No new CPU architectures from AMD until at least 2016
Intel has just launched its new high-end Haswell-E platform, but what is AMD doing? Well, according to a recent interview with Bloomberg, AMD won't be releasing a new micro-architecture until 2016, with any CPU or APU products released between now and then based on current architecture.
In 2015, we can expect AMD to release new APUS that will be based on the low-power Puma+ and high-performance Steamroller architecture. Both of these architectures aren't expected to deliver much additional performance, but we should expect lowered power consumption and heat output.
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GTA V on PC rumored to be the lead platform for refreshed version
Grand Theft Auto V is expected on PC soon, but the latest rumor is that Rockstar Games has been working on GTA V for PC since 2012. This news comes from a leak for GTA V's internal builds, with the PS4 and Xbox One not mentioned in these logs.
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Batman: Arkham Knight release date announced: June 2, 2015
Warner Bros. and DC have announced the release date for Batman: Arkham Knight, with June 2, 2015 to see two special editions released. The first is the Limited Edition, but the second sounds a bit nicer: Batmobile Edition. Both of the special editions will be made in limited quantities across the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
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Hands-on with Sony's new Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
We got some hands-on time with the new Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact at IFA 2014, with Sony's new 8-inch slate featuring a 1920x1200 display, and much, much more.
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Gartner: Family home could have more than 500 smart devices by 2022
Dropping prices in connected devices, and increasingly tech savvy families in the United States, will help drive the Internet of Things (IoT) in the future ahead. In a mature and affluent market, for example, there could be hundreds of "smart" objects in a single household by 2022, according to the Gartner research group.
"We expect that a very wide range of domestic equipment will become 'smart' in the sense of gaining some level of sensing and intelligence combined with the ability to communicate, usually wirelessly," said Nick Jones, Gartner VP and distinguished analyst, in a statement. "More sophisticated devices will include both sensing and remote control functions. Price will seldom be an inhibitor because the cost of the Internet of Things (IoT) enabling a consumer 'thing' will approach $1 in the long term."
The rise of connected devices in the household has led to increased security concerns - as cybercriminals breach as many vulnerable solutions as they can - but shouldn't hinder what is evolving into a major industry.
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Amazon cuts Fire Phone smartphone down to just 99 cents
Amazon wants consumers to purchase its 32GB Fire smartphone, and hopes a price tag of just 99 cents will help entice customers to sign up for an exclusive AT&T phone contract. The launch price of the 32GB phone was $199 earlier in the year, but the phone has seen disappointing sales. Consumers interested in the 64GB model can purchase it for just $99, a $200 price drop from the launch price of $299.
The company reportedly sold just 35,000 Fire Phone units through mid-August, with AT&T exclusivity hurting sales even further. In addition to the Apple iPhone, Amazon will need to compete against a growing list of Google Android-powered devices from Samsung, HTC, LG, and other manufacturers.
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ESPN president says eSports "not a sport," has no interet
Amazon recently purchased videogame streaming service Twitch for $1 billion, and ESPN President John Skipper doesn't have any current interest in promoting "eSports" in the near future. Although ESPN is still known for mainstream sports, the broadcaster has shown everything from bowling and darts to bass fishing and poker.
There is money that could be generated from streaming eSports, with 2.4 billion hours of eSports footage watched online in 2013, according to an HIS Technology report. The growing market could have an estimated $300 million value by 2018. Ironically, ESPN and Valve partnered to stream the Dota 2 world championship tournament on ESPN 3, the online and Web-based branch.
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Twitter launches 'Buy' buttons to help members shop as they tweet
Social networking site Twitter wants its users to shop as they tweet, with "buy" buttons now being introduced on its service. Small numbers of mobile Twitter users on Google Android and Apple iOS devices will see the test button, with transactions finalized in just a few simple clicks.
"This is an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun," said Tarun Jain, Twitter Group Product Manager.
As Twitter continues to seek long-term profitable business, it's publicly unknown what type of services and products Twitter users are interested in purchasing.
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Bill Ford says carmakers must appreciate owners weary of in-car tech
New car technologies that has paved the way for autonomous driving, cars communicating with one another, and other emerging features could scare some drivers away, according to Ford Chairman Bill Ford. To counter this initial fear, Ford and other carmakers need to make it easier for customers to opt out of high-tech car technologies they might not be interested in.
Regardless of potential concerns, cars are getting smarter - and more connected - but automakers will continue to walk a fine-line to ensure they aren't forcing car buyers into uncomfortable situations.
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Bitcoin ATMs popping up in the U.S., across Europe as interest grows
The lure of bitcoins has led to greater interest from consumers and businesses, as bitcoin ATMs begin to pop up for converting bitcoins to cash or cash to bitcoin savings. If ATMs continue to grow in popularity, bitcoin supporters hope to see a major milestone as cryptocurrencies become mainstream.
Bitcoin ATMs are being launched in metropolitan areas such as, Seattle, Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas - and companies want to drive adoption into hotels and other tourist locations. Along with U.S. cities, the ATMs are finding their way to Spain, France, England, and other EU nations - but the ATM industry is hoping to see more industry insight for the blossoming market.
Have you seen or used a bitcoin ATM?
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Top 10 TweakTown News Stories from the past week [08 September 2014]
Here are our top 10 news posts from the past week!
- Hacker unleashes a treasure trove of celebrity nude photos and videos
- One SimCity 4 'Megacity' has over 100 million people living in it
- The lines begin to form for the iPhone 6, over a week out from release
- Tesla will build its massive Gigafactory in Nevada, next to the aliens
- Exclusive: iPhone 6 Air confirmed, and a closer look at the iPhone 6
- Anand Lal Shimpi from AnandTech leaves his site, now works for Apple
- Project Cars will slide onto gamers' rigs on November 18
- Project Cars dev talks 12K gaming with NVIDIA, '4K wasn't enough'
- Celebrity nude leaks could be from Apple 'Find My iPhone' exploit
- Dell announces its new 5K display with a resolution of 5120x2880
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Regenerate a 'Doctor Who: Deep Breath' Blu-ray in our latest promotion
Thanks to our friends at Roadshow Home Entertainment, we have copies of this week's Blu-ray release of 'Deep Breath', the first episode in the latest season of 'Doctor Who' up for grabs for ten lucky readers!
Directed by acclaimed Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) and written by Lead Writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat, the beginning of the Twelfth Doctor's era stars Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Jenna Coleman as his companion (Clara Oswald) and sees the return of fan favourites The Paternoster Gang - Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and Strax (Dan Starkey) in a pulse-racing adventure through Victorian London.
Name the star of the latest incarnation of Doctor Who
To enter, simply 'like' this post and share via Facebook or Twitter and send your answers, along with your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com before the competition closes on September 11th. The total prize pool is $249.95.
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GeForce GTX 980 rumored to use 170W, but offer GTX 780 Ti performance
Right on the back of our news on the sighting of ASUS and GIGABYTE branded GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 cards, WCCFTech is reporting that the GeForce GTX 980 will offer 10% more performance on the GTX 780 Ti, all with a 170W TDP - an incredible feat, if the rumors are true.
If this is true, under the same 28nm process NVIDIA have pulled off something quite incredible here, which might justify the skip over the GTX 800 series. With a TDP of 170W on the GTX 980, we have a 60% performance-per-watt increase on the same 28nm process over the GTX 780 Ti, which is something worth talking about. With a $499 price tag, this could be one heck of a GPU, something we should hear about very soon. With a reported press event this week, we could even hear about it in the coming days.
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TYLT Energi 5K Battery Pack Mobile Travel Charger Review
Introduction, Specifications & Pricing
We've already reviewed the awesome Energi 2K and 3K battery packs from TYLT, but today we have one that will charge up your smartphone twice thanks to its 5200mAh internal battery. Today, we have the Energi 5K battery pack, something that falls in the middle of TYLT's Energi range. The company sells the Energi Battery Packs in 2K, 3K, 5K, 10K and an upcoming 12K model that we should have our hands-on in the coming weeks.The Energi 5K continues the trend of sporting an embedded micro-USB to USB cable, but there are two different models to choose from. There's the Energi 5K and Energi 5K+, the + provides you with a Lightning cable to charge up your compatible iOS-based Apple iPhone or iPad. We have the Energi 5K model with us today, which comes with the micro-USB cable embedded in it, as well as a standard USB port for charging up a second device. We have a total of 5200mAh of available battery to play with, which is enough to charge the average smartphone twice.
TYLT offers the Energi 5K in three different colors: blue, gray and red. The one we have today is blue, which I think looks great. How much does this all cost you? We're talking $79.99 here, which is quite expensive for a 5200mAh battery, but we're also talking about TYLT's eye for design and extremely good quality. Let's see if it's worth it.
Taking It Out of the Box
TYLT has an eye for design, something that bleeds right down to the package. We've talked about this a few times now with the Energi 2K and 3K batteries, but the 5K is where the fun begins - as you can charge up two devices at once, or your single smartphone up twice during a heavy day of use. Let's take a look at the box, and what comes included.
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G.Skill TridentX PC3-12800 16GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review
It's not to say that no new kits were launched this year, it's more that companies haven't felt the need to promote the launch of new kits nearly as heavily. That's all changed now with the new Intel X99 and DDR4 being the next big thing for performance users.
As we've mentioned before, the X99 platform isn't replacing the Z97, instead it's sitting above it as the high-end option. That platform it does replace is the X79, which has been the chipset of choice for people looking for a serious, no limit computing experience.
Before we do any kind of overclocking, the first thing we want to do is make sure that out of the box the kit works properly. Going into the BIOS on our Z97 based ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VII FORMULA motherboard, we set the XMP profile to the first one and crossed our fingers that we get into Windows fine. Looking below, you can see that everything looks good. The Dual-Channel kit is detected with no issue and runs at the 7-8-8-24-2T timings as it should.
With the stock performance out the way, we want to investigate overclocking. At the default timings, we didn't get much more out of the kit. With the timings being left alone, we figured we'd up the voltage to 1.65v and see if we could hit 2000MHz DDR. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck. Since this was the speed that we wanted to try and get to, we relaxed the timings a little and had no issue booting.
With the kit running at 2000MHz DDR via a 9-10-10-24-2T @ 1.65v setup, we thought that it was worth going back into the BIOS to see if we could get anymore performance out of the kit. Jumping up to the next memory divider, we had the kit running at 2133MHz DDR, as you can see below. Moving any higher from here resulted in a BSOD or just a freeze during Windows load up. Still, this is a nice looking number.
Wondering if we could go any further with the raw speed, we headed back into the BIOS and loosed upped the timings a little more. Moving to a 10-12-12-24-2T setup, we're at a timing setup that isn't too ridiculous in terms of being too loose. With the timings here, you can see we managed to push the memory up to a really impressive 2400MHz DDR or 800MHz DDR up from the default 1600MHz DDR.
Before we wrap everything up, we headed back into the BIOS and pushed up our CPU clock to see just what kind of performance we can get out of the kit and the system as a whole. With the multiplier pushed up to 47x, you can see our CPU comes in at 4.7GHz, while our G.Skill memory kit remains at 2400MHz DDR with a 10-12-12-24-2T setup.
Before we got the kit from G.Skill, we had heard good things about it in terms of overclocking ability, and today it was nice to see that those rumors held true. While we normally prefer not to adjust the timings much when it comes to overclocking, because they came in at quite an aggressive level already with such low voltage, we figured it was a good chance to loosen them up a bit to see just what kind of performance we could get out of the kit.
Looking through the results today, you can clearly see that the extra memory clock speed helps boost overall performance by a decent amount - even if it does come at the cost of slightly looser timings. Saying that, you can see that we didn't go too crazy with the timings and move to a setup something like 13-13-13-30 to get these kind of clocks. At 10-12-12-24-2T, you're at still a respectable level.
While this all sounds great, it's worth noting that this is also being done on a 16GB kit and not an 8GB kit. Priced at bit under $200, this is a 16GB kit that holds some real value. By overclocking, you can really save a bit of money and find yourself with a solid 2400MHz DDR kit that doesn't break the bank.
We can't deny the fact that everyone's overclocking experience could be different, but at 2400MHz DDR with a CL10 setup, we're not talking about the kind of insane clocks that require a CPU with a monster Internal Memory Controller. Thanks to a good price point and some awesome overclocking performance, this is a fantastic kit of RAM for anyone wanting to build a system that is built around the Intel Z97 platform.
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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [08 September 2014]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!
- Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX Chassis Review
- Sapphire Radeon R9 285 2GB Dual-X OC Video Card Review
- Samsung XP941 256GB Ultra M.2 PCIe SSD Review
- Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD Review
- Digital Storm Bolt 2 SFF Gaming Desktop PC Review
- Keyed Up Labs KUL ES-87 Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard Review
- Crucial MX100 512GB Two-Drive SSD RAID Report
- Alpenfoehn Himalaya II CPU Cooler Review
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4-2800 Quad-Channel Memory Kit Review
- Alpenfoehn Sella CPU Cooler Review
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Intel Haswell-EP Xeon E5-2600 v3 Server Family Processor Overview
Introduction
The Xeon E5-2600 v3 processors are based on a "Tock" version of the 2600 v2 processors, and use the new 22nm 3D Transistors process.
By shifting cores and supporting circuits around a bit, and perhaps making the die itself a little wider, it may just be possible to get 24 cores on a die. However, we are sure Intel has considered this, and this configuration must have been more efficient in the end. Now, let us look at the actual processor packages.
The middle package is used for larger core counts; in this case, a 16-core processor is shown. It also has a socket R3 label printed on the substrate. There are two breathing holes on the IHS. You can expect this package would be used for 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18-core SKU's.
The processor on the far right has a label of R1 printed on the substrate. We have not seen a socket 2011-E version of this processor yet; the one shown is of an Ivy Bridge-EX v2 processor. R1 socket is still Socket 2011, but it has different notches that prevent it from being used on a R3 socket, which is typical. We believe these processors are for 4P, or Quad-Socket systems, and we expect a version will be available for the new Haswell-E processors.
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Samsung Pro 64GB SD and microSD Memory Cards Review
The Samsung Pro series of SD and microSD are focused towards the power user wanting top notch performance in high speed photo shoots and video. Marketing specifications for these cards include 90 MB/s reads and 80 MB/s writes, and feature both UHS I and Speed Class 10 designations.
MSRP for both the SD and microSD Samsung Pro in the 64GB capacity is set at $79.99 with a ten-year warranty.
While the Samsung EVO line of solutions was great for entry-level users, the Pro series tested here today is a top notch offering. The build quality of these products is great, featuring Samsung's life proof design and ten-year warranty.
Performance of each solution tested was superb. We were able to exceed marketing just slightly with the SD solution, while the microSD solution came in at 90 MB/s read and 80 MB/s write, right on the marketing specifications.
Price/performance for these cards put the SD solution at the top of the UHS I solutions, while the microSD solution managed to take top honors from the Strontium Nitro.
PRICING: You can find the Samsung Pro 64GB microSD memory card 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 Samsung Pro 64GB microSD memory card retails for $59.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Samsung Pro 64GB microSD memory card retails for CDN$89.99 at Amazon Canada.
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OWC Envoy Pro EX 240GB Portable USB 3.0 SSD Review
The Envoy Pro EX is the latest portable solution from OWC featuring 240GB or 480GB of capacity and USB 3.0 connectivity. To set this solution apart from others, you will find the Envoy Pro EX encased in a full aluminium enclosure that's both slim and sleek in appearance. Marketing specifications for the drive show it carrying 430 MB/s read and 320MB/s write capability. Compatibility of the device extends to modern Windows operating systems along with OS X and Linux.
MSRP of the OWC Envoy Pro EX in the 240GB capacity is listed at $249.99 with a three-year warranty.
For those of you in the market for a portable SSD solution, the Envoy Pro EX certainly fits the bill. The build quality is quite superb, and for those that enjoy the use of a MacBook Pro, the aesthetic matches perfectly. In fact, the Envoy Pro EX when paired with a MBP integrates so seamlessly, that it appears visually that the device was almost made by Apple themselves.
Performance was quite good in read operations. In both OS X and Windows, we topped 400 MB/s, while write speeds were slower than we would like for a solid state solution, they were ample for daily use. In our price/performance charts, the Envoy Pro EX was able to take second only to the MyDigitalSSD BP4 solution thanks to its excellent MSRP and associated performance.
PRICING: You can find the OWC Envoy Pro EX 240GB Portable SSD 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 OWC Envoy Pro EX 240GB Portable SSD retails for $249.00 at Amazon.
Canada: The OWC Envoy Pro EX 240GB Portable SSD retails for CDN$351.08 at Amazon Canada.
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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [08 September 2014]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!
- LSI SandForce Flash Controllers Demonstrate Breakthrough Real-World Performance and Endurance
- Netgear Announces New Nighthawk X4 R7500 Smart Wi-Fi Router
- Lian Li Announces the PC-V1000L Full Tower Chassis
- LG to Unveil World's First 21:9 Curved IPS Monitor at IFA 2014
- BIOSTAR Announces the J1800TH Mini-ITX System-On-Chip Solution
- Razer Goes Full Spectrum Color With All-New Chroma Feature
- EIZO Announces New 19-inch and 26-inch DuraVision Monitors
- AMD to Celebrate 30 Years of Graphics and Gaming
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