The State of SanDisk
Back at Flash Memory Summit I had the opportunity to meet with all the key people at SanDisk. There is a lot going on at SanDisk at the moment with the Fusion-io acquisition, TLC NAND and all other things, so I figured I would write a piece that outlines SanDisk's current situation and their plans for the future.
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Holiday Guides 2014: AMD Motherboards
Due to this segmentation, while motherboard manufacturers have products in each market, the range ends up either quite old (AM3+) or lower cost (Kabini and Kaveri), leaving manufactures little room to differentiate. But ultimately, this is AMD's strategy: providing the lower cost systems and focusing on integrated graphics. While there is something to be said in transferring over GPU knowledge into integrated graphics, one might wonder why in terms of cannibalizing low end discrete card sales.
Nevertheless, we have reviewed each of the main chipsets on offer and can provide some recommendations. Many if these recommendations hold over from our last AMD guide.
FM2+ with A88X using Kaveri
GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 (Our Review, $100 - $15 Mail-In Rebate)
Starting with the Kaveri space, GIGABYTE's high-end offering is certainly notable. The A88X based UP4 gives the user PowIRStage ICs designed to be more efficient and handle higher current. This allows users to overclock their processors with potentially less power loss from the power delivery, and by overclocking you can improve the responsiveness and performance.
Aside from the power delivery and heatsinks, GIGABYTE includes the potential for three way Crossfire-X solutions, six SATA 6 Gbps ports, eight USB 3.0 ports, Realtek ALC892 audio and a Realtek NIC. For integrated graphics users, all four of the main video outputs are present, along with a power button and a two-digit debug readout. Legacy PCI users also get a slot as well.
We reviewed the GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 earlier this year with our other FM2+ coverage, and one of the big plus points was the 20W lower power consumption compared to some other A88X motherboards on the market. The power delivery subsystem also negated any potential for slowdowns with the early Kaveri ES SKUs. The BIOS and software at the time we reviewed it were still a bit behind, but the product overall comes in at a nice price.
ASUS A88X-Pro (Our Review, $129 - $25 MIR)
The only motherboard to receive an award from our limited FM2+ testing was the A88X-Pro from ASUS. The design was well received, the hardware was good, and the software/BIOS combination was updated to take into account AMD's APU line with this chipset combination.
One of the biggest criticisms with the board is the price, arguing that it costs +80% more than some other A88X motherboards but offers no relative increase in performance. The A88X-Pro still gave a larger overclock, more memory space, more USB 3.0 and SATA ports, a better audio codec, and a better BIOS/software platform for that extra cost, negating that argument that focuses solely on one part of the puzzle. The A88X-Pro is still a high end FM2+ model, so it's perhaps not ideal for a cheap Kaveri build, but it is one of the best FM2+ motherboards out there.
Mini-ITX
ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ (at ASRock, $89)
Where integrated graphics are concerned, smaller form factors come into play. This is despite AMDs socket being rather large and leaving little space for the chipset/FCH and other IO. ASRock's ITX offering did things a little differently by rotating the memory slots to be inline with the rear panel, potentially benefiting airflow similar similar to a server like environment.
Due to the platform, this also afforded six SATA 6 Gbps ports ripe for RAID 5, ideal for a home storage machine without having to buy a RAID card or rely on software RAID.
FM2+ Gaming to Consider
Perhaps surprisingly, most of the FM2+ gaming motherboards were pretty late to market. Due to the low cost nature of the platform and many of the manufacturers wanting to retain their gaming ranges for the more premium crowd, it became difficult for the vendors to decide what should and should not be available. As a result we have only reviewed one of the gaming models, but currently there are several options from each of the vendors:
ASUS ROG Crossblade Ranger (at ASUS, $153)
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper A88X (at GIGABYTE, $97 - $20 MIR)
MSI A88X-G45 Gaming (Our Review, at MSI, $119 - $10 MIR)
ASRock FM2A88X Killer (at ASRock, $95)
AM3+
With the recent release of AMD's lower power 95W Vishera parts, such as the FX-8370E and the FX-8320E, along with the full consumer release of the 220W FX-9590 and FX-9370, there is another semi-resurgence of AMD focused systems of late. AMD aims for price/performance over Intel, and for a get-up-and-go system there can be something said for picking up a cheap AM3+. However, the motherboards fit into two main categories - those that can support the 220W CPUs, and those that cannot.
In general, the higher end the motherboard, the more likely 220W CPUs are supported. The best way to check would be with the motherboard manufacturer's website. Another factor to consider with AM3+ is the lack of PCIe 3.0 support. Some motherboards have additional PLX chips to enable GPU-to-GPU bandwidth in PCIe 3.0 mode, but the communication back to the CPU is still limited to PCIe 2.0.
Our big main AM3+ / 990FX review was back in April 2012, to put some perspective on how old this platform is. AM3+ motherboards cost from $25 to over $200, making any killer product completely price dependent. Since our 2012 review, we have reviewed one other 990FX board that ends up earning our recommendation:
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 for 220W CPUs (Our Review, $170)
The Extreme9 was the bedrock for all our recent re-testing of AMD's Vishera CPUs. It performed the job without issue, and as of late ASRock's BIOS and Software have been plus marks in my book.
In terms of hardware the 990FX Extreme9 has eight SATA 6 Gbps ports, eight USB 3.0 ports (via Etron controllers), support for 3-way graphics setups, and substantial enough power delivery to even overclock the 220W CPUs. Networking is provided by an Intel NIC, with audio via a Realtek ALC898.
MSI 970 Gaming for non-220W CPUs (at MSI, $99)
While we haven't reviewed this motherboard, it is being mentioned here for being a crowd favorite. MSI migrated its gaming moniker and style back to the 970 chipset and it provides an avenue for AMD based gaming builds at a much cheaper price point.
With it being based on the AMD 970+SB950 platform, we still get a full range of SATA ports however we are reduced back to one full PCIe 2.0 x16 slot and a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot, rather than an x8/x8 split. For single GPU usage with a focus on gaming, this motherboard offers an interesting data point.
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Bluetooth 4.2 Core Specifications Finalized
Bluetooth is already in many devices and is favored in mobile and wearables due to its low power profile. Battery life in wearables is critical for user experience, and as we have seen the technology for wearables is in its infancy right now. Power use will be critical, due to the limited amount of space available, so Bluetooth 4.2 will extend the features of Bluetooth Low Energy to allow low-power IP connectivity over Bluetooth with a new profile which supports IPv6 and 6LoWPAN, which is low power wireless personal area network over IPv6. Bluetooth devices will then be able to directly access the internet through an edge device, rather than have to be tethered to a smartphone or other device with IP connectivity first.
The group is also adding some privacy features to the new spec. Currently, Bluetooth Beacons can be utilized as a way to track people. For example, a department store may implement beacons to track customer movements throughout the store. While it may be well meaning, these sorts of technologies may give the feeling of an invasion of privacy, so the new 4.2 spec will allow the MAC address of Bluetooth devices to be masked unless connecting to a trusted device. At the same time, the new devices will have additional refinements to reduce power consumption as part of the Low Energy Privacy 1.2 specifications.
Microsoft Band - a Bluetooth tethered wearable
Finally, Bluetooth LE will see a speed increase, with packet capacity increasing by 10 times, and overall speed increasing by 2.5 times over previous implementations. Standard Bluetooth packets offer a payload maximum of 1021 bytes. With the new specification, there are some additional header fields and a trailer added to the packet to allow for additional payload per packet. The maximum data transfer of Bluetooth Basic Rate (the original 4.0 spec) is about 2.1 Mpbs, and Bluetooth LE can only achieve 260 kbps. The increase is targetted towards the LE spec only, which should increase the maximum theoretical speed to 650 kbps. Real world use will not achieve the full speed increase, but the Low Energy Data Length Extension will be a welcome addition to the specification as more and more devices gain connectivity. Astute readers who follow Bluetooth may realize that Bluetooth 3.0 added capability for up to 24 Mbps, but that involves using Bluetooth to negotiate a connection over Wi-Fi. For devices with a Wi-Fi radio and the power capacity, this may be a better method if high speed data is required, but if the transfer is done over Bluetooth exclusively then it should use less power.
| Bluetooth Maximum Transfer Rates (kbps) | ||||||
| Type | Symmetric Transfer | Asymmetric Forward Transfer | Asymmetric Reverse Transfer | |||
| DM1 | 108.8 | 108.8 | 108.8 | |||
| DH1 | 172.8 | 172.8 | 172.8 | |||
| DM3 | 258.1 | 387.2 | 54.4 | |||
| DH3 | 390.4 | 585.6 | 86.4 | |||
| DM5 | 286.7 | 477.8 | 36.3 | |||
| DH5 | 433.9 | 723.2 | 57.6 | |||
| AUX1 | 185.6 | 185.6 | 185.6 | |||
| 2-DH1 | 345.6 | 345.6 | 345.6 | |||
| 2-DH3 | 782.9 | 1174.4 | 172.8 | |||
| 2-DH5 | 869.1 | 1448.5 | 115.2 | |||
| 3-DH1 | 531.2 | 531.2 | 531.2 | |||
| 3-DH3 | 1177.6 | 1766.4 | 235.6 | |||
| 3-DH5 | 1306.9 | 2178.1 | 177.1 | |||
| Bluetooth LE | 260 | |||||
| Data Packet Length Extension(4.2 spec) | 650 | |||||
The Bluetooth SIG has a good reason to want to get in on the IoT movement. An estimate by the Harvard Business Review, which draws on Goldman Sachs research, estimates that by 2020 there will be 28 billion connected devices on the internet. That is a big pie, and with the existing number of devices with Bluetooth already, as well as the robust encryption Bluetooth uses, the new specifications should help drive devices to using Bluetooth as their connectivity of choice.
There are of course other competing technologies for connecting IoT devices, with the obvious one being Wi-Fi with backers such as the Thread Group. There are advantages to some of these competing technologies as well such as Mesh networking, which is not part of the new Bluetooth spec. CSR has added their own extensions to Bluetooth which do allow mesh networking, but as it is not part of the official spec it will make it harder to be relied upon.
The Bluetooth specifications have an advantage though in that they will not necessarily require new hardware. Many of these features can be added via software updates because the existing radio technology is not changing. The group has a list of “Bluetooth Smart” devices that it keeps on its website.
Source: Bluetooth SIG
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Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Apple CEO's Anti-Ad Campaign as Hypocritical, "Ridiculous"
Facebook CEO isn't happy with Tim Cook's comments on ads making people "products"
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Fossil Spinoff Meta Watch is Behind HP's Smartwatch
Meta learned a trick or two from Fossil about serving as a white label design partner
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Bluetooth 4.2 Promises Faster Connections, Better Security to Stop Snooping
The Bluetooth protocol continues to evolve, and 4.2 will have some key features sure to please mobile users
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Yahoo's CIO Still Found Time for Fraud While Working for 10 Other Employers
But four of those employers just fired him publicly, others may fired him privately, but refused comment
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