Archive for August 2009

Windows 7 vs Vista VGA game performance

Graphics cards 1054 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

In this article we'll look into single and Multi GPU performance of both NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards in relation to games. We compare performance in-between Windows Vista and the new Windows 7 final build. Have a look and see how incredibly close performance in-between the two platforms is.

Phenom II X4 965 BE processor review

Review 567 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

AMD today launches their fastest quad-core processor to date, the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. Head on over to the link below where we'll start up our in-depth review of the Phenom II X4 965BE processor. AMD's Phenom II processor architecture is really working out well for them. It's a problem free processor series, a very value aware processor, with very decent power consumption and more importantly for AMD, yields are just top notch.

As such, today they release a processor with an all new high clock frequency, yes... 3400 MHz, and why would they you might wonder? Well because they can, plain and simple.

You can find this Guru3D article right here.

 


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Meet the Cosmos Pure (RC-1000K)

Generic News 1994 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

This reminds me very much of their black edition alright ! Have a look at what CoolerMaster is working on. It's another variety based of the Cosmos ATX chassis. This one will be called the Cosmos Pure.

Check it out, matte black coating, me likely. The chassis will be sized 266 x 598 x 628 mm, with a weight of 16.9 kg.

Air-flow in the expansion card area is guided properly by help a wind-flow tunnel. We also see several active 120mm fans, a bottom 120 mm intake, two 120 mm top exhausts and one rear 120 mm exhaust. There's room for six HDDs in a HDD drive bay (3.5")next to five 5.25" bays.

This little bugger won't be cheap though, expect a price of 249 EUR. Click on the thumbnails.

 


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Intel Sandy bridge pending release in Q4 2010

Processor 721 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Intel has scheduled the release of its 32nm Sandy Bridge processors for the fourth quarter of 2010, according to DigiTimes.

he architecture will exceed Nehalem and its condensed 32nm version, Westmere, the latter of which is set to be released in the fourth quarter of 2009. Sandy Bridge supports 4GHz clock speeds, with scalable CPUs using up to eight cores. The architecture also houses CPUs and GPUs on one die, unlike the two-die approach taken with Nehalem.

Sandy Bridge is similar in some respects to the six-core Gulftown processor, the price of which is expected to reach up to $1,500 for thousand-unit tray orders. Intel is meanwhile expected to continue shipping Nehalem-based CPUs alongside Westmere ones, indicating that the company does not intend to launch quad-core Westmeres for desktops or notebooks.


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Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 prices and specs confirmed

Processor 721 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

The new Core i3, i5 and i7 processor line-up must be Intel's worst kept secret ever.

As you guys know, upcoming quad core Lynnfield based processor will be segmented in the Core i5 and i7 naming schema. Dual-core CPUs (32nm Clarkdale) will be segmented into Core i5, Core i3 and Pentium series. The Clarkdale processors will see the light into seven models, four will be launched under the Core i5 600 series with respective clock frequencies of 3.2 to 3.46 GHz, supporting for Hyperthreading and Turbo boost. Clarkdale CPU's will have a 4MB L3 cache and a TDP of 73W. The cheapest one seems to be $176.

Core i3 500 series Core i3-540 and 530 clocked at 3.06 2.93GHz will not come with Turbo boost yet do hyper thread to 4 threads. Both will be priced at $143 $123 respectively.

I've compiled a chart with the entire new range (including Core i7) making more sense of the upcoming processor launch. And mind you that at the initial launch only a few processors will be released.

  Model LGA socket Core/Thread Clock Turbo boost L3 cache TDP Price
45nm
Bloomfield
Core i7 975 1366 4/8 3.33 3.60 8 130 999
Core i7 950 1366 4/8 3.06 3.46 8 130 562
Core i7 920 1366 4/8 2.66 2.93 8 130 284
45nm
Lynnfield
Core i7 870 1156 4/8 2.93 3.60 8 95 562
Core i7 860 1156 4/8 2.80 3.46 8 95 284
Core i 870s 1156 4/8 2.80 3.46 8 82 337
Core i5 750 1156 4/4 2.66 3.20 8 95 196
Core i5 750s 1156 4/4 2.66 3.20 8 82 259
32nm
Clarkdale
Core i5 670 1156 2/4 3.46 3.73 4 73 284
Core i5 661 1156 2/4 3.33 3.60 4 73 196
Core i5 660 1156 2/4 3.33 3.60 4 73 196
Core i5 650 1156 2/4 3.20 3.40 4 73 176
Core i5 540 1156 2/4 3.06 none 4 73 143
Core i5 530 1156 2/4 2.93 none 4 73 123
Pentium G9650 1156 2/2 2.80 none 4 73 87

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AMD CPU prices on Phenom II X4 processors

Processor 721 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

With the new Phenom II X4 965 BE introdiced today, prices always shift for the rest of the processors. Time for an overview. The Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition is now selling for roughly $205 as of today. That's $40 less than the official $245 price tag found on the official AMD CPU price list.

Looking for a supurb triple-core Phenom II CPU? The Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition sells for $129.99 (list price is $145) The cutest Phenom II cut goes to the Phenom II X2 550, which is now priced at $102.99. A tiny bit higher than the $99.99 this CPU was selling for a few weeks ago.

Top dog price and absolutely recommended is the Phenom II X4 920, the 2.8 GHz version is selling for only $159.99


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Logitech Wireless Desktop MK 700

Generic News 1994 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

You and me spend a large amount of time right smack in front of the computer, hence making it extremely important to have good hardware from reputable manufacturers, and Logitech is one of those who tend to come up with above average devices with the Logitech Wireless Desktop MK 700 mouse-and-keyboard combination being one of them.

This keyboard will come with Logitech Incurve keys that cradle your fingers for greater comfort, while the integrated LCD dashboard allows you to check out all important keyboard functions and status at a glance. As for the MX 700


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Phenom II X4 965 BE processor review test

Processors 213 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Head on over to this test where we'll start up our in-depth review of the Phenom II X4 965BE processor. The Phenom II processor architecture is really working out well for them. It's a problem free processor series, a very value aware processor, with very decent power consumption and more importantly for AMD, yields are just top notch. As such, today they release a processor with an all new high clock frequency, yes... 3400 MHz, and why would they you might wonder? Well because they can, plain and simple.

Realtek HD Audio 2.30 Driver

Download 370 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

The latest download of Realtek's HD audio driver version available for Windows XP and Vista, it runs under Windows 7 too.

The HD audio driver version for Realtek chips is available for download on our server. This download offers both the Windows XP and Vista binaries, the files contain drivers for the 32 Bit and 64 Bit versions. All Realtek HD audio chips, which are common on many motherboards and in notebooks, are supported.

Download: click here


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MSI P55 mobo with Hydra chip spotted

Mainboard 578 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

During the last week we have seen many new P55 based motherboards,  among them the new line of ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI. But check this out from MSI. It is a somewhat hidden product within the MSI product line - It is called the Big Bang,  which is a P55 motherboard with Lucid Hydra chip - which should enable multi-gpu operation of both NVIDIA and ATI based video cards on the same motherboard. 

Here at Guru3D.com we still, say .. why the heck would you want to do that anyways ? As you pay more for the Lucid chip instead of just paying for two similar cards.

Lucid is an israeli company, located at Kfar-Neter, which is developing the Hydra Chip, which is a Chip that should enable the use of NVIDIA and ATI  video cards on the same motherboard.the company holds some cooperation agreements with some of the biggest players in hardware industry, and the motherboard that we preview today is one of the first products of this  cooperations.

The Lucid Hydra chip, as mentioned before should enable the use of 2  different video cards together on the same motherboard. We have been told in the past that there will be different versions of the chip - one will enable the usage of video cards like HD4870 along with a HD4650 for example , another version will enable the usage of NVIDIA based video cards together - like a GTX260 together with 9600GT for example,  and of course one version will enable a mix of video cards -ATI video card  together with a Nvidia video card on the same motherboard. The Hydra chip is responsible for the Balance and link between the different video cards.

MSI P55 "The Big Bang" is a P55 based motherboard, the Hydra Chip is located between the CPU socket and the first/Upper PCI-Express Slot. As for now we can't tell which one of the versions of the Hydra is placed on the motherboard, and how it performs -- via iopanel.net

Click on the thumbnails.

   

 


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BFG EX-1000 Modular Power Supply

Generic News 1994 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

BFG Technologies announced the EX-1000 today, a brand new modular power supply that uses Frequency Conversion Technology in order to imitate a smaller power supply for better low load efficiency.

The new model is up to 80-percent efficient with a +5VSB efficiency. It also got an 80 PLUS Bronze rating. This is pretty impressive and places the EX-1000 above many other power supplies in terms of efficiency. You can get the EX-1000 from BFG starting today in-store at Best Buy or from their website for $199.99

If it is as good as it's 1200 Watt counterpart, this could be a classic !


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Phenom II X4 905e surfaces in Hongkong

Processor 721 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Interesting, it seems AMD slipped in another SKU (HD905EOCK4DGI), silently. In Hong Kong the Phenom II X4 905e processor surfaced in a store.

This 45nm Phenom II X4 905e is an energy-efficient model hence the E extension The Phenom II X4 905e comes with core voltage range of 0.825-1.250V and seems to have a very nice TDP of only 65W.

Other than that it's all the same, Socket AM3 and work at 2.5GHz. It features 4


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Google tests Caffeine search engine

Generic News 1994 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Google reports on its blog that its engineers have been working on the next-generation search architecture for Google's web search. The new infrastructure is codenamed "Caffeine", you can check out a preview over here if you want to give it a try. Google's Caffeine promises to be more accurate, faster, and more actual.

For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google's web search. It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits "under the hood" of Google's search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we're opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.


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EVGA P55 FTW motherboard surfaces

Mainboard 578 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

EVGA's P55 FTW based motherboard (For teh Win) has been spotted on a Chinese website (update -- who took them from Anandtech apparently). This model seems to be targeted at Core i5 as it comes with socket LGA 1156, but also has mounting holes for socket 775 coolers (very clever eVGA!). The new board adopts a 17 phase power design. Looks like the mobo comes with three BIOSes, of and the pricetag .. yeah 250 USD I'm afraid, which seems to be a far stretch for a mid-range processor motherboard series.

If I where you .. at this price range, for me it would be X58 all the way. But the board definitely looks nice though. Check out some of the photo's (click thumbnails).

   
 


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Kingston SSDNow V+ solid state disks

Storage 785 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Kingston launched Samsung based SSD's called the SSDNow V+, these 2.5" units are available in capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The 256GB model is the fastest of the pack, it features a sequential read speed of up to 220MB/s, sequential write speed of up to 180MB/s, 6,300 random 4K read IOPS and 291 random 4K write IOPS.



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Inno3D GTS 250 TwinTurbo Pro review

Review 567 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Today's tested product is the iChill GeForce GTS 250 that uses an all new updated Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo Pro cooler to provide excellent cooling at reduced sound levels. The reduced temperatures also results in more stable performance and should give you more headroom when overclocking the card.

The card we test today has that G92 GPU clocked at 756 MHz, and GDDR3 memory clocked at 2200 MHz. Next to that the card is packed with 1 GB of memory, a tiny bit pre-overclocked and comes with a wicked cooler from Arctic Cooling as it comes with twin 92mm low-noise fans on the four-heatpipe cooler which offers over 80 percent greater cooling surface area when compared to the stock cooler. The advanced cooling solution on the iChill Accelero brings down temperatures 23C while being virtually silent.

Check out this Guru3D review right here.


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More details on Core i3 and Core i5 processors

Processor 721 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

More and more details on Intel's upcoming Core i3 and i5 range surface with each day that passes by. Branding will be "simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7)."

As you guys know by now, three processors will be launched initially: Core i5 750, Core i7 860, and Core i7 870. The entire new naming schema in combo with the three different sockets (!) are becoming messy, have a look at the following table:

 

Core i3

Core i5

Core i7

Core i9

Codename

Wolfdale Yorkfield Lynnfield Clarkdale Lynnfield Bloomfield Gulftown

Process

45nm 45nm 45nm 32nm 45nm 45nm 32nm

Architecture

Core 2 Core 2 Nehalem Westmere Nehalem Nehalem Westmere

Socket (LGA)

775 775 1156 1156 1156 1366 1366

Intel chipset support

P35, P43, P45, G35, G43, G45, Q35, Q43, Q45, X38, X48 P35, P43, P45, G35, G43, G45, Q35, Q43, Q45, X38, X48 P55, P57, H55, H57, Q57 P57, H57, Q57 P55, P57, H55, H57, Q57 X58 X58

Cores / Threads

2 / 2 4 / 4 4 / 4 2 / 4 4 / 8 4 / 8 6 / 12

Hyper Threading

No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

QPI / DMI

DMI DMI DMI DMI DMI QPI QPI

Memory

Dual-channel Dual-channel Dual-channel Dual-channel Dual-channel Tri-channel Tri-channel

Turbo boost

No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

L3 cache

No No 8MB 4MB 8MB 8MB 12MB

45nm IGP

No No No Yes No No No

Availability

Now Core 2 Duo Now Core 2 Quad Q4 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Now Core i7 Q1 2010

So now you know the fundamentals. But here's an overview of what Intel has planned in the long run:

And then this chart surfaced recently, Core i5 dual-core processors with hyper-threading.

There will be some Core i5 models have their model number series beginning in the 600 series leaving the 500 series Core i3 processors behind them, it is reported that Core i3 dual-core processors range between US $123~$143, while Core i5 dual-core ones between $176~$284.

So we just learned the Westmere 32nm processors feature two cores, and HyperThreading technology enabling four logical CPUs (threads). Each core has a dedicated L2 cache of 256 KB, while a 4 MB L3 cache is shared between two cores.

What an astounding confusing stigma Intel is creating with it's over-SKUing, re-branding and three different sockets with accompanying chipsets.


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Netgear Home Theater Internet Connection Kit

Network 111 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

Netgear has just released a Home Theater Internet Connection Kit, also known as the XAVB1004. This device is targeted to those who want to hook up multiple Ethernet-enabled entertainment devices (ranging from set-top boxes, gaming consoles to Blu-ray players) to the Internet and home networks simultaneously.

This setup will require one to have a high speed powerline connection at home, where it will then have enough bandwidth to handle high-performance applications including HD video streaming, Voice over IP (VoIP), Internet gaming and large file transfers to networked devices. The kit will comprise of a Powerline AV Adapter with 4-port Ethernet Switch (XAV1004) and one Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter (XAV101). Want to go wireless in your entertainment at home while consolidating other living room appliances?

The $179.99 asked for the Netgear Home Theater Internet Connection Kit sounds a bit on the high side [Press Release].


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Cryengine 3 technology video

Games 1603 Published by Hilbert Hagedoorn 0

This content comes from the Cryengine 3 engine taken from Crytek presentation at SIGGRAPH 2009. The technique is called Light Propagation Volumes and it is used for Global Illumination and Massive Lighting, both which improve the lighting quality according to Crytek.

Massive lighting is a lighting of limited area with several of light sources (e.g. apartment indoor), according to Crytek.


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