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USB 3.0 Specification Now Available

Fujitsu to Release New Line of Enterprise Hard Disk Drives

Intel Officially Launches Core i7 Processors

AMD Phenom II: Naming, Initial Lineup and Products for 2009

Kodak Takes Action Against Samsung and LG For Patent Infringement



Daily Mailbox

  • HTPC Howto @ OCInside
  • Win a Corsair 620HX Power Supply from Bjorn3D
  • Far Cry 2 PC Review @ TestFreaks
  • Seagate Free Agent Go 320GB External Hard Drive Review @ Bigbruin
  • [Tech ARP] 2 BIOS Features added/updated to the BIOS Optimization Guide
  • ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition @ Techgage
  • MotorStorm Pacific Rift for Sony PS3 Review @ I4U
  • Cooler Master ATCS 840 Computer Case RC-840 @ Benchmark Reviews
  • Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M/A Radeon HD 4850 Videocard Review @ PCSTATS
  • BFG GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE (216SP) 896MB Video Card Review @ Hardware Canucks
  • MSI R4850 review @ Neoseeker
  • Shocking Problems That Riddle The Xbox 360 @ TweakTown
  • AMD: Shanghai CPU Presentation in Berlin @ InsideHW
  • Evercool Booster Cool Wrist Pad Review @ Rbmods
  • ATI HD4850 Roundup with non-reference cards in Metku.net

USB 3.0 Specification Now Available

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced the completion of the USB 3.0 specification, the technical map for device manufacturers to deliver SuperSpeed USB technology to the market.

SuperSpeed USB brings power and performance enhancements to the popular USB standard while offering backward compatibility with previous generations of USB devices. The new standard delivers data transfer rates up to ten times faster than Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) with optimized power efficiency.

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group, comprised of Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, ST-NXP Wireless and Texas Instruments, developed the USB 3.0 specification. The group now has transitioned the specification's management to the USB Implemented Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is now accepting adopters of the USB 3.0 specification, which has been finalized at the 1.0 level. To download both the specification and adopter agreement, visit http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/.

It is anticipated that initial SuperSpeed USB discrete controllers will appear in the second half of 2009 and consumer products will appear in 2010. with adoption continuing throughout 2010. The first SuperSpeed USB devices will likely include data-storage devices such as flash drives, external hard drives, digital music players and digital cameras.

Source: USB Implementers Forum


Fujitsu to Release New Line of Enterprise Hard Disk Drives

Fujitsu Limited yesterday announced the development of two new series in its line of 2.5" enterprise hard disk drives (HDDs), the 10,025-rpm MBD2 RC series and 15,000-rpm MBE2 RC series, both of which provide standard support for the 6Gb/s SAS interface. The MBD2 RC series will be released in the first quarter of 2009 calendar year, and the MBE2 RC series will be available in the second quarter.



Compared to current 2.5" models, the new series improve performance by 60% in terms of internal transfer speeds. They are also more environmentally friendly, with halogen-free design - a first for Fujitsu's enterprise HDDs - and industry-leading power efficiency. Moreover, the series boast perpendicular magnetic recording, which enables increased recording density and allows the MBD2 series to have capacities up to 300 GB, noteworthy for 2.5" HDDs. The new models are well-suited to a range of applications, from servers to high-capacity storage systems.

Environmental benefits include the low power consumption of 3.4 W at idle for the MBD2 RC series and 4.1 W for the MBE2 RC series. This represents an improvement of as much as 28% over current 2.5" models, and as much as 74% over current 3.5" models, contributing to lower energy costs for customers.

Source: Fujitsu Limited


Intel Officially Launches Core i7 Processors

Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel Core i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.



Intel's unique Turbo Boost Technology accelerates performance to match a computer user's needs and workloads. Through a sophisticated on-die power control unit and using new "power gate" transistors based on Intel's advanced 45 nanometer, high-k metal gate manufacturing process, Turbo Boost automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single- and multi-threaded applications to boost performance, without increasing power consumption. The Core i7 also has the latest Intel power-saving technologies, allowing desktops to go into sleep states formerly reserved for Intel-based notebooks.



The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel "Extreme" platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bites in and out of the processor with Intel Quickpath Technology. Designed with Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology, the processor also allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at once. As a result, the Core i7 quad-core processor delivers 8-threaded performance.



The Intel Core i7 processor also offers improved performance for 3D games - over 40 percent faster than previous Intel high-performance processors on both the 3DMark Vantage CPU physics and AI tests, popular industry computer benchmarks that measure gaming performance. The Extreme Edition uses 8 threads to run games with advanced artificial intelligence and physics to make games act and feel real.

The Intel Core i7 processors and Intel X58 Express Chipset-based Intel Desktop Board DX58SO Extreme Series are for sale immediately from several computer manufacturers online and in retail stores, as well as a boxed retail product via channel online sales.

The Core i7 processor is the first member of the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture family; server and mobile product versions will be in production later. Each Core i7 processor features an 8 MB level 3 cache and three channels of DDR3-1066 memory. Intel's top performance processor, the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition, also removes overspeed protection, allowing to further increase the chip's speed.

Product information and pricing:

Processor Intel Core i7-965
Extreme Edition
Intel Core i7-940 Intel Core i7-920
Clock Speed (GHz) 3.20 2.93 2.66
Price $999 $562 $284
QPI Speed (GT/sec) 6.4 4.8 4.8
Cache 8 MB
Memory Speed Support DDR3-1066
TDP 130W
Processor Generation New Intel Core Microarchitecture (Nehalem) 45nm

Source: Intel Corporation

AMD Phenom II: Naming, Initial Lineup and Products for 2009

The information that AMD was going to replace the current 4-digit CPU names with 5-digit ones proved to be not true. Just opposite, the future Phenom II processors will have 3-digit names.

The senior Phenom II X4 800/900 lineups will include quad-core products operating at clock rates up to 3GHz and featuring 6MB or 8MB L2+L3 cache, respectively. These series will debut in January with Socket AM2+ Phenom II X4 940 (3GHz) and Phenom II X4 920 (2.8GHz). In February the series will be expanded with Socket AM3 Phenom II X4 925, 910, 810, 805 processors with DDR2/3 support.



45nm triple-core solutions will be introduced in the Phenom II X3 700 series starting with Phenom II X3 720 (2.8GHz, 7.5MB cache) and 710 (2.6GHz).



In the more affordable Athlon series AMD will release the following lineups: X4 600 (quad-core, no L3, up to 2.7GHz, to be released in April), X3 400 (triple-core, no L3, up to 2.8GHz, to be released in April) and X2 400 (dual-core, no L3, up to 2.8GHz, to be released in June).



AMD also plans to provide rich overclocking features, at least in senior lineups. With the Advanced Clock Calibration technology Phenom II X4 is expected to achieve clock rates of 4GHz and higher. Will this make it a rival to Nehalem? Test results will show.



Source: Chiphell


Kodak Takes Action Against Samsung and LG For Patent Infringement

Eastman Kodak Company announced yesterday that it has filed complaints against Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other related entities for infringement of Kodak patents.

The Kodak actions specifically allege that Samsung and LG camera phones infringe Kodak digital camera patents. The patents in question cover technology related to image capture, compression and data storage and a method for previewing motion images.

Kodak filed against Samsung and LG in theUnited States District Court for the Western District of New York, as well as in the U.S. International Trade Commission. Kodak's District Court complaints request compensation for damages resulting from the companies' infringement, and both the District Court and ITC actions seek injunctions prohibiting Samsung and LG from further importation and sale of products cited in the complaints. Kodak did not disclose the amount of damages it is pursuing.

"Kodak has a long history of innovation and we have invested many millions of dollars developing our digital camera technology," said Laura G. Quatela, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "We've held discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue and have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement. Consequently, we must take this legal action in order to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and existing licensees of Kodak digital camera patents."

Kodak has licensed its imaging patents to several leading technology companies including: MEI/Panasonic, Motorola, Nokia, Olympus, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson and others.

Source: Eastman Kodak Company


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