Raidmax Vampire Case Review
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Review
A look at NVIDIA's answer to the R9 290X from AMD and their partners.
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Assassin's Creed Revelations 2-Years Later Review
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Assassin's Creed III 1-Year Later Review
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Corsair Announces CS Series Power Supplies
The CS Series is set to be the newest series of modular power supplies from Corsair, aiming to "deliver 80 PLUS Gold efficiency on a Bronze budget." There will be four models available with power ratings of 450, 550, 650, and 750 watts, all of which are 80 PLUS Gold certified. An included fan runs near silent during everyday tasks, helping to minimize overall system noise. The CS Series will be almost completely modular, with two motherboard cables being the only permanent fixtures. Global Product Manager of PSUs Aaron Neal said, "They are perfect for users that want reliable, energy efficient power for their PCs at a price that won’t break their budget." The units will range in price from $89.99 for the 450W model to $119.99 for the 750W model and are available now.
Source: Press Release
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Supermassive Stars Give Birth to Twin Black Holes?
One of the most exotic and best known stellar objects are black holes. These massive objects have been the subject of many works of fiction and scientific analyses, but despite this attention, there are still many mysteries about them. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology may have some answers though, concerning the formation of the supermassive black holes found in the centers of modern galaxies.
As their name suggests, supermassive black holes are immense objects with millions and even billions of solar masses, and that mass has likely been accumulated over millions or billions of years. The mystery surrounding them though is how any supermassive black holes could have existed in the early Universe, before enough time had passed for them to grow up to 'supermassive.' One theory is that the seed black holes were formed from supermassive stars. These exotic stars would be very short lived as it is only the photons generated from its heat that will keep it from collapsing under its gravity. Over a couple million years though, the star will cool and start to collapse. As it does, according to the new research, perturbations of the gases inside the star will cause clumps to form and grow, eventually collapsing into a pair of black holes. The black holes will then orbit each other for a time, before merging into a single, larger black hole.
Currently this work is all theoretical, but it may be possible to experimentally confirm it. As the twin black holes revolve about each other, they would produce gravitational waves, as described by General Relativity. These waves would still be visible at the edge of the Universe to the proper detectors. Of course, if this theory is confirmed and solves one mystery, it will likely create another.
Source: California Institute of Technology
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Happy Birthday 3DMark!
What were you doing in 1998? Did you have a new Windows 98 machine running DirectX 6? If you did, did you happen to benchmark it with the newly released 3DMark99 benchmark?
Fifteen years ago, the first 3DMark benchmark was released. Since then Futuremark has released eleven more versions of 3DMark, to push our machines to their limits. To celebrate the anniversary, the company is holding a contest. Vote for your favorite 3DMark release and you could win a limited edition 3DMark Fire Strike monster statue. Late to the game or just cannot remember the older benchmarks? Each version is available for download (if not supported) on the Futuremark website. Or you can check out one of our 3DMark articles: Futuremark 3DMark Vantage Review; 3DMark 11 Performance Review; 3DMark (2013) Review.
Source: Futuremark
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Using Light to Draw In a Liquid
There is a very good chance that we are all familiar with light being used to draw on a solid surface, as this is done in LCD screens. What we are not so familiar with though is drawing in a liquid with light, likely because it has never been accomplished before. Researchers at the University of Helsinki however, have successfully created a solution that will change in appearance, when exposed to light.
When first mixed into water or some alcohols, the new photosensitive polymer does not dissolve, and blocks light from passing through it. Shining a 365 nm laser on it though changes the polymer chain, causing it to dissolve into the solution, and become transparent. This effect can last for hours, depending on variables such as the concentration of the solution.
Exactly what this discovery may lead to is hard to guess at this point. A liquid display would be pretty cool though.
Source: University of Helsinki
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ECS Expands Durathon Technology to Include Triple Density PCB
ECS introduced its Durathon Technology as a way to deliver the highest quality components to consumers through innovation and testing. The current trio of tools that are part of Durathon are Extreme Temperature Resistance, 1.5K Marathon Testing, and Superior Solid Capacitors. ECS has now added Triple Density PCB to help guard against moisture and humidity damage in its products. This is accomplished through the use of bi-directional splitting glass fabric, which offers three times the humidity protection of normal glass fabric. The denser PCB material also helps to protect against higher temperatures.
Source: ECS
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PowerColor Announces R9 290 OC
PowerColor continues to roll out new video cards based on the latest GPUs from AMD with the R9 290 OC. The card is built using the Hawaii GPU which uses the GCN architecture and boasts 2560 stream processors. The core speed is factory overclocked to 975MHz and it is paired with 4GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1250MHz. It also takes advantage of AMD TrueAudio technology, making it "the first discrete GPU featuring programmable audio pipeline, delivering a unique audio user experience on PCs." Users are given DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort connection options.
Source: Press Release
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Controlling Light with a Single Atom
Switches surround us as without them rooms would be dark and electronics could not be turned on. While this abundance makes them easy to forget, switches are very important tools that are needed in many situations. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have recently created a light switch consisting of a single atom, which could have potential with quantum communication.
Most people think of fiber optic cables as a means to carry optical signals over great distances, but with the proper modification, they can also be made into a bottle resonator. These resonators trap light by having it run in circles around its circumference, and getting the light in or out of the resonator is as easy as bringing it near a fiber optic cable. The process of the light jumping to the resonator is very sensitive, as the researchers discovered, as touching a single rubidium atom to the resonator prevents any light from entering it, or leaving it to enter another cable.
While this single-atom switch can definitely be used like a classical light switch, it can also be made into a quantum mechanical light switch. By putting the rubidium atom into a superposition so that it is both touching and not touching the resonator, the position of the light will also enter a superposition. This ability could thus be used for quantum information and communication purposes without relying on the rare machinery found only in laboratories.
Source: Vienna University of Technology
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Seagate's New 2TB Hard Drive is a Mere 9.5mm Thin
Seagate, one of the leaders in all things storage, has a pretty exciting announcement today for laptop and game console owners. The company unveiled its new 2.5" Spinpoint M9T from its Samsung HDD division, which is a 9.5mm thin 2TB hard drive. It's also available in a 1.5TB capacity, and either way you look at it, this is the thinnest hard drive in either size. Plenty of devices are set up for 9.5mm hard drives, but before you couldn't really go over 1TB. Now that's a thing of the past, and it's especially good for anyone looking to pick up a PlayStation 4 (or PS3) as it's limited to 9.5mm drives. Each Spintpoint M9T drive runs on the SATA 6Gbps interface and is packed with Seagate's NoiseGuard and SilentSeek technologies for the quietest operation possible.
The Samsung Spinpoint M9T is already available in the M3 and P3 external drives, and will be soon as a standalone. The 2TB is priced at $129, while the 1.5TB's price isn't known just yet.
Source: Business Wire
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Synaptic Transistor Created
Try as we might to build and upgrade better computers and components, the most advanced and capable computer in existence is the human brain. With billions of synapses with various connections sending signals to each other, the brain is a highly efficient and parallel machine no computer can match. Naturally though, when told something is better than what you have, you try to match it, and that is what researchers at Harvard University are working on as they develop a synaptic transistor.
Though it may be hard to imagine that every memory and thought you have had exists just as a network of neurons, that does appear to be the case. New experiences can cause new connections to form between neurons, and as the experiences are repeated, those connections are strengthened so signals can travel faster along them. In the typical transistor, the connections are static, so to emulate the brain, the Harvard researchers have developed a transistor with adaptable connections. The device is comprised of a nickelate semiconductor between two platinum electrodes, next to some ionic liquid. By applying an electric field to the liquid, ions are driven into the nickelate, changing its conductance and altering the connection between the electrodes.
The current device is just a proof of concept for the synaptic transistor, but the researchers already have an idea of how to improve its performance. By moving the ionic liquid closer to the device, the transistor should be able to respond faster, so the researchers are looking to work with some microfluidics experts to achieve this greater speed.
Source: Harvard University
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HGST Starts Shipping 6 TB Hard Drives
More is better, is that not how it goes? Well, HGST, a Western Digital subsidiary, has started shipping its new 6 TB Ultrastar He 6 hard drive. This is not available to the average consumer though, as the drive only ships to huge data centers, such as Netflix, Cern, Code42 and the like. However, we might see the technology used slowly make its way into home user drives.
What makes this drive special is that instead of having atmospheric air inside the drive, HGST used helium due to its very low density. This reduces drag on the spinning disks, which lowers the mechanical power needed to drive the motor. The 6 TB hard drive has seven platters locked in a hermetically sealed enclosure. The drive manages some impressive power savings with a 23 percent lower idle power consumption compared to a 3.5 inch 4 TB hard drive with five platters and filled with regular air, 49 percent better watts per TB, runs cooler and is up to 30 percent quieter.
Source: MaximumPC
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New Technique for Connecting to Graphene
For people and technologies alike, good connections are important as a bad connection can cause problems. Perhaps graphene best exemplifies this as it the material's edge, where the connections are, that determines its electrical properties. Researchers at the City College of New York have recently achieved a new kind of connection to graphene, which could prove crucial to its future use.
Graphene is an atomic-thick sheet of carbon with special electrical properties, which can be disrupted by external forces and fields. Attaching a three dimensional connector to this two dimensional material can cause such disruption, and has been proving a challenge to using graphene in technology. The New York researchers however were able to create a one dimensional connection to graphene, which had been sandwiched between layers of boron nitrite. By etching away the boron nitrite, the researchers were able to expose just the edge of the graphene, which they then evaporated metal onto, to make the connection.
When measured, the contact resistance came in at 100 ohms per micrometer, which is less than that of contacts attached to the top surface of graphene. Though graphene is the material used in this study, the technique could be applied to other 2D layered materials, including boron nitride and topological insulators.
Source: City College of New York
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