OCC TECH NEWS
November 25, 2009
November 24, 2009
By now we're all familiar with the processing power potential available with Nvidia's CUDA enabled GeForce and ION GPUs. One area that really benefits from the parallel processing is video processing and muvee has announced that version 8 of its Reveal movie making software now offers up to eight times faster processing using CUDA. Using muvee Reveal, users can create great looking videos by uploading videos and photographs, choosing music accompaniment and choosing a style and letting the software automatically select the best scenes and synchronize the video to the the beat of the music. Now users with CUDA-enabled graphics processors can see their creations render up to 8 times faster. muvee Reveal version 8 is now available online for $79.99 or just can download it and try it free for 15 days.
A vice president at IBM has recently confirmed that development has ended for the Cell processor. The chip, which was featured in the Playstation 3, didn't live up to the commercial hype but has nonetheless been important. The processor is featured in the RoadRunner supercomputer, and proved that heterogeneous multiprocessors could be successful. IBM was the first to bring this type of processor, featuring different cores on the same chip, but Intel and AMD have offerings planned for the future. The Intel Larrabee features similar concepts to the Cell, but differences in memory structure make it slightly easier to program for. However, writing any code to fully take advantage of the many cores that are featured on todays processors is difficult on any chip.
The two companies will be giving their best effort up until CES to deliver one of the fastest solid state drives on the market to date. With Symwave making exceptional silicon parts, including a USB 3.0 controller, and OCZ producing their flash-based storage products that deliver information at the upmost speeds, it should be interesting what the two separate entities are able to come up with. With the new solid state drive, OCZ claims that speeds are greater than ever seen before, and that there are also many power saving features along with low CPU utilization that is brought along with the drive. Coming with USB 3.0, the new product will not be limited by connectivity speeds, but only by how fast it is able to deliver information dependening on the flash-based storage. Both companies will be showing off the new solid state drive at CES individually, but each claim fairly good speed increases over previously manufactured drives that have been on the market.
Asus has recently launched three new cards for their 5000 series lineup, the EAH5970/G/2DIS/2GD5, the EAH5750 FORMULA/2DI/1GD5 and finally, the EAH5770/2DI/1GD5. The EAH5970 and the EAH5770 are equipped with Asus Voltage Tweak Technology, which enables the user to boost GPU voltages using SmartDoctor for a raise in performance up to 31%! Both EAH5750 Formula and EAH5770 feature very efficient coolers, plus Asus Xtreme Design solutions for a reliable high quality product. The three cards feature all 5000 series technologies like Eyefinity and support for DX11. For more specifications please check the three images in the bottom of this article. Voltage Tweak allows the user to boost the voltage of the GPU for a raise in the Core clock and Memory clock. The EAH5970 reported a 31% score increase in 3DMark Vantage Extreme using Voltage Tweak. As you can see you can get that performance boost very easily. Both the EAH5750 Formula and the EAH5770 have improved cooling solutions from their reference counterparts. While the EAH5750 Formula uses an aerodynamic cooler and a heatsink with Micro Surface Treatment, the EAH5770 features a tuning-fork shaped heatsink for higher heat dissipation surface area while being 15dB quieter than the reference one. This means both cards run cooler and more stable with good headroom for overclocking, something that both of them have already proven they are good at.
November 23, 2009
Earlier last year, the Sony Connect store closed down due to customers going elsewhere for DRM-free music files as well as other reasons. This in turn left the company without an online music store. Later however, it opened MusicPass for its portable music players and kept other online access points for other products open. With its PlayStation console, it currently has the PlayStation Network, and with its other variety of online stores, it is easy to see how users can get easily confused on where to go for their files and media. Sony is however considering the thought of opening up one storefront area online for consumers to purchase and download all of their media files, codenamed for now as the Sony Online Service. This new online shop should encompass all of the different areas of the company, including the Sony Ericsson phone, Walkman music players, Bravia televisions, and even its PlayStation video game consoles. It is expected that most users of the PlayStation network will not migrate over to the new service easily after being so adapted to the current system, but the new idea should make buyable media that much more easier to those people who continue to use along with support Sony and their products.
The first worm for the iPhone simply Rickrolled the user, but attempts since then haven't been so nice. The attacks are able to take place because the user hasn't changed the default password on their jailbroken phone, as users who don't jailbreak aren't affected by any of these attacks. The attack is once again SSH based, and once on the phone changes the root password. The only way to get rid of the worm at this point is to wipe the phone. The worm looks through your SMS database, and some versions are said to be able to upload that database to the creators. In addition, accessing an unnamed Dutch bank will lead users to a fake site where the hackers can steal the login information.
November 22, 2009
Two complaints have surfaced against Apple from people who had their repair claims denied by Apple techs. Two different users reported that Apple denied their repairs because the computers contained smoking residue. Apple refused to work on these computers as they were ruled to be an OSHA violation. Both Macs were covered under the Applecare warranty program, but neither of them were fixed. One user was able to clean his computer with compressed air, while the other appears to be up a creek without a paddle. There is no mention of smoke damage voiding the users warranty in the Applecare contract.
The latest version of GPU-Z, 0.3.7 is now available. Updates in this version include full support for the ATI Radeon HD 5970 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 video cards, the option to show if a card is compatible with CUDA, PhysX, OpenCL and DirectX Compute, and enhanced accuracy of ATI GPU load monitoring. This new release also has the ability to show the amount of video memory in use for NVIDIA graphics card users, along with other various fixes and updates. GPU-Z 0.3.7 can be downloaded for free here.
Intel's LGA-1156 socket is due to get some new additions early next year including dual-core variants and on-die graphics. These new members of the 1156 family will need a new home: the Intel H57 Express chipset which enables support for on-die graphics.
MSI has unveiled pictures and features of its first H57 offering, the H57M-ED65 mATX motherboard. It features a 10-phase VRM to keep the CPU fed with power and MSI's signature DrMOS heatsinks. This board has no PCI slots and contains two PCIe x16 slots and two PCIe x1 slots instead. Eight SATA 3Gbps SATA ports are available (two are from an extra storage controller) and one legacy IDE connector. The board features an array of video connectors supplied by Intel's Flexible Display technology (on-die graphics) including DVI, VGA, HDMI and Display Port. Other connectivity ports such as USB, FireWire, eSATA, Gigabit Ethernet and 8-channel audio are located on the back panel. Enthusiasts are also catered for with the MSI OC Genie and on-board power/reset buttons. I'd expect to see this board in MSI's H57 line-up in Q1 2010.
Thanks to TechSweden.org for the pictures of MSI's new motherboard.
November 21, 2009
The California Energy Commission has passed a new energy standard to apply to all televisions that will need to be followed fully by 2013. The regulation targets all televisions under 58 inches, and requires a 33 percent decrease in energy consumption by 2011, and 49 percent by 2013. The move to LED back lighting by LCD manufacturers has already put them on track to meet these new regulations. However, the more power hungry Plasma television may have a much tougher time meeting these requirements. Panasonic unveiled its NeoPDP technology at CES last year, which would allow for one third the energy use of older models.
November 20, 2009
With other programs available such as Defraggler , MyDefrag, along with the Windows built-in defragging program, it is hard to choose what application to use to speed up a traditional hard drive. Auslogics also has a product out however for free, called Auslogics Disk Defrag, which has just been updated to version three. In the new version, Windows 7’s superbar progress indicator is fully supported, as well as the ability to free p space before a defrag begins. The program comes in both an installable package and a portable one, and can be installed on basically any storage medium that is large enough. Target files can also be defragged by themselves or a full system optimization can be done if chosen, with intelligent system file placement being an option. Included in the Auslogics Disk Defrag program is a new optimization feature that the company recommends to run around once a week, and though it takes longer than a normal defrag would, it supposedly helps drives health and performance even more. The updated version of the program can be found and downloaded from many internet websites, including here.
November 19, 2009
While it has been talked about for some time since the release of the Google Chrome browser, the Chrome operating system has not been heard about much until now. Google is just today revealing its Chrome operating system to the general public, though no release time or much information at all is being brought forward, besides a possible completion of the project sometime last next year. Awkwardly enough, the operating system runs mainly on a cloud system, with the Google browser being the main interface that users access everything from, including email to word documents. Even regular hard drives will not be supported, and only solid state drives will make it on the list of storage mediums that can be used. Hardware wise, the search engine company is limiting what hardware the new OS will run on, though since it will be open source, it will not be long before mass amounts of different processors, video cards, and sound cards are supported by code edits, though x86 architecture and ARM CPUs are being supported initially. The demo was run on an ASUS Eee PC, even though Google will be selling its own approved hardware when the operating system comes to the masses. Flash is being heavily used throughout the new operating system; however Microsoft Silverlight was not discussed much at all at the unveiling.
NVIDIA's Senior PR Manager Brian Burke has uploaded the first picture of a working GF100 video card on the company's Facebook page. For those of you in the dark, GF100 is the codename for the first GeForce GPU based on NVIDIA's Fermi architecture. The card is running Unigine Corp's DX 11 "Heaven" benchmark on a Dell monitor. It seems as though NVIDIA is trying to reassure consumers that Fermi cards are on track for release early next year in light of last month's revelation that the Fermi Card used in Jen-Hsun Huang's presentation was a mock-up. Whatever stage of development Fermi is in, I think NVIDIA should be concerned with the recent launch of ATI's top-end behemoth, the 5970.
NVIDIA has unveiled its newest driver, GeForce 195.55. This new driver is NVIDIA's first driver to support the GT 240 video card and GPU acceleration of HD videos in Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta, in line with the recently released ATI Catalyst 9.11. SLI support for new games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands and FIFA Soccer 10 is also included in conjunction with many minor fixes. You may download the NVIDIA GeForce 195.55 WHQL-candidate drivers for Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP here.
ATI has released the latest version of Catalyst drivers, version 9.11. The new release is compatible with the ATI Radeon HD 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 series of video cards. Catalyst 9.11 brings support for hardware acceleration of H.246 videos in Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta and enhanced conversion of high quality content to a lower resolution (by ATI Video Converter), along with numerous fixes in Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. The release notes for ATI Catalyst 9.11 are available here and you can download the driver from AMD's website here.
November 18, 2009
Patriot Memory today announced the PS-100 series, a new line of solid state drives targeted at consumers looking for the high-performance and reliability of a SSD at an affordable price.
"Our PS-100 is a great option for consumers that want all the reliability and performance of an SSD, but are looking for aggressive pricing," say Eric Ackerson, Patriot's Director of Marketing. "We are excited about getting this product into the market just in time for the holiday season, and with capacities from 32GB to 256GB, the PS-100 family brings improved system performance and longevity with a broad range of capacities and price points."
The PS-100 drives are based on a 2.5” form factor and utilize a 64MB cache and boast power consumption of 5.3W when operating, and .5W when in standby mode. Performance numbers for the PS-100 show sequential read speeds of up to 210MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 150MB/s. While Patriot has said the new drives will be available in time for the upcoming holiday season, specific dates and pricing were not disclosed.
Pandemic Studios, the game developer purchased by EA 2 years ago, will be shutting its doors. This is the result of EA's plan to lay off 1500 people to cut costs. About 200 people will lose their jobs from this closure, with about 25 people being transferred to other studios. Pandemic was started by former Activision Blizzard employees in 1997, and produced games such as Mercenaries and Full Spectrum Warrior. Its last game, Saboteur, will be released next month.
November 17, 2009
Antec today announced the TPQ-1200, the latest addition to its TruePower Quattro line of high-performance power supplies. The TPQ-1200 is Antec’s first 1200-watt model and the first to feature Antec’s new PowerCache technology. With PowerCache, the TPQ-1200 provides an extra power reserve through a high-performance capacitor to ensure an extra margin of stability during even the most sudden changes in system demand. The TPQ-1200 also boasts 80 PLUS Silver certification, meaning the unit is at least 85% efficient at a wide range of operating loads. The unit also comes with Advanced Hybrid Cable Management, Antec's modular cable system that reduces cable clutter and helps improve performance by keeping all necessary cables hardwired. It also features six +12V output circuits to spread power evenly throughout the system, DC to DC voltage regulator modules and high-quality Japanese brand capacitors. Antec backs the TPQ-1200 with a five-year warranty and you should be able to find the unit now at a MSRP of $299.99US.
The original Tempest computer case has been one of NZXT's best sellers and now the company is announcing an upgraded version called the NZXT Tempest EVO. While keeping the good cooling performance of its predecessor, the Tempest EVO sports four 120mm fans with resdegned blades that deliver more air and lower noise levels. The upgrade keeps the bottom-mounted PSU design and offers better airflow and separation of the heat from the CPU. Although it's a mid-tower chassis, the new case focuses on expandability with support for motherboards up the E-ATX size and compatibility with newer high-end graphics cards. The interior of the case is painted black in the upgraded version and comes with room for up to 8 hard drives. You'll also find cable management features, room for water cooling and cutouts on the motherboard tray from easy heatsink unstallation and removal. NZXT is offering the Tempest EVO at a suggested retail price of $99.99US with immediate availability
OCZ Technology, manufacturer of computer parts has officially announced their first 3.5” Colossus Solid State Disks. The new drives will come in capacities of 120 GB, 250 GB, 500 GB and 1 TB, will use MLC NAND flash technology with an internal RAID 0 architecture and 128 MB of Cache. It will have an aluminium casing, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, read and write speeds of up to 260 MB/s and a 1.5 million hour mean time between failures (MTBF). It comes backed by a 3 Year warranty and dedicated technical support from OCZ themselves. It can be found for $437.99 for the 120 GB variant, while the 1 TB variant has yet to be listed and no exact RRPs by OCZ has been announced. “The new Colossus Series is designed to boost desktop and workstation performance and is for high power users that put a premium on speed, reliability and maximum storage capacity.”
Just today, the popular Linux operating system that follows alongside Ubuntu and openSUSE, Fedora, has been updated to version 12. With the update come many things, such as improved HD video codecs, Moblin support, improved webcam support, support for Intel BIOS-RAID, more support for Intel hardware, a new Dracut booting system, spanning desktop support, and various other optimizations. KDE has been updated to version 4.3.2, and the Linux kernel has also been brought up to 2.6.31, along with GNOME 2.28 desktop environments with the up-to-date release. With the new editions of Fedora, as well as openSUSE and Ubuntu, users have many options in what Linux operating system they want to use on their personal home computers, or even business environments.
|
Latest Articles
Latest Forum Topics
RSS Feed
