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Ultrabooks: Intel Knows What's Good For You
Why the ultrabook isn't the best path forward
AMD Announces Q4 2011 Results
AMD has announced "mostly positive" results for their latest quarter.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB Super Overclock - Last Hurrah for Fermi
Is this going to be the last hurrah for the Fermi architecture and can the overclocked...

Microsoft Integrating Kinect Sensor Into Laptop Computers

Subject: Mobile | January 27, 2012 - 03:48 PM |
Tagged: portable, PC, microsoft, laptop, kinect

At CES 2012, Microsoft announced that they would be releasing a Kinect sensor and SDK (software development kit) for Windows.  In that same vien, the company is now exploring the idea of integrating a Kinect sensor directly into laptop computers.

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Not the actual prototype.  Just a mock up I concocted.

The crew over at The Daily managed to get their hands on two such prototype laptops with integrated Kinect sensors.  They state tha the two machines resemble Asus laptops that are running Windows 8; however, upon closer inspection, the laptops have removed the typical 1.3 megapixel webcam that is common in today's notebooks and have instead placed a Kinect sensor bar at the top of the display instead.  They claim that a source within Microsoft has confirmed that the two laptops are indeed official prototypes.

Unfortunately, there aren't many details beyond that.  Whether Microsoft will forge ahead with this idea and license out the Kinect technology to laptop makers or if the prototypes will go into some bunker somewhere and never see the light of day still remains a mystery.  Currently at $250 (to end users, OEMs could likely cut a much better deal), it is not likely that we will see a proliferation of Kinect sensors into all manner of displays for notebooks, TVs, and desktops.  If Microsoft could get the cost of the technology down far enough that manufacturers could justify adding it, it could definitely catch on.  In the end, I don't think we'll be seeing Kinect powered computers any time soon, but in the future when the hardware is cheaper and there are Kinect for Windows applications readily available, it could happen.  Would you like to see Kinect in your laptop (insert Xzibit meme here) or desktop monitor, and if so what would you like to do with it?

Source: The Daily

XFX has a PSU for those looking to power multiple GPUs

Subject: Graphics Cards | January 27, 2012 - 03:13 PM |
Tagged: PSU, kilowatt, 80 gold, modular psu, xfx, ProSeries 1250W

It seems a short while ago that we joked about 240V 10 amp plugs soon being required for high end machines which pull more than 1000W at peak usage.  Now most major vendors offer at least one unit which can provide 1kW of power or more, and thankfully doesn't need you to hire an electrician to install it.  XFX, who more often produce the video cards which require powering, has released a new PSU called the ProSeries 1250W.   It is rated as an 80 PLUS Gold PSU,  which testing showed to be accurate at high loads but not so much at lower power loads.  As with most PSUs in this class it has as single 12V rail which is capable of delivering an impressive 104 amps.  If you need this kind of wattage to power your next dream machine, check out TechPowerUp's review.

TPU psu_front_top.jpg

"XFX is well known for their graphic cards but for quite some time they are also into the PSU market with two series called classic and Pro. Today we will test the flagship unit of the Pro series which with 1250W capacity will easily power even the most demanding systems."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

 

Source: TechPowerUp

Gelid wants you to join the side of the DarkForce

Subject: Cases and Cooling | January 27, 2012 - 01:48 PM |
Tagged: Gelid, darkforce

Gelid has expanded into the enclosure business with the mid sized DarkForce, 530x207x505mm (20.9x8.1x19.9") which might not give you as much space as other cases recently arriving on the market but for most PC builds it should be spacious enough.  The drive cage is well done, with the ability to hold 2.5" SSDs in addition to 3.5" HDDs, and for those with extra long graphics cards the cage can be completely removed from the case.   The motherboard tray has a cut out to allow easier access to your heatsink mount and there is a matching space to mount a fan on the door to help cool an area that is a dead spot in most cases.  At $120 it not expensive for a case of its size, but that is not the only reason Legit Reviews had such a positive reaction to the case.

LR_Gelid-frontprofile.jpg

"The DARKFORCE mid-tower comes into a saturated field of mid-towers made for PC gamers and enthusiasts. Gelid Solution will need to take a unique approach to find ways to distinguish itself from the competitions at the entry price of $120 in the US market. After an overview of the specifications, it looks like Gelid Solutions has used its past experiences to put something a little different into this product..."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

 

Source: Legit Reviews

Intel pays good money for bad software

Subject: General Tech | January 27, 2012 - 12:37 PM |
Tagged: RealPlayer, Intel, patents

The idea that RealPlayer lives on to this day may not sit well with some techs who remember the times where the product degenerated into a virus that would some times let you play movies.  However, not only were they still in business yesterday, Intel paid them $120 million to acquire the rights to 90 patents and 170 patent applications as well as a codec which seems to have been their main project focus recently.  There must be some value there, it might look like Intel occasionally tosses money around but that is deceiving as Intel did not become as profitable as it is through inauspicious purchases.  According to the story at The Register, this deal is not the death knell for RealNetworks, they retain rights to some patents and seem to be looking forward to working with Intel in the future.  It will be interesting to see if this cash can help RealNetworks regain at least part of what used to be a large share of the online video codec market.

RealPlayer.png

"In the latest maneuver of the tech industry's ongoing patent wars, Intel has struck a $120m deal with RealNetworks to purchase 190 patents and 170 patent applications, along with what both companies define as "next-generation video codec software"."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

 

Source: The Register

HD7970 from ASUS and XFX, who offers the most impressive card?

Subject: Graphics Cards | January 26, 2012 - 05:12 PM |
Tagged: xfx, GCN, asus, southern islands, radeon, pcie 3.0, dx 11.1, amd, 7970, 28nm

[H]ard|OCP recently came out with two HD7970 reviews, one made by ASUS and one by XFX.  The ASUS Radeon HD 7970 is currently one of the least expensive choices at $559 and runs at the default speeds of 925MHz and 1375MHz.  It does ship with ASUS' GPU Tweak utility to allow for easy overclocking if you wish to push the card like [H] did, in their case to 1125MHz on the GPU core, and 1695MHz GDDR5.

The other choice is the XFX R7970 Black Edition which is a custom card, overclocked to 1GHz on the core and 1425MHz GDDR5 but costs $50 more than the offering from ASUS.  At the out of the box speeds, XFX's card both draws less energy and runs much cooler and was silent compared to the ASUS offering.  Even after [H] overclocked the card to 1125MHz core and 1575MHz GDDR5, which was the maximum possible using AMD's Overdrive, it was almost silent when running full out. 

The decision seems to be how much it is worth to you to have a quiet card and if you are willing to find a way to overclock beyond what the Catalyst Control Center can manage.

H_asus7970.jpg

"We have the new XFX R7970 Black Edition video card to evaluate, which is XFX's current flagship Radeon HD 7970 based video card. With a custom PCB, custom hardware components and custom cooling fan, will it take us to new heights in overclocking, or leave us wishing we had just purchased a "reference" card?"

Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:

Graphics Cards

 

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Podcast #186 - Gigabyte GTX 580 Super OC, Intel and AMD Results, Kepler Rumors and more!

Subject: Editorial | January 26, 2012 - 05:10 PM |
Tagged: video, podcast, kepler, Intel, HD 7970, GTX 580, gigabyte, amd

PC Perspective Podcast #186 - 01/26/2012

Join us this week as we talk about a Gigabyte GTX 580 Super Overclock card, how much money Intel and AMD made (or didn't make), Kepler rumors, HD 7970 stock and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

  • iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
  • RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
  • MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, and Allyn Malvantano

This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!

Program length: 1:02:56

Program Schedule:

  1. Introduction
  2. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
  3. http://pcper.com/podcast
  4. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
  5. Puget Systems Genesis I Sandy Bridge-E Workstation Review
  6. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB Super Overclock - Last Hurrah for Fermi
  7. Intel Reports Massive Q4 and Yearly Earnings
  8. AMD Announces Q4 2011 Results
  9. Are AMD's Southern Islands about to be swamped by a Kepler tidal wave?
  10. LaCie's Little Big Disk now comes in Thunderbolt
  11. AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB Cards In Stock - For Now
  12. AMD Catalyst 12.1 and AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview drivers
  13. Email from Scott
  14. Email from Branden
  15. Email from abouechot an Intel SRT "hack"
  16. Voicemail about memory qualification on X79
  17. Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
    1. Ryan: MAINGEAR EPIC T1000 Thermal Cooling Solution
    2. Jeremy: Remember MakerBot and RepRap?  Well, 3D printing keeps getting better
    1. Josh: I love memory.
    2. Allyn: Logitech c920 WIIIDE SCREEEEN
  18. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
  19. http://pcper.com/podcast   
  20. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
  21. Closing

Source: PC Perspective

The SSD powered Oaktrail tablet from Kupa is a trooper

Subject: Mobile | January 26, 2012 - 03:47 PM |
Tagged: tablet, ssd, oaktrail, mobile, Kupa X11, atom Z670, atom

You might not expect to see a tablet being examined at the SSD Review, except for the Kupa X11 which contains a 64 or 128GB mSSD drive.  As the Atom and Oaktrail pairing are perhaps not the fastest mobile chips on the block, the initial testing tried to determine if that chipset would prove to be a bottleneck.  They tested the Kingspec 128GB SSD which was included in the tablet as well as a Renice X3 120GB ‘SandForce Driven’ SSD and a Kingston mS100 SSD.  The Kingspec was the slowest choice of the three and even though the other two did perform more impressively Oaktrail did indeed prove to limit the performance of the drives.  On the other hand, it is still faster than a HDD and the SSD helps to extend the life of this 1366 x 768 10.1″ tablet to around 10 hours.  Also worth noting is that this tablet runs Xin7 Professional, not a trimmed down OS, and will fully support Win8.

ssdr_kupa.jpg

"Just prior to CES we had received an e-mail from a reader who had spoken of a company called Kupa, a tablet manufacturer who, as the reader had stated, “wasn’t afraid to experiment outside the box”. it took us all of two seconds to get to the Kupa Website and discover the Kupa X11, a tablet PC with all the power of a full size computer to include a Intel Atom Z670 1.5Ghz Oaktrail platform, 2GB RAM and your choice of 64 or 128GB SSD. Needless to say, we were impressed."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

 

Source: SSD Review

There is an elegance in simplicity; Cooler Master's QuickFire Keyboard

Subject: General Tech | January 26, 2012 - 01:31 PM |
Tagged: quickfire rapid, mechanical keyboard, input, gaming, cooler master

If you prefer keyboards with built in fans, sirens, LEDs and a key count somewhere north of 200 then you might as well skip this review.  Cooler Master not only eschews extra function keys on the QuickFire Rapid gaming keyboard, they've also dropped the numpad.  The keyboard features CHERRY MX blue switches which are intended more for typists, with the red and black varieties more for usage by gamers.  Sporting a quick response time in USB mode and true n-key rollover in PS/2 mode, you won't find yourself dying because the game didn't register a keystroke.  If you are interested in a mechanical gaming keyboard and don't mind paying $80 then check out the review at Techgage.  If you want to shop around then check Scott's reivews on out front page.

TG_cmqfr_01.jpg

"CM's QuickFire Rapid gaming keyboard is unlike any other. It's not flashy, it doesn't have a bunch of bright LEDs, it has no macro support and... it has no numpad. So what is it that sets it apart? Its sturdy design and use of CHERRY MX blue mechanical key switches. Let's see if those features make up for what's lacking."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

 

Source: Techgage

Frankenmalware, an antiviral boss fight

Subject: General Tech | January 26, 2012 - 12:47 PM |
Tagged: fud, Malware, Virus, Worm

Back in the ancient days of gaming and repeated in Skyrim's Draugr your enemies started out simple, a simple zombie or leever becoming a Infected Death Lord Zombie of Fiery Devastation.  Another way to look at is a supervillain origin story where exposure to something that should have killed them instead grants them powers beyond mere mortals.  There may have also been a dozen decent SciFi novels written about the topic (well, probably more like a gross) ... however you look at it, computer worms are mutating!

It seems that systems infected with a worm are being hit by certain viruses which inadvertently infect the worm, creating malware with twice the command and control servers, twice the backdoors and twice the methods to spread its self.  The Register cites a specific example of the Rimecud worm which steals passwords becoming infected by Virtob which creates a backdoor on a system.  At this moment BitDefender has found that 0.4% of the infected systems they detected had an infected worm present, a number you can expect to grow. 

Be careful out there!

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"Viruses are accidentally infecting worms on victims’ computers, creating super-powered strains of hybrid software nasties.

The monster malware spreads quicker than before, screws up systems worse than ever, and exposes private data in a way not even envisioned by the original virus writers.

A study by antivirus outfit BitDefender found 40,000 such "Frankenmalware samples" in a study of 10 million infected files in early January, or 0.4 per cent of malware strains sampled. These cybercrime chimeras pose a greater risk to infected users than standard malware, the Romanian antivirus firm warns."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

 

Source: The Register

Raspberry Pi Linux Computer Will Have Fast GPU For The Price

Subject: General Tech, Systems | January 26, 2012 - 11:45 AM |
Tagged: Raspberry Pi, linux, htpc, hd, gpu, broadcom

As reported earlier, the Raspberry Pi is a small computer intended to run Linux and is made to be portable and able to be powered by USB. The small board is based on the Broadcom BCM2835 chipset, which includes an ARM 11 CPU and a dual core VideoCore IV graphics card co processor. The Raspberry Pi further includes connections for HDMI, component output, and USB ports. The higher tier $35 model will further feature an Ethernet jack and twice the RAM (512 MB).

Raspberry Pi.jpg

The Raspberry Pi will soon be available for sale and if the company behind the device- The Raspberry Pi Foundation- is to be believed, the GPU in the little Linux computer will pack quite a punch for its size (and cost). In a recent Digital Foundry interview with Raspberry Pi Executive Director Eben Upton reported on by Eurogamer, Upton made several claims about the Raspberry Pi’s graphics capabilities. He explained that the Broadcom BCM2835’s VideoCore IV GPU is a tile mode architecture that has been configured with an emphasis on shader performance. Upton said “it does very well on compute-intensive benchmarks, and should double iPhone 4S performance across a range of content."

The comparison to the iPhone 4S relates to his further claims that the Raspberry Pi GPU is the best on the market and can best both the iPhone 4S’s PowerVR (Imagination Technologies) based graphics and even the mighty Tegra 2 in fill rate performance. Rather large claims for sure; however, we do have some independent indication that his claims may not be wholly inflated. The coders behind XBMC, open source media center software that allows users to play a variety of media formats, have demonstrated their XBMC software running on the Raspberry Pi. They showed the Raspberry Pi playing a 1080p blu ray movie at a smooth frame rate thanks to the Broadcom GPU being capable of 1080p 30 FPS H.264 hardware accelerated decoding. You can see the Raspberry Pi in action in the video below.

The little Raspberry Pi is starting to look quite promising for HTPC (and even light gaming) use, especially for the price!  At $25 and $35 respectively, the Raspberry Pi should see quite the following in the modding, enthusiast, and education community.

Source: Eurogamer

Ultrabooks: Intel Knows What's Good For You

Author:
Date: January 26, 2012
Subject: Editorial
Manufacturer:
Tagged: ultrabook, Intel, CES

Introduction, Thin Is Flimsy

ultrabooked1.jpg

If there was anything that can be pointed to as “the” thing CES was about, it’s the ultrabook. These thin and portable laptops were presented by Intel with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. Intel’s message is clear. Ultrabooks are here, and you’re going to like them.

Such a highly coordinated effort on the part of Intel is unusual. Sure, they’ve pushed industry standards before. But the company’s efforts have usually been focused on a specific technology, like USB. The last time Intel put serious effort into trying to change how system builders constructed their systems was when Intel pushed for the BTX form factor. 

BTX was an attempt to address problems the company was having with its Pentium 4 processors, which tended to consume a lot of power and therefor run hot. The push for the ultrabook is also an attempt in address a (perceived) problem. In this case the issue at hand is portability, both in in terms physical system size and battery endurance. 

Intel announced some interesting new smartphone and tablet reference designs at CES 2012. These are signs that the company is making headway in this area. But the products based on those reference designs aren’t out yet, and it will probably take a few years for Intel to gain significant market share even if it does manage to offer x86 processors that can beat ARM in smartphones and tablets. In the meantime, Intel needs to provide slim, responsive and portable systems that can distract consumers from tablets.

So we have the ultrabook. 

Continue reading out editorial on Ultrabook and the pros and cons associated with their push into the market!!

New Xbox (Next Box / Xbox 720) To Be Six Times More Powerful Than Xbox 360

Subject: General Tech | January 26, 2012 - 01:34 AM |
Tagged: xbox 720, xbox, rumors, radeon hd 6670, next box, microsoft, gpu, gaming, console, amd

Microsoft's Xbox 360 is coming up on seven years old, and the company has sold more than 66 million units. Naturally, as graphics techniques and software has advanced, the aging hardware is starting to hold back game developers from implementing higher detail settings and larger maps with more players. Both developers and gamers are clamoring for the next Xbox to be released so that they can advance to the next stage of gaming. PCs are way ahead in the graphics quality race as the hardware has greatly advanced in the interim, and console gamers and game developers are starting to take notice and want for the features. Bring on the Next Box (or Xbox 720 or whatever it will eventually be called). With updated hardware, it should give console gamers some new (to them) shiny graphics to look at and smoother frame rates at the same quality settings we have now.

Xbox Logo.jpg

According to IGN, sources have confirmed that the next generation gaming console will have six times the processing power of the current generation Xbox 360. This increase in processing power is due in part to the updated graphics card that is akin to the AMD Radeon HD 6670 GPU, which while only a budget/HTPC card on the PC side of things, is a nice step up from the Xbox 360's ATI Xenos graphics chip.

The card will support 1080p, DirectX11, multiple display outputs, and 3D. Unfortunately, pricing for the upcoming gaming system was not revealed nor were any other details about the specific underlying hardware. If you are in the mood for more speculation on what might be inside the next Xbox, Tech Radar has compiled a list of the various gossip around the net about the console.

Source: IGN

AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB Cards In Stock - For Now

Subject: Graphics Cards | January 25, 2012 - 07:42 PM |
Tagged: amd, radeon, HD 7970, 7970, southern islands, tahiti

If you have been looking for a Radeon HD 7970 graphics card since its official release on January 9th and our review on December 22nd, then you better hurry up, as Newegg is showing the cards as in stock as of today.

7970stock.jpg

There are three listed, all at stock clock speeds:

Also, Amazon.com lists a few but only one as currently in stock (with 8 remaining!!).  In reality, there aren't that many people interested in buying $550+ graphics cards but those of you that want the absolute fastest single GPU card on the planet, this is it.

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You can check out review of the HD 7970 reference card right here!!

Source: Newegg

Multimonitor, multidimensional gaming

Subject: General Tech | January 25, 2012 - 05:16 PM |
Tagged: gaming, eyefinity, nvidia surround, 3d display

The Tech Report tackles multi-monitor gaming in 3D with their latest technique of measuring graphical performance.  Frame time seems to be very much present with some hardware when you attempt to play with this type of display but it seems the overall effect on your enjoyment is variable.  When testing Deus Ex they found less instances of high frame time than with Battlefield 3 but found they noticed the impact more on Deus Ex than BF3.  There are a lot of variables to account for in this overview, not only the differences between AMD and NVIDIA's implementation of the technology but also the differences between active shutter and passive glasses.  Read on to see if you should wait for Microsoft to include 3D support in DirectX or if you can dive in right away.

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"Join us as we slip on the funny glasses to assess the current state of stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PC."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

 

Source: The Tech Report

AMD Catalyst 12.1 and AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview drivers

Subject: Graphics Cards | January 25, 2012 - 03:21 PM |
Tagged: Catalyst 12.1, catalyst, amd radeon

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Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.1 driver:

AMD HD3D technology support enhancement

  • Enables support for AMD HD3D technology in conjunction with AMD CrossFireX configurations
  • Delivers a new Stereo 3D mode over HDMI 1.4a connections - 1080p at 30Hz is now enabled on supported displays.

AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center enhancements

  • Application Profiles 
    • AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver enables users to create per application profiles to individually control 3D and CrossFireX settings for Direct3D applications
    • Please be sure to select the “Restore Factory Defaults” option under the Catalyst Control Center Preferences menu before using the new application profiles feature – this ensures there are no compatibility issues between previous drivers and the new AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver with regards to application profiles

image002.jpg

AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center enhancements – Video UI improvements

  • AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver includes user interface enhancements to simply adjustment of video color and video quality controls

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.1 Linux driver:

  • SLED 11 SP2 early look support
  • Ubuntu 11.10 production level support

If you already have the 12.1 Preview Driver installed and are looking for something new to test then grab the AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview:  http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst122Previewdriver.aspx . 

That is unless you already managed to find and purchase a Radeon HD 7900 users should keep using the 8.921.2 RC11 driver found here since the 12.2 preview does not support the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series.

If you do upgrade you can check out the new AMD Eyefinity 2.1 which allows you to choose from a larger set of resolutions when running AMD Eyefinity.

In addition you can also take advantage of:

  • Dynamic Configuration Changes:  Switching between different display configurations will occur automatically when physically plugging/un-plugging displays
  • HydraVision enhancements:  The Windows Task bar can now be moved and resized based on users preference
  • Profile Manager improvements:  Increased support for Display Groups (including 5x1) and Extended configurations within the Profile Manager

Happy gaming!

Source: AMD

S3 Chrome lives on the 600 Series using VIA's soon to be released VT3456

Subject: General Tech | January 25, 2012 - 02:15 PM |
Tagged: s3, Chrome 600, VIA, VT3456, VX11

The Phoronix Test Suite is a wonderful source of unintentionally released test data, as system engineers working with processors not yet available on the market use it to test and sometimes accidentally post the results to OpenBenchmark.org.  For instance Phoronix noticed a Chrome 600 system, powered by a VIA Nano 1.2GHz Quad-Core processor, a motherboard called a VIA VT3456 VT8611BMB and S3 Chrome 600 graphics. It may have been a long time since you heard of S3 producing hardware but there is confirmation that they are still alive and have at least some customers.

VIA_Nano.jpg

"The S3 Chrome 600 series / VIA VT3456 (VX11) still hasn't been officially announced, but here are some benchmarks of the forthcoming chipset from a VIA Nano quad-core system."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

 

Source: Phoronix

AMD Announces Q4 2011 Results

Author:
Date: January 25, 2012
Subject: Editorial
Manufacturer: AMD
Tagged: trinity, Results, Q4 2012, Q4, llano, HD 7970, HD 7000, Finances, bulldozer, brazos, amd, 2012

Q4-2012 In a Nutshell

Tis the reporting season.  Yes, that time of year when some of the major players in the computing world get together and tell us all how well they did this past quarter.  Ok, so they do not necessarily get together to announce results, but they sure time them that way.  Today was AMD’s turn (and Apple’s), and the results were not nearly as positive as what Intel had to offer a few days ago.

800px-AMD_Logo.svg_.png

Q4 2011 was flat in terms of revenue as compared to Q3.  The company had gross revenue of $1.69 billion and had a net income loss of $177 million.  That net income is not necessarily a bad result, but more on that later.  Margins rose to 46%, which is still a far cry from Intel’s 65% for the past quarter.  Gross revenue was up 2% from last year, which considering the marketplace and Intel’s dominance, is a solid win for AMD.

When we start talking about non-GAAP results, AMD had a net income of $138 million.  The difference between those two numbers (a loss vs. a nice profit) is that the loss came from one time writeoffs.  AMD has lowered its stake in GLOBALFOUNDRIES to 8.8%, and in so doing incurred a hefty charge.  This is not so much money lost as it is lost value in the company.

Click to read the rest of this article here.

SilverStone's tiny HTPC enclosure can hide full sized components

Subject: Systems | January 24, 2012 - 04:03 PM |
Tagged: htpc, Silverstone, SST-GD06B

Some HTPC builders envision their machine handling more than just media streaming; why not play WoW or KOTOR on your TV?  This can lead to some frustration if they chose an HTPC case that aesthetically fits their living room but cannot physically fit the components they need to drive the machine.  SilverStone has met their desire with the SST-GD06B, which resembles a stereo component yet at 17.3" (W) x 5.9" (H) x 13.4" (D) it is big enough to give you a lot more choice in the components you can utilize.  For instance it will take an ATX PSU of up to 5.9" in length, five internal drives and a CPU cooler of up to 120mm if you leave out the optical drive.  You can have up to 5 expansion cards in the case, with four of those slots able to accept a card up to 11" in length.  The only real fault that Benchmark Reviews found was the lack of IR support and a bundled remote control.

BMR_SST-GD06B_Angle.JPG

"With these smaller cases, space is always an issue. This is becoming increasingly critical as high definition content becomes ubiquitous. Not only do we want to view our new content in more pixels than our brain can even process, but we want to upscale the old content, or view it in 3D, and do it upside down, right side up and inside out. While you're at it give me dish, cable, recording, streaming, email, gaming and the kitchen sink. Oh...and it needs to fit in a single box on my entertainment system. Well, SilverStone is at least trying to provide the box, the rest is up to you. They've expanded on past models to fit even more powerful toys inside your HTPC. Read on to see how model SST-GD06B crams the performance you demand and puts it on your shelf."

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

 

Source: Benchmark Reviews

A portable display for your PC or Mac, Lenovo's USB powered ThinkVision

Subject: Displays | January 24, 2012 - 02:00 PM |
Tagged: thinkvision, portable, monitor, Lenovo, display

You may remember Matt's review of the Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 portable monitor from back in November, but if not it is time for a refresher from Legit Reviews.  It is a 14", 1366x768 display that uses a dual USB 2.0 connection, one for power and one to drive the display, so it gives you a very portable second screen for your laptop.  One discovery that Legit Reviews happened upon was Apple support; by grabbing drivers from DisplayLink, the company which designed the ThinkVision, you can use the ThinkVision on your MacBook.  Check out their full review here.

LR_lt1421_monitor.jpg

"The Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 portable monitor is a great solution for someone that needs an additional monitor on the go. With an online price of $190.67 shipped it is not something you go out and by on a whim, but is affordable for those that need it. After installing the drivers, using the the ThinkVision LT1421 was as simple as plugging the monitor into a laptop with the two USB 2.0 cables and propping it up with its photo frame stand. You can then dial-in the display to look the very best by tilting the display to the desired angle and picking the right brightness level of the 16 available..."

Here are some more Display articles from around the web:

Displays

 

Source: Legit Reviews

Intel is thinking even bigger and likely leveraging their McAfee assets

Subject: General Tech | January 24, 2012 - 01:24 PM |
Tagged: Intel, QLogic, purchase, Infiniband, HPC

Intel blew tiny $125 million piece of their record breaking quarterly income to purchase QLogic's InfiniBand business, which gives them access to a networking technology significantly faster than Ethernet.  InfiniBand is what is referred to as a switched fabric technology which allows multiple switches to connect to multiple hosts or data stores as opposed to the more point to point single broadcast which current ethernet based networks use.

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That may look familiar to some, but not as a network technology; it matches the communications architecture behind PCIe and SATA.  As we have seen, the speed difference between parallel connections and serial is quite impressive and InfiniBand's fastest implementation is currently capable of transferring 25 Gbit/s per lane.  That is significantly faster than the 1Gbit/s per lane PCIe 3.0 can provide which is why some current implementations of InfiniBand are used in High Performance Computing (HPC) applications.  InfiniBand also offers incredibly low latency of between 100 to 200 nanoseconds, depending on the implementation.

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Getting a hold of this interconnect technology gives Intel a huge boost in their capabilities of creating high performance networking technologies.  They have been looking for a way to grow in that area and push out Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) manufactures from the market, replacing those chips with low power Xeons or future Intel chips.  This would open up an entirely new market for Intel, who could see their already impressive growth increase significantly.  Intel could become even more attractive to customers by taking advantage of the benefits of owning McAfee by placing virus/malware protection directly onto their switches.   We have already seen evidence of one project along these lines at IDF 2011 when they announced the DeepSAFE project which is software that operates below the OS level, providing what they refer to as "hardware-assisted" security.  With that OS-agnostic approach it would be possible to run the security software on a network switch or on an HPC interconnect. That could give Intel not only the fastest interconnect technology but also the most secure.

When discussing this with The Inquirer, Intel's representative Kirk Skaugen stated that this purchase will help Intel design and produce an exaflop level supercomputer by 2018.  It is unlikely that this is Intel's only goal, with the purchase of Fulcrum Microsystems this summer, a company which designs ASICs for Ethernet switches and routers that run at 10Gbit and 40Gbit, they are well on their way to designing network switches for HPC applications.  The Register ponders what this could mean for companies which have used InfiniBand technology in their products.  Will they be snatched up by a networking company like Cisco, could AMD pick them up and provide competition in this industry or will they consider offering themselves to Intel the best alternative?  We will be keeping an eye on this as it will not only develop into the next generation of networking technology but could also drive the successor to PCIe.

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"The high-performance networking market just got a whole lot more interesting, with Intel shelling out $125m to acquire the InfiniBand switch and adapter product lines from upstart QLogic.

Intel has made no secret that it wants to bolster its Data Center and Connected Systems business by getting network equipment providers to use Xeon processors inside of their networking gear – that Intel division posted $10.1bn in revenues in 2011, and the company wants to break $20bn in the next five years."

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Source: The Register
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