed, with the 22nd stretch goal at $10 million now met, which will unveil a new "Victory Prediction Taunt" to players. The battle for the champion of the DOTA 2 The International will take place on July 18-21 at the KeyArena at Seattle Center, in Seattle, Washington.

Gran Turismo creator says GT7 will most likely be a 2015 release
If you were waiting for the next release of Gran Turismo, it looks like you'll be waiting a little while longer. Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the franchise, has said: "We are working on the title. I don't think it'll make this year!"

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But, don't fret just yet - we should see GT7 hit the PS4 in due time, with Polyphony saving time by using vehicle assets from previous GT titles, with some of these assets going back to even Gran Turismo 4 from 2004. Yamauchi added: "I doubt that we'll be throwing away the standard cars. Each car has its own fans. So I think we'll hang on to the archive. In the meanwhile, some of those cars we may be able to make into Premium cars as they become available - but basically we're more focussed [sic] on increasing the number of premium cars".

Samsung is trialing a new 21-day try before you buy program in the US
Samsung is trialing a new try-before-you-buy program in select markets in the US, where consumers can use Samsung's latest and greatest smartphones and smartwatches for 21 days before they make a final decision on whether they want to purchase them.

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The offer is only valid for five of Samsung's Galaxy Studio locations, with consumers able to test out the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 3 smartphones, as well as the new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Fit smartwatches. Right now, we don't know if any other Samsung devices are eligible. The five Galaxy Studio locations are in:

Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco, TX: Stonebriar Centre Mall
Houston/The Woodlands, TX: The Woodlands Mall
Los Angeles/Canoga Park, CA: Westfield Topanga
New York City: Samsung Galaxy Studio SoHo
Santa Clara, CA Westfield Valley Fair

Epic Games teases that it has 'cool surprises' coming for VR soon
Epic Games has been working with Oculus VR closely on the Rift, seeing its Unreal Engine 4 as a showcase demo for its VR tech. Epic Games has now teased that it has something 'cool' for the VR community coming soon.

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Nick Whiting, the Lead Engine Programmer for Epic Games has teased that the developer has some "cool surprises in the coming months in the VR scene". We don't know what it could be, but as I said above, Epic Games has been working with Oculus VR on its demos as of late, with Oculus VR's DK2 unit launching alongside Cough Knight, which is one of the more impressive demos on the DK2 unit.
I'd like to see Epic Games pledge full support of Oculus VR, and VR gaming in general, but we'll have to wait and see.

Cybercriminals using the cloud to successfully launch attacks
Following new technology trends, cybercriminals are always-on the lookout for new methods to launch successful attacks to compromise information. There has been an uptick in attackers hosting botnets and malware in the cloud, successfully remotely controlling criminal behaviors remotely in the cloud.

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Recently, criminals were found to be using DropBox to issue command and control instructions, in an effort to get malware and botnets around firewalls deployed by corporations, according to the Trend Micro security firm.
"At the end of the day, cybercriminals are business people," said Christopher Budd, Trans Micro Global Threat Communications Manager, in a statement. "The same logic that drives business people to using cloud-based services is driving the bad guys to use the cloud too."
It's not a surprise to hear hackers use cloud services to help launch attacks, but it's relatively new that they are hosting their C&C operations in the cloud. It's difficult to defend against because C&C software network traffic is similar to regular network traffic - and with companies already struggling to keep networks secure, this further throws a wrench in the plans.

Company shows global cyberattacks in real-time per hour
U.S. threat intelligence company Norse has unveiled a real-time animated map that shows the obnoxious amount of cyberattacks being carried out around the world. Many of the attacks are launched by automated bots, aimed at finding vulnerabilities to steal personal information, banking data, and other sensitive information that can be valuable on the black market.

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In 45 minutes, the United States suffered 5,840 cyberattacks - 27 times the number that the second most targeted country, Thailand, faced with just 220 cyberattacks in 45 minutes.
China launched the most amount of attacks, accounting for 2,513 attacks in 45 minutes, while the United States was No. 2 on the list with 1,550 attacks. Many of the U.S. attacks targeted computer networks inside of the country, while others tend to attack foreign targets.
It's not surprising to hear the United States is the most targeted country, with domestic hackers launching attacks - and organized attacks from China, Russia, and other locations.

U.S. wants to open up cyberespionage talks with China again next month
Even though hacking and cyberespionage talks between the United States and China have stalled, it's an effort that U.S. lawmakers want to open up again. U.S. officials hope to see both sides begin discussions during the U.S.-China Security and Economic Dialogue scheduled to take place in Beijing next month.

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Talks temporarily halted after the U.S. government indicted five Chinese Army officers for cyberespionage, a move that angered Beijing.
"That's an economic problem as well as a bilateral problem and that kind of behavior risks undermining the support for the U.S.-China relationship among the U.S. and international business community," said Daniel Russel, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, during a recent interview. "That's a problem and it's a problem we believe the Chinese must can address."
Both sides have launched organized cyberattacks against one another, however, China is notorious for launching attacks to disrupt operations - and try to conduct industrial espionage, aimed at stealing information.

Chinese Tesla Model S customer wrecks brand new vehicle in protest
Delays in getting the Tesla Model S into the Chinese market lead to one disgruntled customer smashing in the front of his brand new car with a wrench.

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Yu Xinquan in China wrecked his new vehicle as a "protest against the company," he said. "Tesla's arrogance made me angry." A video of Mr Yu began going viral on Friday, and is just the latest of his protests against the company. Earlier he led other customers to protest against delayed deliveries on 21 April, a day before Tesla planned its first China delivery.
At the time, Tesla's Elon Musk apologized and said he'd ensure the cars would start being manufactured. But Yu, himself an e-commerce entrepreneur, claimed the company still hadn't delivered on its promises, and he claims he was misled about availability when he first ordered the vehicle. "I feel like I just married a woman who has been married before," Yu said, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported the response on social media has been mixed.

Scientists plan on breeding bald, heat-resistant chickens
The inevitability of intensifying global warming isn't just a problem for humans - it's a problem for the world's livestock too. Now, to make chickens a little less susceptible to the heat, one team of scientists has started research to breed poultry that are born bald.

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Carl Schmidt, a geneticist at the University of Delaware, is embarking on a mission to Uganda and Brazil, where chickens have naturally shed their feathers over the years, according to Gizmodo UK. Schmidt's worried about feeding the world by 2050, adding that it'll be made even worse "if the climate does continue to change."
"We're going to be seeing heat waves that are both hotter and longer," Schmidt said in an interview with Modern Farmer. "We need to learn how to mitigate the effect of climate change on animals - we need to figure out how to help them adapt to it." For now, Schmidt plans a programme of selective breeding rather than alterations to their core genetics. But as well as breeding a whole new race of heat-resistant super-chickens, Schmidt and the team are also investigating other elements of selective pressure. "We're isolating the genetic variants that have allowed them to survive," Schmidt said.

European Space Agency software used to help detect bank fraud
Researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA) have developed software that is now being used to help detect online bank fraud. Former ESA consultant Paulo Marques, founder of Feedzai, sought a need for a sophisticated solution for communications via the Internet.

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Fraud detection demands large amounts of information to be analyzed in real-time, with thousands of banking transactions taking place per second. Unlike space technology, bank fraud software must be able to learn the behaviors of each individual and company - and the software has the ability to store information up to four years, helping create personal spending profiles.
In Portugal, every electronic purchase uses the sophisticated software, with Feedzai screening $229 billion worth of purchases and payments per year. An important task with cybercriminals targeting banks and financial instructions, with $11.4 billion lost in credit card fraud each year.
Space software can be rolled out in the commercial market, and has been implemented in the medical field.

UK privacy chief warns wearables must comply with data law
Britain's privacy regulator has warned that wearable tech must comply with existing privacy laws, in the wake of a Google Glass soft launch in the UK.

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Andrew Paterson, senior officer at the Information Commissioner's Office, said in a blog post that there's a danger wearable tech could intrude on the privacy rights of everyday citizens. He asserted that there's a debate to be had surrounding how comfortable the public feels with pervasive wearable devices that are always connected and capable of filming at any time.
"If you are using a wearable technology for your own use then you are unlikely to be breaching the [UK Data Protection] Act," Paterson wrote. "This is because the Act includes an exemption for the collection of personal information for domestic purposes. But if you were to one day decide that you'd like to start using this information for other purposes, for example to support a local campaign, then this exemption would no longer apply."
All information collected by organisations utilizing wearables, he added, will be covered by the Act - and companies will have to ensure any data being captured by said devices has the full consent of anyone who is having their data collected.
He suggested that the rise of wearables will ultimately be a debate for society to have, but at least for now, companies and individuals using them must be sure to operate in compliance with the law, and that consumer information is also looked after.

Report finds online vs offline media consumption is split nearly 50-50
Almost half of all Brits still read printed newspapers to get their fix of current affairs, according to a new study by the UK regulator Ofcom.

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Despite the repeated shouting that print is well and truly on its last legs, 40 percent of British consumers still pick up a paper to find out what's going on. But 41 percent of consumers do get the majority of their news from websites and mobile apps.
According to the report, younger generations are driving the shift towards online media - which itself enjoyed a leap in popularity by nine percent between 2012 and 2013. For younger people the growth was even greater, with 60 percent of 16-24 year olds consuming media online or via apps now, compared to 44 percent in 2013. Young people also find mobile and internet apps as the best way to consume news media. But a touch depressingly, one in ten youth said they do not follow the news at all.

YouTube to create weekly radio show for Sirius XM
YouTube is a place where we mostly think of video being the focus of attention. However, a lot of music artists use the video site to get their music out there. YouTube has announced that it is helping to create a weekly radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio called the YouTube 15 on Sirius XM.

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The weekly show will be played on the Sirius XM Hits 1 radio network and will be hosted by Jenna Marbles. The show will air on the satellite radio network starting July 11 at 6pm ET. Replays of the show will be aired over the weekend.
The show will highlight artists that are emerging on YouTube and other pop songs that are on the video sharing site. Some of the up and coming artists have videos on YouTube that generate millions of views.

GoPro IPO goes well, stock surges to over $31 per share
GoPro cameras can do just about anything from recording racetrack antics for car guys to diving into the ocean depths. The rugged camera is among the most popular for sports fans of all types for recording their fun. GoPro went public this week with an IPO that kicked off yesterday.

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GoPro began its IPO with share prices set at $24 per share. The stock surged in trading to over $31 per share in trading. GoPro raised about $425 million and is now valued at nearly $3 billion.
After the IPO, GoPro has about 123 million shares outstanding. GoPro currently holds about 45% of the camcorder market in the US by dollars, but the company is facing some serious competition with other firms, like Google, stepping into the wearable camcorder market.

Apple Podcasts app users faced crashing issues yesterday
Fans of podcasts on the iPhone or other Apple devices faced an annoying issue yesterday afternoon that saw the app crashing frequently. The Podcasts app was crashing on multiple devices running iOS 7.1.1 and for devices that were running the iOS 8 beta 2 version of the OS.

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Users report that the app would open briefly on the Apple device, but would then close only a few seconds later. The crash issue began early in the morning on June 26. Later that morning, users reported success with getting the app to work after switching the phone into Airplane Mode and then opening the Podcasts app.
Once that was done, the app would reportedly stay open for some users when Airplane mode was turned off again. By 10pm last night, the podcasts app was reportedly working normally.

WatchESPN World Cup viewership was higher than the Super Bowl
Depending on what country you are from, Football can mean different sports. In the US, football is what we watch in the fall with the NFL, but in much of the rest of the world football is soccer. With the World Cup tournament underway, people all around the globe are flocking to the TV to watch the matches and root for their favorite team.

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WatchESPN is available as an app or a website and allows people with verified cable subscriptions to watch sports content, like the World Cup, on the TV screen. WatchESPN has set a viewership record with more people streaming World Cup matches at the same time than streamed the Super Bowl earlier this year.
WatchESPN racked up 1.7 million concurrent viewers during the World Cup US versus Germany match this week. In fact, the number of viewers was so high that many people had trouble logging on to view the game. Concurrent viewers using WatchESPN to watch the Super Bowl hit 1.1 million.

Google Chromecast to pair with devices using ultrasonic sounds
Users of Chromecast devices know that it is easy to pair the Chromecast with a phone or tablet if the devices are all on the same Wi-Fi network. The catch is if you have a friend over who wants to stream content from their device to the TV via Chromecast, you have to share your Wi-Fi credentials with them to make that happen.

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Chromecast is set to get a new way to pair with devices that aren't on the same Wi-Fi network using ultrasonic sounds. Humans can't hear the ultrasonic sounds, but nearby devices can. The feature was announced at Google I/O 2014 last week.
With this new feature enables, users will be able to cast content from their phone to the TV when on a mobile network. A four-digit pin will also be offered to allow users to manually pair devices that aren't on the same network. Google's Chromecast device will produce the ultrasonic sounds from the TV audio system to pair with the mobile device. Ultrasonic paring will hit Chromecast in the coming weeks; no specific time frame is offered.

Apple working on smart home gear says rumor
We can thank companies like Nest for raising awareness about home automation and related gear and thanks to that raised awareness more companies are looking to get into the home automation market. One of the companies that are looking to get into the home automation market is Apple according to a rumor.

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That rumor claims that Apple will be putting out a line of home automation products that integrate deeply with existing Apple devices. Rumor sources haven't said what sort of products Apple is developing, but the project is said to be past the exploratory phase.
Rumor sources have claimed that Apple isn't building gear to compete directly against Nest; presumably, that means no smart thermostats or smoke detectors. Apple is targeting devices with wider usage than the gear Nest is producing. Exactly when these Apple home automation products will hit the market is unknown.

NASA Orion crew capsule successfully completes parachute test
Since the space shuttle fleet retired, astronauts in the US have had to hitch a ride into space with Russia to get to the ISS. That will all change eventually when the US gets its Orion crew capsule ready to take astronauts into space in a method similar to what we used in the Apollo days.

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The crew capsule that will eventually let the US put its own astronauts into space is the Orion capsule, and that capsule has completed an important test. An Orion test capsule was strapped into the back of a USAF cargo plane and dropped out of the back of the aircraft at 35,000 feet.
NASA says that a drop from an aircraft at that altitude is the most realistic test yet for simulating reentry from space. In this test, the Orion was allowed to free fall for ten seconds to gain speed before the parachutes were activated to put additional stress on the chutes. Orion is set for its first space test in December, that test will be unmanned.

Smart Modular starts shipping samples of its DDR4 RAM
The DDR4 game is heating up, with Smart Modular Technologies now shipping its DDR4 in sample quantities. The new DDR4 memory modules are designed for servers, micro-servers, workstations, storage and networking applications.

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Smart Modular's lineup includes DDR4-2133 1.2V modules, including VLP (very low profile) and standard height RDIMMs up to 16GB in size. ECC SO-DIMMs are available, but only up to 8GB. The new DDR4 288-pin DIMMs feature everything that DDR4 has going for it, including improved power efficiency, higher performance, enhanced system reliability and more.
These samples are currently being seeded out for qualification in next-gen server, storage and networking applications, all of which are expected to launch later this year, and into 2015.

Google's Tegra K1-based Project Tango developer tablet will cost $1024
We just reported that Google would be selling its Project Tango-based devices to consumers next year, but developers need them first so that they can get content on them, right? Right. Well, Google will begin selling its Project Tango developer kit tablet to developers later in the year, for $1024.

The Project Tango Tablet Development Tablet is powered by NVIDIA's very capable Tegra K1 processor, features 4GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage. It will feature an LTE modem, which is somewhat of a surprise for a developer kit.

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Scientists say after spending $10 billion: the universe doesn't exist
Just minutes after the Big Bang, scientists theorize that the universe blinked itself out of existence - that's the current, new theory, anyway. After spending $10 billion, decades of research and tests, and the world's largest particle accelerator, scientists theorize the universe itself doesn't exist, or that it shouldn't exist.

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One of the researchers said thanks to finding the Higgs Boson particle, it shows that the universe may have blinked out of existence moments after the Big Bang itself. This researcher continued: "This is an unacceptable prediction of the theory ... if this had happened, we wouldn't be around to discuss it!"
Australian astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy says: "I love this idea of bringing together two discoveries found at the biggest extremes of size you can imagine. From studying the Higgs Boson at tiny scales much smaller than an atom to (potentially) measuring Inflation by searching into the distant past of our enormous universe".

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Most thought that all of the answers, or at least we were getting much closer to them, after we found the Higgs Boson, but we couldn't be further from the actual truth now. Cosmologist Robert Hogan, of King's College London, spoke at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society that the Higgs Boson doesn't fit into established thinking. Hogan has presented direct evidence of this rapid universal growth, which he says are ripples of residual gravity waves that have possibly been spotted against the cosmic radiation background.
This is known as the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP2), with its findings regarded as incomplete. When mixed with the properties of the Higgs Boson, the two would see that Inflation would've been headed towards a Big Crunch within just a fraction of a second. If this were the case, the universe as we know it - wouldn't exist.
Dr Duffy says: "If both ideas are right then the energy in Inflation is more than enough to 'bump' the Higgs-field into a different behaviour which would cause our universe to recollapse before it ever got going. The authors have got a great proof that there's some new physics preventing this ... the simple fact we're here to read about it!"

Head of Android confirms that the Nexus line isn't ending
There have been rumors that Google would nix its Nexus program, replacing it with Android Silver - a premium Android lineup of devices. But, according to the Head of Android Engineering, Dave Burke, the Nexus program isn't going anywhere.

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Burke said: "People have been commenting about Nexus because there is something else and they think that means the end of Nexus. That is the totally wrong conclusion to make". When it comes to the talk about Android Silver, Burke's leaps are sealed: "Android Silver is not something that we are commenting on right now. But the prospect of Silver doesn't mean that Nexus is going away".

Project Tango to arrive in 2015, with Google and LG working together
Project Tango is one of the more impressive concept technologies that Google has shown off in the recent years, but now we know that the technology is coming to consumers, next year.

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Google is working with LG on Project Tango for consumers, another team up with the South Korean giant - the makers of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones. Google and LG haven't given an exact date as to when we should expect Project Tango next year, but it'll be interesting to see how it arrives to us, and what services and apps it will work with. Maybe we'll see it work with Google Cardboard for some uber-realistic VR and AR content.

Netflix to expand Down Under to Australia in 2015
Australians have been getting the blunt end of the TV and movie stick for decades now, but things are all about to change with Netflix announcing it will push out its subscription TV service Down Under in 2015.

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The co-CEO of Village Roadshow has confirmed that Netflix will be available in Australia in 2015, but there is no word on restrictions to Netflix's catalogue, or pricing. I think we'll see a restriction of content, as Foxtel has quite the monopoly in the country, so VPN and DNS providers will still continue to give Aussies the best deal.
Piracy numbers should shift a little with Netflix in Australia, but if major restrictions are placed on the service to keep Foxtel pumping along, I expect quite the vocal out roar in the country.

Seagate Desktop HDD ST6000DX000 6TB HDD Review

Introduction

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Over the past few months, Seagate has been hard at work bringing higher capacity drives to the enterprise sector. With the expansion of their portfolio to include five and six terabyte models, these drives have now started to trickle down to consumers.
The ST6000DX000 is Seagate's first consumer 6TB hard drive to hit the market. Like the 6TB Enterprise Capacity v4, the Desktop variant includes the same six-platter design with an increase in areal density up to 643 Gbits/ square-inch. This along with a hefty 128MB of multi-segmented cache and 7200 RPM spindle speed gives the new Desktop HDD 6000GB a performance advantage over the previous 3 and 4TB models.
With that said, it should be noted that this drive in its bare form isn't available on the market. When doing a bit of research it appears this drive doesn't exist at all. However, you can get your hands-on the Desktop HDD 6TB in kit form at many online retailers.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

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As stated above, this drive, if we go by the model number ST6000DX000, which is printed on our drive, this unit doesn't exist on the market at this time. However, if we put two and two together we can get an idea of the specifications of this drive. Looking at the above image, of the Enterprise Capacity v4 specifications we can deduce that our consumer model carries similar features. Of course the nonrecoverable read errors per bit read will be 10^14 instead of the 10^15 listed for the Enterprise model. Warranty for this drive, as expected will be the standard two-years Seagate places on all consumer drives.
The Seagate Desktop HDD 6TB in kit form carries an MSRP of $299.99 with a two-year warranty.
... Read the rest in your browser!

12Gb/s SAS Seagate 6TB Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD v4 Review

Introduction

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Today we have the first 12Gb/s SAS HDD in our labs for testing, Seagate's 6TB nearline Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD v4. A few months ago, Seagate brought an entire family of 7,200 RPM drives in capacities of 6, 5, 4 and 2TB drives to the familiar 3.5" form factor, and these new drives have the option of a dual-port 12GB/s connection or SATA 6Gb/s.
Seagate's 8th generation 6TB Enterprise Capacity v4 HDD's has 6 platters spinning at 7,200 RPM. The drive features a jump in areal density to 643 Gbits/sq. inch, the new advanced format, and 2 additional platters and 2 additional heads. This boosts capacity to 6TB, a 50% increase.
Nearline SAS HDDs provide an enhanced feature set for a small price premium. Nearline SAS drives feature the same media, heads, and rotational speed of typical SATA HDD. The addition of the SCSI command set adds enhanced management features, and dual port functionality provides multi-path and failover capabilities. 12Gb/s SAS also supports TCQ and a larger command queue. The 6Gb/s SAS interface is actually faster than SATA (by 20%) because there is no need for the STP (Serial ATA Tunneling Protocol) overhead. Seagate chose to provide even more performance with a 12Gb/s connection.
Many have questioned the wisdom of 12Gb/s SAS for hard disk drives that lack the speed to push the interface. In fact, HGST stayed with 6Gb/s SAS on the He6, which is currently the only other 6TB drive on the market. One reason to make the immediate move to 12Gb/s is to ensure forward compatibility with new RAID controllers and HBAs, and another reason is if you plan to deploy an SSHD.
The SAS v4 we have in the labs has mounting points for a NAND package on the PCB, denoting a future SSHD product. There is also another mount point that is very likely for an SSD controller. This type of implementation will require more bandwidth for situations where the HDD is communicating directly from NAND and 12Gb/s SAS fits the bill nicely. The advent of new dense NAND solutions can cram up to 128GB of flash into one package, and future 3D NAND technologies will pack up to a terabyte on a single chip. Increasing NAND density provides Seagate with a path for even more performance for their SSHD initiative, which provides huge performance benefits as noted in our Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD Review.
Seagate will not officially confirm a pending SSHD revision, but the striking similarity to SSHD designs we tested in the past is unavoidable. We have a more detailed analysis on the following page.
The Seagate v4 supports Super Parity, which adds an extra parity bit to improve data integrity for data at rest. In conjunction with enhanced error correction the v4 features a standard error rate of 1 per 10^15. The v4's MTBF is rated for 1.4 million hours (an AFR of 0.63%) while handling nearline workloads of 550TB.

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The maximum sustained transfer rate of the SAS Seagate v4 is 226 MB/s, an increase of 10 MB/s over the SATA variant. The 12Gb/s SAS v4 features the same seek time of 4.16ms, and features a 128MB multi-segmented cache buffer.
One of the more notable changes in the SAS-powered v4 is the increase in power consumption. 12Gb/s SAS is a much faster interface with dual ports that requires more power for operation. The typical operating power of the SATA v4 is 11.27W, the same as their previous generation Constellation ES.3. The SAS version bumps that up to 11.87 Watts, but also matches the power consumption of the previous generation ES.3 SAS HDDs.
The SAS Seagate v4 exhibits a marked improvement of 1.98W-per-TB, compared to 2.96W-per-TB for the ES.3. The only slight increase over the ES.3 is idle power; from 7.8W to 7.97W.
The Seagate Enterprise Capacity v4 with the SATA interface was a great entrant into the high-capacity space. Let's take a closer look at the SAS variant.
... Read the rest in your browser!

SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB SSD Review

Introduction

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We've already tested the two larger capacity Extreme PRO SSDs from SanDisk and found each to dominate their capacity class in performance. On paper, the 240GB Extreme PRO is even faster than the 480GB and large 960GB models, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is the fastest consumer SSD money can buy.
The Extreme PRO 240GB is so fast that money is even an issue. The drive has an MSRP of just $189.99, but you can't buy the drive at that price. Most e-tailers have settled on $199.99 due to high demand, and some are charging even more. SSDs are a low margin category for discount e-tailers, but when the market and product are right, some do what they can to make an additional profit.
If you are just now reading about the Extreme PRO series from SanDisk, that should tell you quite a bit about this drive. Not only is the supply limited, but end users are also paying more than MSRP just to get the fastest consumer SATA SSD available today.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

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SanDisk went with three capacity sizes for the Extreme PRO: 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB. These are overprovisioned capacity numbers. Each drive has flash area reserved for background activity like garbage collection and other flash management tasks. The sequential read performance for all three capacity sizes is the same at 550 MB/s. The sequential write performance is a bit higher on the 240GB model, 520 MB/s, and 515 MB/s for the 480GB and 960GB models. SanDisk is very conservative with its published performance numbers, and as we've shown several times in the past, 4-corner performance doesn't equate to real-world performance.
Random reads and writes come in at 100k IOPS read and 90k IOPS write. Over the past several months, several products tested performed significantly slower in smaller capacity sizes. SanDisk didn't follow suit with the shift to 128Gbit die that robs lower capacity products of performance. The entire Extreme PRO series uses premium 1Ynm (A19, 19mm x 19.5mm) ABL MLC Toggle flash in 64Gbit capacity. While more expensive than using 128Gbit die, 64Gbit die allow for higher interleaving and thus higher performance. The Extreme PRO is a performance product despite the mild specifications.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_240gb_ssd_review

To coincide with the release of 1Y 19nm flash, SanDisk has also updated nCache. nCache debuted on the Ultra Plus SSD quite a while ago and went unchanged on the Extreme II SSD a few months later. The technology of using a small amount of MLC flash in SLC mode has gone bi-directional in the latest revision, which is now optimized for mixed workloads. SanDisk calls the latest revision nCache Pro.
Until you see the actual performance data, the biggest news surrounding the Extreme PRO series has to be the new 10-year warranty. To put 10 years into perspective, 10 years ago I tested the fastest consumer hard drive on the market, a Western Digital Raptor with 74GB of capacity. For some of you, that was enough, but to really drive the point in, ten years ago Cameron was at Quakecon in Texas and a majority of PC gamers still used bulky CRT monitors. SanDisk's commitment to Extreme PRO users isn't just a nice marketing pitch, either. As one of only six NAND flash manufacturers, the company will be around ten years from now to support the products.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_240gb_ssd_review

Another new feature with the Extreme PRO actually works with all of SanDisk's consumer SSDs. SSD Dashboard is free for all SanDisk SSD owners and works to keep system performance high and give users additional, value added features such as drive cloning. At the time of writing, not all of the features were working. In the coming weeks, we'll have an SSD Software Face-off and compare each company's software.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_240gb_ssd_review

When we published the 960GB model, Amazon had sold out of every Extreme PRO capacity size and Newegg had increased the price to slow demand. Newegg was sold out of the largest capacity size, and the two smaller models were higher than MSRP. Amazon shows all three capacity sizes in stock, and the 240GB model we're focusing on today is at $199.99, $10 more than MSRP.
PRICING: You can find the SanDisk Extreme PRO (240GB) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The SanDisk Extreme PRO (240GB) retails for $199.99 at Amazon.
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SanDisk Extreme PRO 480GB SSD Review

Introduction

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We wanted to publish SanDisk's new Extreme PRO 960GB SSD first since its performance was so far above the other 1TB class SSD products on the market. The smaller 480GB delivers the same exceptional performance but in a crowded market segment. Setting the Extreme PRO apart from other drives in the 512GB class size is SanDisk's new 10-year warranty and performance that doesn't decrease when the drive is worked hard.
SanDisk designed the Extreme PRO series for computer gamers and enthusiasts. Anyone who writes a lot of data to the drive at once can benefit from the Extreme PRO's talent. Modern games tip the scales at over 30GB each, and most gamers slam the storage media with more than one game after a fresh install of Windows. Most SSDs will suffer a performance hit by the time just a few games hit the flash, but the Extreme PRO is different; it's built to take the abuse and still perform at a high level. This means when you're finally ready to play your game, the drive is ready to deliver the high performance you paid for.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_480gb_ssd_review

SanDisk went with three capacity sizes for the Extreme PRO: 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB. These are overprovisioned capacity numbers. Each drive has flash area reserved for background activity like garbage collection and other flash management tasks. The sequential read performance for all three capacity sizes is the same at 550 MB/s. The sequential write performance is a bit higher on the 240GB model, 520 MB/s, and 515 MB/s for the 480GB and 960GB models. SanDisk is very conservative with their published performance numbers, and as we've shown several times in the past, 4-corner performance doesn't equate to real-world performance.
Random reads and writes come in at 100k IOPS read and 90k IOPS write. Over the past several months, several products tested performed significantly slower in smaller capacity sizes. SanDisk didn't follow suit with the shift to 128Gbit die that robs lower capacity products of performance. The entire Extreme PRO series uses premium 1Ynm (A19, 19mm x 19.5mm) ABL MLC Toggle flash in 64Gbit capacity. While more expensive than using 128Gbit die, 64Gbit die allow for higher interleaving and thus higher performance. The Extreme PRO is a performance product despite the mild specifications.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_480gb_ssd_review

To coincide with the release of 1Y 19nm flash, SanDisk has also updated nCache. nCache debuted on the Ultra Plus SSD quite a while ago and went unchanged on the Extreme II SSD a few months later. The technology of using a small amount of MLC flash in SLC mode has gone bi-directional in the latest revision, and it is now optimized for mixed workloads. SanDisk calls the latest revision nCache Pro.
Until you see the actual performance data, the biggest news surrounding the Extreme PRO series has to be the new 10-year warranty. To put 10 years into perspective, 10 years ago I tested the fastest consumer hard drive on the market, a Western Digital Raptor with 74GB of capacity. For some of you, that was enough, but to really drive the point in, ten years ago Cameron was at Quakecon in Texas and a majority of PC gamers still used bulky CRT monitors. SanDisk's commitment to Extreme PRO users isn't just a nice marketing pitch either. As one of only six NAND flash manufacturers, the company will be around ten years from now to support the products.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_480gb_ssd_review

Another new feature with the Extreme PRO actually works with all of SanDisk's consumer SSDs. SSD Dashboard is free for all SanDisk SSD owners and works to keep system performance high and to give users additional, value added features such as drive cloning. At the time of writing, not all of the features were working. In the coming weeks, we'll have an SSD Software Face-off and compare each company's software.

TweakTown image sandisk_extreme_pro_480gb_ssd_review

When we published the 960GB model, Amazon had sold out of every Extreme PRO capacity size, and Newegg had increased the price to slow demand. Newegg was sold out of the largest capacity size, and the two smaller models were higher than MSRP. Amazon shows all three capacity sizes in stock, and the 480GB model we're focusing on today is at $369.99 MSRP.
PRICING: You can find the SanDisk Extreme PRO (480GB) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The SanDisk Extreme PRO (480GB) retails for $369.99 at Amazon.
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Samsung 845DC EVO Enterprise SSD Review

Introduction

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Being an industry leader requires a willingness to blaze trails in previously unexplored areas. Samsung is the world's largest NAND memory fabricator, and they have displayed a repeated willingness to lead with innovative products. The latest transition began in the client space with the 840 EVO. Samsung initially released this three-bit-per-cell (TLC) SSD last year, even though some felt trepidation at its lowered endurance.
Samsung allayed the hyperventilating enthusiasts' fears by providing a solid warranty, innovative techniques to boost performance, and a line of compelling features. A year later, the use of TLC NAND is commonplace. The 840 Evo is known for performance, reliability, and its competitive price point.
Samsung already has the PM853T 3bit MLC NAND SSD in the OEM space, and the company has expanded that out into the retail market with the 845DC EVO. Samsung has the strategic advantage of being the only SSD manufacturer with a 3bit NAND SSD on the market. While others are bringing inaugural products to market soon, Samsung is already moving ahead with expanded applications for value-oriented 3bit NAND.
Samsung is delivering the same value proposition presented to the client space into the datacenter, but with enhanced features and a longer five-year warranty. The latest enterprise SSD releases have all focused on delivering the best value for users, and Samsung plans on driving even more value into the datacenter with its 845DC EVO. This starts by utilizing 19nm Toggle 3bit MLC NAND and pairing it with a 2 million hours MTBF and an UBER rating of 1 sector per 10^17 bits read. These industry-standard reliability metrics should assuage any concerns about reliability.

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The 845DC EVO features adequate endurance numbers for read-centric entry-level workloads, such as read-cache, search/indexing, and content delivery, workstation, and webserver applications. Cheap client SSDs fulfilled these entry-level datacenter workloads in the past, but the expansions of manufacturers' product stacks have provided more datacenter-friendly options.
In comparison to the other products in our test pool, the 845DC EVO has a lower endurance level of only 0.35% Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD). The 845DC EVO is purpose-built for read-centric applications, and even some of the latest cutting-edge PCIe SSDs feature only 0.3% DWPD to address similar workloads.
The 845DC EVO comes in the 2.5-inch form factor in capacities of 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB. Performance specifications are very competitive, starting with a class-leading 87,000 random read IOPS. Random write IOPS weigh in at 14,000 IOPS for the 480GB and 960GB capacity points, and the 240GB drive offers 12,000 random write IOPS. Sequential read speed is 530 MB/s for all capacity points, and the write speed is 410 MB/s for the 480GB and 960GB models, and 270 MB/s for the 240GB.
One of the primary differentiators between client and enterprise SSDs is power loss protection. Samsung brings this feature, which was noticeably absent in the SM843 but included in the SM843T, into the design of the 845DC EVO. The 845DC EVO also touts advanced signal processing for error correction and end-to-end data protection built into the datacenter-optimized firmware.
Samsung has also begun a concerted effort to offer more consistent performance. Samsung is issuing a QoS spec that guarantees completion of 99.9 percent of read operations in 0.6ms, and write operations are spec'd at 99.9 percent under 7ms. There are also guarantees that maximum read will not top 115us, and write operations will stay under 55us. These limitations on maximum I/O are important for RAID and replicated environments, and it is encouraging to see more manufacturers stepping up and offering performance guarantees.
The three-bit-per-cell generation for the datacenter begins with the 845DC EVO, so let's take a closer look at the components.
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3D Printing Tips and Tricks: Making Your Portable Toolkit

Tools for 3D Printing

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Many makers all over the world have started spending a good amount of their time at community Makerspaces and Hackerspaces, and as a result, they have had to develop portable tool kits that fit their needs. I move my Lulzbot AO-100 3D printer back and forth between my local Makerspace, theClubhouse, and my home almost every weekend. This kit has also been fine-tuned during the many outreach sessions I have participated in over the last year.
In doing this, I have quickly learned that I need to keep a dedicated portable 3D printing toolkit on hand when on the road to take care of all of those little issues that seem to pop up. Fortunately, Lulzbot has gotten me half of the way there with the toolkit they include with every printer. Their kit includes all of the tools necessary to keep their printer up and running, but there are a few extras that I have added that seem to make my life much easier when printing away from home.

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I am going to go down the list of every tool I feel is a must have in any mobile 3D printing tool kit, and hopefully this information will make your mobile 3D printing endeavors more enjoyable. Everything in this list can be found on Amazon, and most of it can probably be sourced from a local hardware store.

Needle Nose Pliers

A good pair of Needle Nose Pliers is the handiest tool a 3D printing enthusiast can have as they work well for removing jammed filament from the extruder. They also serve as something to help remove blobbed plastic from the hot-end of a nozzle. The sharp cutting portion of the pliers is also great at cutting filament if you need to change out colors or remove a jam. A good pair of Needle Nose Pliers should cost no more than $5.

Long Tweezers

I have burnt myself many times while reaching in to grab excess filament at the beginning of a print, or during the print when a small blob appears. A long pair of tweezers with straight or curved tips greatly reduces the risk of getting burnt to almost nothing. I prefer the six inch or eight inch versions with a slightly curved tip. One should note that it is important for the tweezers to have a little grip on the tips as well to help grab the filament.

Scrubbing pad / Sponge

Over time, your hot end will turn black with burnt plastic that managed to stray away and get stuck to the sides. Having a clean nozzle and hot-end is key to keeping your printer running efficiently, and cleaning the nozzle is best done when hot. The best tool I have found to do this is a simple green "Brillow" scrubbing pad. I buy them in packs of five from the Dollar Store for about $2. The great thing about them is that the green scrubbing pad is abrasive enough to remove all of the burnt plastic from the nozzle without damaging it. I also use it to wipe away excess plastic before a print.

Flush Cutters

Cutting filament is easy enough with needle nose pliers, but they sometimes crush the filament just enough to prevent it from fitting in the nozzle's PTFE tube. As such, I find it better to cut filament with a cheap pair of flush cutters that can be purchased from Harbor Freight for $2. As an added bonus, flush cutters work great for removing blobs and support structure from your objects after the printing process is finished. I actually keep a pair of these in my backpack at all times too as they come in handy for cutting almost anything such as paracord, wire, and solder.

Allan Wench Set

Most 3D printers are built using socket head screws that require Allan wrenches to manipulate. I keep a full set of Allan wrenches in my portable kit as I find that I need them at least once a weekend when something goes wrong. Previously, I would keep just the 3 needed for my printers, but they kept getting lost. Keeping them in a set with a holder forces me to check to see if they are all there when packing up at the end of the day. This is one area I would not go with the cheapest set you can find. Harbor Freight has a nice folding set for $5 and an even nicer ball-end set for $7.

Phillips and Straight Screwdriver

This is a no brainer. Common Phillips and Straight screwdrivers should be in every toolkit, and they come in handy when needing to remove electronics cases, wire terminals, and more. I keep two sizes of each in my portable toolkit. If you are looking to save space, you can find several different models that feature an array of different bits that store inside the handle of the screwdriver for just a few dollars.

Wire Bristle Brush

From time to time, every 3D printing enthusiast has experienced the extruder's feed wheel chewing into the filament. This results in the wheels teeth getting clogged with plastic shavings that prevent the wheel from biting the filament. A small wire bristle acid brush is the perfect tool for this job. Trust me when I say that once you have one, you will never live without one again. I have only found these on eBay, but if you know of a better, more stable source, please let me know.

Two Small Adjustable Wenches

Many 3D printers employ what is referred to as a "Wades" type extruder. This extruder features a large cog wheel that amplifies the torque output from the stepper motor. This large gear is mounted to the hobbed bolt that feeds the filament. Removing this wheel almost always requires removing a 3/8-inch nut from the bolt. This is where a small crescent wrench becomes useful. A pair of these wrenches is also needed to aid in removing the nozzle from most hot-ends. I bought my pair from Harbor Freight for about $4 each.

ABS Glue Bottle

ABS Glue is one of the absolute requirements when printing with ABS, and keeping a small Nalgene bottle filled with it in your kit is a given. Luzbot ships the small bottle seen above with their new TAZ 3 and TAZ 4 3D printers, but a small 8-oz Nalgene bottle can be had from Amazon for about $6. It is worth noting that I do not keep this bottle inside my bag for safety reasons, but I do keep it with my kit. To learn how to make your own ABS Glue, check out my tutorial here.

Single Edge Razorblades

I am not the only one who is a major fan of single edge razorblades. In Adam Savage's talk about toolkits for the Maker on Tested.com, he says that single edge razorblades are the most useful tool in any toolkit. I have to agree with him whole heartedly, and I must confess that I buy these sharp little slivers of metal by the hundred. They are super useful when removing prints from the print bed, help clean the bed when replacing PET tape, and work well for just about everything else you can think of. It is important to understand that I am not talking about box cutter blades as they are way too thick.

Machinist Scale

I previously kept a pair of digital calipers in my portable kit, but I found that I used them less than I actually thought I did. As a result, I began keeping a simple metric machinist scale in the bag as a means of accurate measurement. This works out great as I rarely find myself printing anything to such high precision as to need digital calipers on the weekends at my Makerspace. When the need does arise, I simply borrow the calipers that are in the makerspace's tool room.

Xacto Knife

The hobby knife (aka Xacto Knife) is another staple in every maker's toolkit, and is cheap enough to buy a dedicated one for your portable 3D printer tool kit. Hobby knives are useful for removing support material, cleaning up prints, and even slightly widening shallow screw holes. I do particularly like the Xacto brand, but buy the Hobby Lobby brand blades in 30 packs to save money.

Zip Ties

Like the single edge razorblade, zip ties are some of the most useful things on the planet. I keep ten of the 4-inch and five of the 6-inch sizes in my portable kit at all times. They come in handy more often than you think, and I buy the cheapest ones I can find from Harbor Freight.

Super Glue

ABS glue or straight Acetone works well for bonding ABS printed parts together, and can even quickly repair broken printer parts if they were printed from ABS, but if you print in PLA, PVA, Layowood, or Nylon, ABS glue will not bond those materials together. For this reason, I keep a hobbyist grade bottle of CA Glue in my portable kit. I have only had to use it once so far, but it really did save the day when it mattered.

Extra USB Cable

Nothing ruins your weekend like a faulty USB cable, and it makes sense to have a spare in your kit since they are so cheap. I actually keep a spare 6-foot cable in my kit that I purchased from Newegg for $3. Alternatively, you could spend the $6 on a Cerebus all-in-one cable from Sparkfun.

8GB SD Memory Card

While I hardly ever print from an SD card, the ability to do so is important to me. For this reason, I keep a spare 8GB SD card in my portable 3D printing kit. Any brand and class will work, but I prefer SanDisk as I find that they stand up to the abuse of being tossed around with tools well.

4GB USB Thumb Drive

I often find myself printing parts for friends who are building a robot, 3D printer, or something else with custom parts they designed. Many of them do not upload to Thingiverse until the project is finished, so having a solution on hand for transferring files is key. I visit many trade shows, so I have an abundance of 2GB and 4GB thumb drives, but you could pick one up from Newegg or Amazon for a few bucks.
I like to keep all of this inside one of the small bags that came with my Lulzbot printer, but many of you reading this will not have one. I highly recommend one of the cheap $10 plastic tool boxes from Harbor Freight, Walmart, or Lowes. They will take up a little more room, but you could fit your entire portable maker toolkit in it as well. If you have more room than I, I would suggest adding in things like electrical tape, a 3-4 slot power strip, and a stack of napkins for application of ABS glue to the printing surface. A flashlight is handy too, and if you like streaming or recording your prints like I do, you could keep a dedicated webcam in this kit as well.
In closing, I would like to thank Lulzbot for donating most of the tools and the super cool tool bag seen in this installment of 3D Printing Tips and Tricks. Without their support, these articles would be much harder to create. In the next installment of 3D Printing Tips and Tricks, I am going to talk about Retraction and how to properly configure Slic3r to get a good layer start without oozing or blobbing, so stay tuned to TweakTown for that and much more!
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Vantec UGT-AH700U3 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub Review

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In our last two USB hub reviews, we had the chance to look at a few of the latest products from Vantec. As you know, and I have stated before, Vantec has really put an intense amount of effort into revamping their product lines, and offering higher quality solutions for their consumers.
Today, we have the last of the three new USB 3.0 hubs from Vantec in-house, the seven-port hub with smart charging functions. This solution offers seven ports of USB 3.0, along with two more for charging your devices. The device is fully powered like previous solutions we have reviewed from Vantec, and is fully compatible with all devices with a USB port.
MSRP for the Vantec Seven-Port USB 3.0 Hub is set at $58.99, with a one-year warranty.

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Packaging for the seven-port solution offers an image of the device to the right.

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Scope of delivery includes the hub, power adapter, and USB 3.0 cable.

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Here we take our first look at the Vantec hub. As you can see, the design follows closely to the four-port solution we reviewed recently. We have LEDs for each port, and smart charging ports below.

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The seven-port solution carries the same dimensions as the ten-port solution due to the additional space needed for the smart charging.

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The end of the hub houses the USB 3.0 input, and the power connection.

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Performance of the hub was tested with a Samsung 840 Pro SSD plugged into the last port of the hub. As we have seen in previous reviews of Vantec hubs, performance is top notch. Again we reached the peak of USB 3.0 capabilities.
The Vantec Seven-Port USB 3.0 Hub is a great solution for those where the four-port isn't enough. Whether you need more USB 3.0 ports, or want a hub with a large amount of ports and charging capabilities, the seven-port offers both in one package.
Performance of the UGT-AH700U3 was exceptional; we found the device offering top-notch USB 3.0 speeds to our Samsung 840 Pro. In our testing we were able to reach 440 MB/s read, and 435 MB/s write.
MSRP of the Vantec Seven-Port USB 3.0 Hub is set at $58.99, with a one-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the VANTEC UGT-AH700U3 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The VANTEC UGT-AH700U3 retails for $50.24 at Amazon.

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TweakTown image vantec_ugt_ah700u3_7_port_usb_3_0_hub_review

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ASUS GeForce GTX 780 6GB STRIX OC Video Card Review

Introduction of the ASUS GTX 780 6GB STRIX OC

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During Computex 2014, we got a chance to take a look at the new STRIX GTX 780 from ASUS. On display, the company had the GTX 780 6GB card running StarCraft 2 with the fan not spinning, making the card completely silent.
Silent cooling solutions aren't something new to us, but we must admit this approach is different to what we've seen before. In the past, we've seen some companies offer an option where the fans don't spin at idle but start to turn as soon as any load is placed on the video card. The approach that ASUS takes is similar but taken up another notch.
We won't go into any more detail here, and we will instead talk about it a little further when we look at the card itself on the next page. For now, let's leave it at that and see what's going on with the package of the ASUS GTX 780 STRIX OC before taking a closer look at the card itself and the technology behind the STRIX name.

Package - What comes inside the box

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Taking a look at the overall box design, you can see it's nothing too out of the ordinary. We've got the ASUS logo along with the new STRIX one across the top, while the model is clearly shown along with some of the main features across the bottom, including 6GB of GDDR5 memory and a 0dB fan. Turning the box over, you can see ASUS goes into a bit more detail on the DirectCU II cooler along with mention about the DIGI+ VRM+ technology and GPU Tweak software. Finally, you can see on the left side a picture of the card and the outputs that are offered.

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Moving to the bundle, you can see not too much is going on with the standard inclusions offered. We've got a Speed Setup manual along with a driver CD. You can see in the cable department that we've got an SLI bridge and a dual 6-Pin PCIe to 8-Pin PCIe power connector. Not pictured, but also included, is a DVI to VGA connector to round things out.
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Vantec UGT-AH400U3 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub Review

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As of late, Vantec has been revamping their product line-ups, and their brand. In the past few months we have seen a higher attention to detail, and higher quality products being brought to the market from Vantec; and that continues today with Vantec's new lineup of USB 3.0 hubs.
The device we are looking at today follows our recent review of the ten-port hub from Vantec. The USB 3.0 hub we have today offers four ports of USB 3.0 connectivity, along with three additional ports with charging capabilities. Compatibility of the four-port hub from Vantec extends to any PC or Mac with a USB port; of course, you will want to use a USB 3.0 capable port for higher performance.
MSRP for the Vantec four-Port USB 3.0 Hub is set at $53.99, with a one-year warranty.

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Packaging for the four-port solution from Vantec carries an image of the hub on the right.

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The back of the packaging lists marketing information for the hub.

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The scope of delivery includes the hub, power adapter, and a USB 3.0 cable.

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Here we take our first look at the hub. As you can see, there are LED indicators for each port. The three charging ports follow the USB 3.0 ports, with each having its capabilities listed to the left.

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Here you can see the profile of the hub.

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The end of the hub houses the USB 3.0 port and power input.

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Performance of the hub was tested with a Samsung 840 Pro SSD plugged into the last port of the hub. As you can see, we were able to reach 440 MB/s read, and 435 MB/s write.
The Vantec Four-Port USB 3.0 Hub is an excellent solution for those with multitudes of devices that need to be connected. The build quality of the Vantec is quite good; the aluminum enclosure offers ample durability, while having a certain aesthetic appeal.
As you can see, performance was quite good. We were able to reach the limits of USB 3.0, with our 840 Pro touching 440 MB/s read, and 435 MB/s write.
MSRP of the Vantec Four-Port USB 3.0 Hub is set at $53.99, with a one-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the VANTEC UGT-AH400U3 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The VANTEC UGT-AH400U3 retails for $45.85 at Amazon.

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TweakTown image vantec_ugt_ah400u3_4_port_usb_3_0_hub_review

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Practical 3D Printing Guide: Making a GoPro Camera Mount

3D printing a GoPro camera mount

TweakTown image practical_3d_printing_guide_making_a_gopro_camera_mount

One of the questions I am asked most about 3D printing is about the practicality of a hobbyist-grade printer and its ability to print useful items instead of just trinkets and toys. My go-to answer is usually to reach into my backpack and pull out a small red case that houses my Raspberry Pi. I printed this case when I first got my Pi, and have since printed a few dozen for friends and strangers who wished to buy one from me.
Over the weekend, I hosted a 3D printing booth at the Super Happy Block Party in Augusta, GA, which was hosted by my makerspace, theClubhou.se. During this event, I must have had that very question asked to me about fifty times.

TweakTown image practical_3d_printing_guide_making_a_gopro_camera_mount

About half way through, I realized that many of the people who were asking these questions had never heard of a Raspberry Pi or understood what it was or why it needed a protective case in the first place. It was then that I decided to switch up my example and show off one of the small zip tie mounts I have been printing for GoPro action cameras.
This example seemed to ring more true with the booth's visitors as many of them were into wakeboarding, longboarding, biking, and kayaking, all sports that the GoPro is frequently found in. The mounts I have been printing are quite unique in the fact that they can be mounted to any surface by using two to four 12-inch zip ties. The mount features recesses for the zip ties, and it makes for a very strong and secure mount.
So today, I decided to write a quick article on this mount and show you how I print it. The mount is freely available on Thingiverse, so if you have a printer or access to one, you can print this awesome little mount. For those interested, I have included a video of an entire printing session with one of these mounts below.

I first printed these mounts in PLA, but quickly found out that PLA's natural hardness makes it very brittle, and the mounting ears would crack and break off after just a few uses. I experimented with different infill percentages and even tried it solid. Nothing seemed to fix it.

TweakTown image practical_3d_printing_guide_making_a_gopro_camera_mount

This is where I finally decided to print them from ABS with a 50 percent infill to save on weight. Since then, I have printed about 25 of these mounts for personal use as well as to give to friends, and I am proud to report that every one that was printed from Voltivo ExcelFil and Lulzbot ABS filament are still in use today and have yet to crack or break. Unfortunately, I did print a few with cheap ABS I was testing from China, and the $25-per-spool filament was just not up to the challenge of the abuse these mounts take.
Back to the practically of 3D printing, I find this GoPro mount to be the perfect example of using this hobby's technology to save not only money, but time as well. If you were to order a GoPro mount from Amazon, you would not find anything similar to this, and an official mount would cost anywhere between $25 and $50 depending on the model.
Anyone with a 3D printer, or access to one, can queue up this mount and have it sitting in their hand ready to use in about 25 minutes. Additionally, the mount at 50 percent infill only uses about $0.50 worth of filament, meaning that you can print off a dozen of these and leave them strapped to wherever you want to mount your GoPro. I would recommend coating them with paint if the installation is going to be in the full sun for extended periods of time, though, to prevent UV damage.
The Raspberry Pi case is also an excellent example, but for those who have no idea what a Raspberry Pi is, explaining it may be too time consuming. I am going to begin looking for more practical uses for 3D printing in and around the home over the next few months and will be posting articles on the objects here at TweakTown as I find them. If you know of any good examples, please email or message them to me on Facebook.
I would like to thank Lulzbot and Voltivo for sponsoring this post. Without Lulzbot, I would not have the 3D printers on hand to create this kind of content. Voltivo helps out as well by providing me with the highest quality 3D printing filament in the world, and I cannot thank them enough either. If you are in the market for a 3D printer, check out Lulzbot, and then head over to Voltivo and check out their ExcelFil 3D Printing Filament.
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