Noctua NH-D15S Review
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T-Mobile Adds 20 New Countries and Destinations in Worldwide Coverage Expansion
T-Mobile has officially announced that it has expanded its worldwide coverage for its customers by adding 20 new countries and destinations to Simple Global. With the addition of these locations, T-Mobile customers can now enjoy unlimited data, texting at no extra cost, and low flat-rate calls for just $0.20 a minute in a total of 145 countries across the globe. Additionally, the expanded coverage means that Simple Global now covers more than 90 percent of the trips that Americans take abroad each year, ensuring that they remain connected to their friends and family while they are away. John Legere, the President and CEO of T-Mobile, noted that “The carriers have made billions overcharging consumers who just want to stay connected overseas, and we’ve changed all that!” He went on to say that “Today, we made it even simpler to text, search or keep up on social media in a total of 145 countries and destinations, all at no extra cost!”
While standard data rates are roughly 128Kbps, and customers are not able to tether their devices while traveling abroad, T-Mobile is offering quite the value when compared to carriers who charge sometimes exorbitant rates when travelling outside of the United States. A full list of the 145 Simple Global countries and destinations can be found on the supported countries portion of the Simple Choice International Plan website.
Source: Press Release
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Jim Keller Leaves AMD Amidst Zen Architecture Development
Jim Keller, the microprocessor engineer at AMD that held the Chief Architect of Microprocessor Cores title and was involved with the creation of the K7 architecture and served as the lead architect on the K8 architecture, has officially left the company in order to pursue other opportunities. Keller has left AMD in the past, when he went to Apple to help develop the A4 and A5 SoCs, but rejoined the Intel rival in 2012 in order to work on the company’s Zen architecture. An AMD spokesperson noted that "Jim was responsible for overseeing the teams defining the roadmaps for AMD’s CPU cores, systems IP, and server and client SoCs." Despite the strong role that Keller held within AMD, the company revealed that "Jim’s departure is not expected to impact our public product or technology roadmaps, and we remain on track for "Zen" sampling in 2016 with first full year of revenue in 2017."
Mark Papermaster, the Chief Technology Officer for AMD, will take the place of Keller to oversee the continued development of the Zen architecture, which AMD is counting quite heavily on.
Source: HEXUS
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AVG Updates Privacy Policy to Explain What Data is Collected and Sold to Third Parties
When looking at the anti-virus solution run on PCs, one of the options that may show up a decent amount is AVG. It's a free solution that many people swear by, although that may change. AVG recently updated its privacy policy, and while it is extremely transparent in letting you know what it does, it's also kind of alarming. The new privacy policy states AVG collects "non-personal data to make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free." Basically, it will sell your data to third parties in order to still provide a free anti-virus solution. As it says, non-personal data is collected, but things like advertising ID associated with devices, browsing and search history (including metadata), ISP or mobile network used to connect, and information on other installed applications. Information including your approximate location, ZIP code, area code, time zone, and URL used to get to the AVG website are also collected.
Any data that can personally identify you is anonymized and aggregated into information in an area, so it'll be included with other people around you. Anything AVG deems personal is not sold to third parties, but is shared with affiliate companies depending on laws in your country. IP addresses are shared with AVG search partners, with affiliated vendors can get your email address. Anything else is considered non-personal and sold off to third parties, plus publicly displayed.
This new privacy policy goes into effect on October 15. Users can choose to opt-out of certain data collection techniques, but information on how to do that, and what you can opt-out of, won't be available until the policy goes live. It will be interesting to see what kind of response this generates from the public, especially since data is going to be collected and sold to third parties.
Source: ZDNet
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Hardware Roundup: Friday, September 18, 2015, Edition
The end of another week is upon us, with several items to get you ready for the weekend. There is a review of the SilverStone CS01B-HS Mini-ITX case, an elegantly compact case that is aimed more for an office or HTPC environment than pure gaming. The G.Skill RIPJAWS KM780 RGB Keyboard and MX780 RGB Mouse get reviewed to see how these new products stack up from a company most commonly associated with RAM. If you want a little more lighting around your setup, perhaps the BitFenix Alchemy 2.0 Magnetic LED Strips are the solution. A new case mod uses the In Win 503 case as its base for a clean and stylish appearance, especially when the front panel has been replaced by glass. Lastly a new podcast wraps up the latest news and reviews from the past week.
Cases
SilverStone CS01B-HS @ Benchmark Reviews
Keyboards/Mice
G.Skill RIPJAWS KM780 RGB Keyboard and MX780 RGB Mouse @ TechSpot
Miscellany
BitFenix Alchemy 2.0 Magnetic LED Strips @ LanOC Reviews
Case Mod Friday: THAURUS @ ThinkComputers
Podcast #367 @ PC Perspective
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Magnetic Wave Created that Could Improve Data Transmission
Magnetism has been used in one way or another for centuries, but despite this we are still finding new applications for magnetic phenomena. Spintronics are one example of this, as future computers could rely on the spin of electrons, the fundamental property that leads to magnetism, for like modern computers use the charge of electrons. Now researchers at the New York University, Stanford University, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have created a magnetic wave, as first predicted in the 1970s.
To find these waves the researchers had to use an ultrafast X-ray microscope, as they are otherwise too small to observe. They are similar in concept to water waves in that a shift in the balance of forces can cause smaller waves to form together into one, larger wave. These magnetic waves are very different though, in that they are stable and can flow over a magnet with very little resistance. This is in stark contrast to the electrical signals currently used to transmit data in computers, which generate heat as they move and require more energy as a result.
To find the magnetic waves, the researchers watched a magnetic material with an X-ray microscope with great spatial and temporal resolution, so small and quick changes could be observed. They then applied an electrical current to excite spin-waves that ultimately formed the magnetic waves they were searching for.
Source: New York University
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AMD Supposedly Regains Slight GPU Market Share from NVIDIA
It was reported just around a month ago that AMD lost considerable GPU market share to NVIDIA, with the company claiming only 18 percent of all add-in-board shipments in the second quarter of this year. It looks like AMD may be turning the unfortunate situation around, as Barron’s, an American financial magazine that provides in-depth analysis and commentary on the markets, has reported that AMD has regained a very small piece of the total market share concerning GPUs. Barron’s uses analysis that involves the tracking of discrete GPU prices over various time periods, and notes that concerning the third quarter of this year, AMD cards found within the $200 and $400 range are selling at or above MSRP. Meanwhile, NVIDIA cards are sold below their MSRP and generally feature rebate offers of up to $60. This analysis concludes that AMD is regaining market share over NVIDIA, since it is able to sell its cards to consumers at their suggest value instead of at deep discounts just to entice sales.
With the third quarter of this year still having around two weeks left, and no hard data being provided in terms of percentages, time will tell if NVIDIA market share is actually slipping as Barron’s analysis shows.
Source: WCCFtech
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Amazon Expands Fire Device Family
Rumors of an upcoming tablet release from Amazon were first reported a little over a week ago, and it has now been revealed that the company had more than a cheap tablet planned. Amazon released a trio of new tablets earlier today including the rumored $50 tablet that has a 7" screen rather than the expected 6". Amazon gave a closed demo that compared the device with other tablets costing less than $100 and Amazon believes it performs comparably to the higher priced devices thanks to its 1.3GHz quad core processor and 1GB of RAM. The tablet will also be available in a $100 Kids Edition that "offers a no-questions-asked replacement policy for two years" and includes a rubber bumper and one year of Amazon FreeTime. Also unveiled were the speculated 8" and 10" tablets, which feature a 1.5GHz quad core CPU, MicroSD slots, up to eight hours of battery life and a resolution of 1280x800.
In addition to the new tablets, Amazon has also updated the Fire TV with support for 4K resolution and the Alexa voice service. Amazon Fire TV Director Tim Twerdahl confirmed that all Amazon original TV shows and Netflix 4K content would be available, with the promise that any other content released in 4K resolutions by movie studios would be offered. Twerdahl added that the Fire TV would be able to detect 4K TVs and provide the appropriate resolutions, but also stated that users without 4K TVs would see the benefit of decreased bandwidth usage due to the use of a new HEVC video codec "which he said is twice as efficient compared to the codec in use today." A new Fire TV Stick will be available at a cost of $50 for the inclusion of a voice remote, though the current version will remain at $40 without the voice remote. A remote can be purchased separately or an Android app can be downloaded to enable voice support.
Rounding out the announcements is FireOS 5, the "biggest redesign ever," which will be included with all new Fire devices with added support for older devices in the future. Senior Manager of Fire Tablets Aaron Bromberg described the new UI stating that it is "designed to mimic the layout of high-quality magazines with an eye toward making it easier for users to browse and discover new movies, songs, and books." A feature called OnDeck will automatically download eligible content for Prime subscribers to the device, with support for saving to MicroSD storage. Word Runner is another new feature targeted at users that read Kindle books on their tablets and it uses an algorithm to bring a single word at a time to the center of the screen to help improve reading speed. Pre-orders are now being accepted with an expected ship date of September 30.
Source: Wall Street Journal and PC World
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AMD Radeon R9 380X Available Next Month
Fudzilla has obtained information that points to an October release of the Tonga XT powered AMD Radeon R9 380X video card. The card will have 4GB of GDDR5 operating on a 256-bit interface, though all final details aren't confirmed. Further rumors point to the card featuring 2048 stream processors, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The R9 380X will see a worldwide release, whereas the R9 370X was targeted at certain regions.
Source: Fudzilla
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Hardware Roundup: Thursday, September 17, 2015, Edition
Another Thursday, another slate of items for you to check out and drool over. We have a review of the ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 980 Ti, a massive video card that has a factory overclock and a custom cooler, but also has water cooling connectors for a hybrid design. The Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboard gets tested to see how this feature-packed offering fares in an Intel Skylake setup. If all you need is a better way to control your games, perhaps the Razer Mamba Chrome Tournament Edition mouse is the one for you, with its 16000DPI laser sensor and four-way scroll wheel. For those needing a little bit control in their games, the E-Blue Mazer K727 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard could be the option, especially for LANs with its tenkeyless design.
Video Cards
ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GTX 980 Ti @ Bjorn3D
Motherboards
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 @ Bjorn3D
Keyboards/Mice
Razer Mamba Chrome Tournament Edition @ Bjorn3D
E-Blue Mazer K727 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ Bjorn3D
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Study of Material Transition Could Advance Superconductivity and More
With all of the crazy things that can go on in quantum mechanics, many people are probably happy we live in a largely classical world. The question this brings up then is where will the quantum world stop and the classical world begin? One of the areas we may find this bridge is with the Mott transition in superconductors, and researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have recently made some important observations of that phenomenon.
The Mott transition is an odd phenomenon that exists right at the border between the quantum and classical world and no one yet knows if it is a quantum or classical effect. To study it the researchers turned to superconductors, which also span that gap. When a magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, it will penetrate and form vortices within it that affect the material's electronic and magnetic properties. Normally these vortices are in an equilibrium state and will not move, like in an insulator, but by applying an electric current the Mott transition can occur, making them conducting. The Mott transition is an insulator-to-metal transition that some materials go through, even though established quantum mechanics state the materials should always be insulators. Normally this transition is based on temperature, but by inducing it electrically, we can have far better control over the phenomenon, making it easier to analyze and use.
This study has a variety of applications, including superconductivity and the relationship between quantum and classical physics, but it can also advance many-body systems, out-of-equilibrium systems, neither of which are well-understood currently, and potentially computers. The transition between an insulating and conducting state occurred at smaller scales than in silicon transistors, so we could see this applied to replace them.
Source: Argonne National Laboratory
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GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK Announced by MSI and Corsair
MSI, one of the world's largest information technology manufacturers, and Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance PC hardware components, have together announced the GeForce GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK at the Tokyo Game Show 2015. The card, which features GPU Boost 2.0 technology that takes the base core clock speed of 1190MHz and ramps it up to 1291MHz, makes use of the Corsair H55, a closed loop liquid-cooling solution. The Corsair H55 boasts a micro-fin coper base, an efficient and silent 120mm fan with variable speeds, and an aluminum heat radiator. This thermal solution, coupled with the custom shroud design that incorporates a ball-bearing radial fan, allows the card to run quite cool while maintaining excellent noise levels. Besides the effective cooling solution, the MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK weighs in at 1286g and includes 2816 processor units, 6GB of GDDR5 memory running at a clock speed of 7096MHz, and a 394-bit memory bus.
Pricing and availability of the MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK have not yet been released.
Source: Press Release
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Corsair and MSI Team Up to Create the Hydro GFX Video Card
Corsair is known for making many different parts of the computer, from RAM and solid state drives, to cases, power supplies, and cooling products. Today it has a new product, but one that is a little different from all of those. Corsair has partnered with MSI to create the Hydro GFX, a GeForce GTX 980 Ti equipped with the Hydro Series H55 liquid cooler. The Hydro GFX is an all-in-one solution that can fit in nearly any size case, including the Corsair Bulldog, and since it already includes a liquid cooler, you don't have to worry about pushing the card to its limits. It features a 120mm radiator that can install within minutes to any 120mm fan mount in your case.
Corsair states the H55 cooler helps keep the core, memory, and power circuits up to 30% cooler than air solutions, which comes in handy when overclocking. Speaking of overclocking, the card is already clocked 20% higher than a stock GTX 980 Ti, with an 1190MHz base and 1291MHz boost clock. It still has 6GB of GDDR5, three DisplayPort 1.2 ports, one HDMI 2.0, and a dual-link DVI port for connectivity, just like other GTX 980 Ti cards, and requires a 600W power supply. If you're looking to get into 4K gaming without a lot of noise, this may be the card for you.
The Corsair Hydro GFX launches in October for $739.99, and comes with a three-year warranty.
Source: Press Release
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CRYORIG Announces M9i/a Ultra Compact CPU Cooler
CRYORIG has announced a new ultra compact tower cooler, the M9i/a. The new heatsink utilizes three 6mm heatpipes with a True Copper base and 92mm PWM fan, a design that is "both compact and affordable, but comes packing with material and tech comparable to CRYORIG’s other ultra high end products." The cooler measures just 124.6mm in height and leaves enough space for RAM and PCI-E cards. The M9i is compatible with Intel sockets LGA115X and the M9a is compatible with AMD sockets FM1, FM2/+, AM2/+, and AM3/+. It will be available in September at an MSRP of $26.99.
Source: Press Release
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Lian Li Announces PC-X510 Case
Lian Li has announced the PC-X510, a mid-tower case divided into three distinct airflow chambers. The cooling regions are divided by power supply, motherboard, and drive bays with three 120mm intake fans found on the front and side panels and two 120mm fans on the top and rear panels. The top compartment has two removable drive trays that can hold two 2.5" or 3.5" drives. The trays can be removed to allow more room for cooling fans or a liquid cooling setup. An additional two drives can be mounted behind the motherboard and on top of the PSU for a total drive capacity of eight. The case has eight expansion slots and enough space to accommodate GPUs up to 330mm in length or CPU coolers up to 180mm in height.
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Hardware Roundup: Wednesday, September 16, 2015, Edition
The middle of another week is upon us, with a few items to occupy your time. There is a review of the In Win 805 case, a unique model built with aluminum and tempered glass that is sure to turn heads whenever it is viewed. If you need to keep your CPU nice and cool, perhaps the be quiet! Dark Rock TF is for you. It features a dual-tower design, but a top-down approach so the components around the CPU area can also benefit from the cooling. Finishing things off is a review on the OnePlus 2 smartphone, the new high-end model from the company, featuring a 5.5" 1080p screen, a Snapdragon 810 SoC with 3GB or 4GB of RAM, and the OxygenOS tweak of Android 5.1.
Cases
In Win 805 @ ThinkComputers
CPU Cooling
be quiet! Dark Rock TF @ Frostytech
Mobile
OnePlus 2 @ TechSpot
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