iXBT Labs - Computer Hardware in Detail

Platform

Video

Multimedia

Mobile

Other

News Archive


 « Previous Day News Archive Next Day » 

Headlines


Soltek announces Qbic Mania SFF barebone series on EQ3901

AMD updates processor roadmap

BenQ unveils DW1620 Pro DVD recorder

Celeron D 345 3.06 GHz: for sale without hype

How to make your PATA hard drive hot

ATI Mobility Radeon X300 and X800: new mobile graphics for PCI Express standard

Dell Inspiron 9200: a new DTR notebook

DVD Cruiser 16: a novelty from Alera Technologies

Amacom introduces 100 GB Flip2disk and Iodisk solutions



Soltek announces Qbic Mania SFF barebone series on EQ3901

This might be interesting to both fans of SFF barebones in general, and to those Soltek fans, in particular. The company made "cosmetic" changes to its QBIC EQ3901 series and named it "Qbic Mania":

  • 330x215x200 mm size
  • Front panel: 2 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5", 2 x USB 2.0/1.1, 1 x Mic-In, 1 x Line-Out, 1 x IEEE1394a, 1 x S/PDIF
  • Back panel: 2 x Serial, 1 x Parallel, 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse, 4 x USB 2.0/1.1, 1 x Gigabit 10/100/1000 LAN, 1 x IEEE1394a, 1 x Line-In, 1 x Front-Out, 1 x Front Surround-Out, 1 x Center-Subwoofer-Out, 1 x Rear Surround-Out
  • 300 W PSU
  • SL-B9D-FGR motherboard, VIA K8T800 Pro + VT8237 chipset, AMD Socket 939 CPU, 1 GHz Hyper Transport FSB, 2 x 184-pin DDR DIMM, up to 2 GB unbuffered non-ECC DDR 400/333/266; 1 x AGP 8X/4X, 1 x PCI, 2 x ATA133/100/66 IDE, 2 x Serial ATA

As for the Qbic Mania naming policy, model names are compiled like described below.

For example, EQ-3501-MA-R-30-LA stands for:

  • E(I) – Excellent Qbic or Ideal Qbic, the former has advanced features, the latter — basic features
  • Q – Qbic series
  • 3 (2) – 2 (1) x 5.25" bays, 1 x external 3.5"
  • 8 (7/6/5/4) – CPU socket:
    • 8 – K8
    • 7 – K7
    • 6 – P3/C3 (most likely, P-III)
    • 5 – Intel 775
    • 4 – P4 (Socket 478)
  • System generation
  • MA – Mania, in all model names
  • Front panel color:
    • D – black
    • B – blue
    • R – red
    • Y – yellow
  • PSU:
    • 20 = 200 W
    • 25 = 250 W
    • 30 = 300 W
  • Front panel type
    • LN – no LED window
    • LA – LED window

By the way, the classic barebone model is in our lab now, so a complete review will be available in the nearest future.

AMD updates processor roadmap

After the announcement of Mobile Sempron 3000+ AMD updated its official processor roadmap. The San Diego core appears in H1 2005 to serve in Athlon 64 FX, "usual" Athlon 64 (Socket 939).

In general, the company is rather serious about transition to 90 nm, as AMD Opteron for 1-8 way systems (SOI), AMD Athlon MP for 1-2 way servers and workstations (non-SOI) will be almost the only 130 nm solutions that might exist up to 2006 depending on the market demand. In the desktop segment 130 nm process will be used for AMD Sempron (non-SOI) and only until H2. Also note that newer 130 nm SOI Semprons will be based on Pàlermo core.

Athlon 64 (130 nm, SOI) will also live until H2 or even less, given the insufficient demand.

BenQ unveils DW1620 Pro DVD recorder

BenQ officially announced its new 16x DVD recorder, DW1620 Pro, supporting DVD+R9 media. Continuing DW1620 series, DW1620 Pro offers higher dual-layer DVD media recording speed (4x) and supports Write Right technology.


The DW1620 Pro is bundled with Disc Doctor utility and Nero 6 software.

BenQ DW1620 Pro:

  • Records:
    • DVD+R Double Layer: 4x
    • DVD+R: 16x
    • DVD+RW: 4x
    • DVD-R: 16x
    • DVD-RW: 4x
    • CD-R: 40x
    • CD-RW: 24x
  • Reads:
    • 16x DVD
    • 40x CD

    Celeron D 345 3.06 GHz: for sale without hype

    According to the Japanese source, without much hype Intel launched its new Celeron D 345 processor with 3.06 GHz clock rate. Actually you can already purchase it at Akihabara.


    Celeron D 345 is the fastest value processor at the moment. It will be produced for both LGA775, and Socket 478 form-factors. Besides, unlike the recently announced Pentium 4 3.80 GHz, the company will also launch Celeron D 345J supporting NX (Execute Disable Bit).

    The novelty is made using 90nm process, supports 533 MHz FSB and features 256 KB L2. At Akihabara it costs ¥15,000 ($145).

    Source: PC Watch

    How to make your PATA hard drive hot

    As you might know, I-O Data produces a wide range of devices, from flash media to LCD monitors and optical drives. Perhaps, you have heard of I-O Data from this company. This time Japanese "hot shots" went further and now several Asian online stores offer this interesting adapter named NAKA-HDRM/5 (for ¥6,800 or $66).


    To an older PATA hard drive this novelty adds such "elite" feature, as "hot swap" that has previously been available only in rather expensive SCSI drives. These days Serial ATA brings hot swapping to masses, so I doubt NAKA-HDRM/5 will gain much popularity, but it will find its exotic niche for sure.


    The adapter bundle includes a case and necessary cabling that, assembled together, looks like this:


    Source: PC Web

    ATI Mobility Radeon X300 and X800: new mobile graphics for PCI Express standard

    In addition to the recently announced X600 the Canadian company released two more mobile PCI Express solutions supporting DirectX 9.

    X300 is positioned for thin and low-power notebooks and supports advanced power management.

    • 4 pixel pipelines
    • PowerPlay power management adapted for PCI Express
    • LRTC and LCD-EE image improving
    • Automatic Display Configuration
    • HyperMemory for dedicating RAM for GPU needs

    This solution is expected to become mainstream among other external mobile GPUs.

    X800, in its turn, is designed for mobile workstations and "hardcore gamers".

    • 12 pixel pipelines
    • 6 vertex pipelines
    • 3Dc
    • 256-bit GDDR3
    • VideoShader

    The company already ships new GPUs to notebook builders, so we should expect the first systems in December naturally.

    Dell Inspiron 9200: a new DTR notebook

    Dell Japan launched sales of the new Inspiron 9200 DTR notebook that features 17" display and built-in TV tuner.


    The basic configuration includes Pentium M 725 1.6 GHz, Intel 855PM chipset, 128 MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700 graphics (up to 1920x1200). With 60 GB HDD and 256 MB RAM the notebook costs ¥190,050 ($1840).

    Inspiron 9200 features 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x IEEE1394 port, Ethernet, VGA (D-Sub), DVI, S-Video, S/PDIF interfaces, PCMCIA Type2 and SecureDigital slots. Sized 394x288x415 mm, it weighs 3.4 kg. The battery provides energy for up to 3.4 hours of operation.

    Source: PC Watch

    DVD Cruiser 16: a novelty from Alera Technologies

    After its Cruiser Digital Photo Copy solution, Alera Technologies introduced another novelty — DVD Cruiser 16 external DVD burner.


    The drive supports 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R and 2.4x DVD+R9 recording speeds. Other features include 48x CD-R, 24x CD-RW burning, 16x DVD, 48x CD reading. The novelty has USB 2.0 interface.

    Amacom introduces 100 GB Flip2disk and Iodisk solutions

    Amacom Technologies introduced to the European market its new Flip2disk and IOdisk external storage devices with capacities up to 100 GB.


    These USB 2.0 novelties are positioned as universal storage for digital music, photos, etc.

     « Previous Day News Archive Next Day » 

    Write a comment below. No registration needed!




blog comments powered by Disqus

  Most Popular Reviews More    RSS  

AMD Phenom II X4 955, Phenom II X4 960T, Phenom II X6 1075T, and Intel Pentium G2120, Core i3-3220, Core i5-3330 Processors

Comparing old, cheap solutions from AMD with new, budget offerings from Intel.
February 1, 2013 · Processor Roundups

Inno3D GeForce GTX 670 iChill, Inno3D GeForce GTX 660 Ti Graphics Cards

A couple of mid-range adapters with original cooling systems.
January 30, 2013 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1

An external X-Fi solution in tests.
September 9, 2008 · Sound Cards

AMD FX-8350 Processor

The first worthwhile Piledriver CPU.
September 11, 2012 · Processors: AMD

Consumed Power, Energy Consumption: Ivy Bridge vs. Sandy Bridge

Trying out the new method.
September 18, 2012 · Processors: Intel
  Latest Reviews More    RSS  

i3DSpeed, September 2013

Retested all graphics cards with the new drivers.
Oct 18, 2013 · 3Digests

i3DSpeed, August 2013

Added new benchmarks: BioShock Infinite and Metro: Last Light.
Sep 06, 2013 · 3Digests

i3DSpeed, July 2013

Added the test results of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 and AMD Radeon HD 7730.
Aug 05, 2013 · 3Digests

Gainward GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB Golden Sample Graphics Card

An excellent hybrid of GeForce GTX 650 Ti and GeForce GTX 660.
Jun 24, 2013 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs

i3DSpeed, May 2013

Added the test results of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770/780.
Jun 03, 2013 · 3Digests
  Latest News More    RSS  

Platform  ·  Video  ·  Multimedia  ·  Mobile  ·  Other  ||  About us & Privacy policy  ·  Twitter  ·  Facebook


Copyright © Byrds Research & Publishing, Ltd., 1997–2011. All rights reserved.