TechConnect Magazine

Techconnect Review Round-up 8/2/10

CPU & Motherboard

- Intel Core i5 661 Dual Core LGA 1156 Processor @ ThinkComputers
- Phenom II X4 for $99: Unlocking the X2 555 BE @ PureOC
- Foxconn Inferno Katana P55 Motherboard @ Ninjalane
- Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard @ Guru3D

Storage

- Team Group Xtreem-G1 120GB Solid State Disk @ TweakTown
- Travel Stix - Pet Care and Travel for Dogs USB Flash Drive @ Legit Reviews
- Seagate FreeAgent DockStar @ Test Freaks

Graphics cards

- ASUS ENGT240 @ Overclockers Club
- EVGA Geforce GTX275 CO-OP PhysX Edition
@ Benchmark Reviews
@ X-bit labs
- MSI N240GT-MD512 OC/D5 @ Bjorn3d
- Axle Geforce G210 512MB GDDR3 64bit Video Card @ Hi Tech Legion

Enclosures & PSUs

- Ultra X4 1050 Watt Power Supply @ TechwareLabs
- Ultra X4 1600 Watt Full Modular Power Supply @ TweakTown
- Antec Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case @ Legit Reviews
- Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Case @ ThinkComputers
- APC BackUPS BE700G @ TechRadar

Displays

- Samsung PN58B850 58 inch Plasma TV @ Tweaknews

Cooling and modding

- Spire TherMax Pro CPU Cooler @ Tech-Reviews
- Dynatron G950 Genius CPU Cooler @ ProClockers
- Noctua NF-P14 FLX Case Fan @ Verdis Reviews

Peripherals

- Microsoft Explorer Wireless Rechargeable Mouse @ Tweaknews

PCs & Macs

- 7 Intel CULV Notebooks Fight it Out! @ HardwareZone
- ASRock ION 330HT NetTop HTPC @ Futurelooks

Photo and video cameras

- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX550 @ TrustedReviews
- Panasonic HDC-HS60 and Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 @ TechRadar

Sound

- Focal Chorus 826W LE speakers and Sennheiser PX 210 BT @ TechRadar

Other

- Boogie Bug AimBPad Gaming Surface Video Review @ eTeknix
- Sony Ericsson Naite J105 and Samsung SCX-4623F - Laser All-in-One @ TrustedReviews

Intel officially intros the Itanium 9300 'Tukwila' processors

Intel has now launched its first Itanium series CPUs based on the Tukwila architecture, the Itanium 9300 family. Aimed to be used for demanding workloads like database, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning applications, the new chips are manufactured on 65nm technology, have up to four cores and eight threads, two DDR3 memory controllers, 4.8 GT/s QPI, second-generation Intel Virtualization Technology, a maximum of 30MB of cache (6MB L3 cache per core), Demand Base Switching for lower power consumption and Turbo Boost.

"Intel is committed to delivering a new era of mission-critical computing, and we are delighted 80 percent of Global 100 companies have chosen Itanium-based servers for their most demanding workloads," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president Intel Architecture Group and general manager Data Center Group. "Intel is continuing to drive the economics of Moore's Law into mission-critical computing with today's Itanium 9300 processor announcement, more than doubling performance for our customers once again."

The Itanium 9300 series processors (detailed below) are currently shipping, with OEM systems based on them being expected to become available within 90 days.

Canon unveils the EOS Rebel T2i 18MP DSLR

Canon has today announced the EOS Rebel T2i, its newest DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera, which features a 18 megapixel CMOS sensor, can do 3.7 fps shooting, and record 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) @ 30 FPS video. The fresh and clean Rebel packs a Digic 4 image processor, and also comes with an ISO range of 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800), a 63-zone Dual Layer Metering System, 3.0-inch (VGA) display, auto pop-up flash, a self-cleaning sensor unit, and an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot.

"There is no question that HD video is the biggest trend in DSLR technology and because of this we are seeing the creativity of still photographers transferring to the moving image. Still photographers are using the various lenses and accessories they are already familiar with to create amazing video footage," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "Taking that HD video quality and putting it in the hands of entry-level photographers with cameras like our new EOS Rebel T2i, we are seeing a new generation of creative digital artists emerge."

The Canon EOS Rebel T2i is set to debut (in the US) early next month and cost about $800.

MSI rolling out passively-cooled GeForce GT 220

Fermi-less but hopeful, Taiwanese company MSI has constructed a new card based on the 40nm GT216 GPU, a passive-cooled GeForce GT 220. Seen below, the new model boasts 48 Processing Cores @ 1580 MHz, a GPU clock of 625 MHz, a 128-bit memory interface, and 1GB of DDR2 memory set to 810 MHz.

MSI's card also has DirectX 10.1 support, a cooling system equipped with two heatpipes, Solid State Chokes, solid capacitors, and D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs.

The N220GT-MD1GZ is listed around Europe with a price tag of 65 Euro.

Nook ebook reader to sell in B&N stores this week

Barnes & Noble stores are expected to start getting Nook ebook readers to have for sale as of Wednesday, this being the actual retail release of the dual-display device. Currently Nook is only available for ordering online and in stores, the retail arrival of the reader being postponed due to the need to fulfill orders made this past couple of months.

The in-store Nooks should be loaded up with the 1.2 firmware which was delivered over-the-air just last week to those who already own the device.

Rambus' XDR memory going mobile

Lawsuit-loving technology company Rambus has today announced Mobile XDR, its newest, and fastest memory architecture targeting mobile products. Mobile XDR is said to enable SoC platforms to have a memory bandwidth of over 17 GB/s while maintaining a low power consumption suitable for mobile use.

Rambus' offer is made up of three main components - the Mobile XDR DRAM, Mobile XDR memory controller PHY (MIO), and the Mobile XDR memory controller (MXC), and it makes use of multiple innovations like:

- Very Low-Swing Differential Signaling (VLSD) - bi-directional, ground-referenced, differential signaling technology which offers a high-performance, low-power and cost-effective solution for applications requiring extraordinary bandwidth and superior power efficiency.
- FlexClocking Architecture - utilizes asymmetric partitioning and places critical calibration and timing circuitry in the SoC interface, greatly simplifying the design of the DRAM interface.
- Advanced Power State Management (APSM) - educes memory system power and provides ultra-fast transition times between various low-power and active operating modes.

"Future mobile applications demand far higher performance and longer battery life than today's mobile products can achieve," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president of Licensing and Marketing at Rambus. "Mobile XDR memory provides the ideal solution for designers to offer leading-edge mobile content in a dramatically lower power and cost-effective manner. Uniquely, the Mobile XDR architecture delivers these benefits in SoC and DRAM devices that can be built with current manufacturing infrastructure reducing both risk and time-to-market."

The Mobile XDR memory architecture is now available for licensing so let's wait a little and see who's picking it up.

Sony presents high-speed wireless intra-connect tech

At ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) 2010 in San Francisco, Sony is showing off a new technology that enables high speed wireless data transfer within electronic devices. Aimed at replacing physical circuitry and minimizing IC use, Sony's solution uses electromagnetic waves with a frequency of 30GHz to 300GHz and 1mm antennas to deliver transfer speeds of up to 11 Gbps over a distance of 14mm. According to the Japanese company, the transfer distance could be extended to about 50mm using directivity antennas.

The adoption of wireless millimeter-wave connection is said to help increase the reliability of the products it is used for (less movable and detachable parts), and decrease the complexity of IC packages and printed circuit boards, thus enabling lower manufacturing costs.

Sony is planning to use this intra-connection technology in various devices, (like TVs, players) and to continue developing it so it can keep up with the data transfer needs of future electronics.

Samsung and Sharp settle their LCD patent feud

After some three years of lawsuits and finger pointing, South Korean company Samsung and Japanese firm Sharp have managed to bury the hatchet and sign an agreement that will settle all LCD-related patent disputes between them. The two companies have been battling since 2007, accusing each other of infringing LCD panel and module patents, with lawsuits being filed in the US, Europe, South Korea and Japan. The most recent case was kicked off two months ago by Samsung in a Delaware court.

Through their settlement, Samsung and Sharp will drop the cases they are involved in and get mutual access to the patents disputed. Ah, we love a happy ending.

MSI Big Bang Fuzion motherboard finally introduced

Month after its unveiling, the first consumer motherboard equipped with the Lucid Hydra 200 SoC, MSI's Big Bang Fuzion, has finally been officially introduced. This new board is based on the P55 chipset and features support for LGA 1156 processors, nothing but Hi-c Caps, SFCs (Super Ferrite Chokes), DrMos (8-phase power for the CPU), a SuperPipe-boasting cooling system, and the OC Genie one-button overclocking function.

The Bog Bang Fuzion also packs four DDR3-2133 memory slots, three PCI-Express slots enabling Nvidia, AMD, or Nvidia+AMD multi-GPU configurations, V-check points, APS (Active Phase Switching), ten SATA 3.0 Gbps and two eSATA ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire connectors.

The motherboard comes bundled with the QuantumWave PCIe x1 sound card supporting EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 and the OC Dashboard for easy monitoring/overclocking, and can be bought for $370.

Koolance readies the CPU-360 waterblock

This week Koolance will start shipping the CPU-360, its newest CPU waterblock which is compatible with LGA 775/1156/1366 and AM2/AM2+/AM3 chips. The nickel-plated CPU-360 measures 12.5 x 12.5 x 1.5 cm, weights 411 grams and features a copper cold plate with a brass top, an o-ring sealed impingement plate, and G 1/4" threading.

Koolance's waterblock costs $84.99 and is expected to become available on February 12.