Today
we have the latest Draft 802.11n offering from EnGenius in the form of the ESR-9710 Wireless-N Gigabit Router.
Some of you network administrators may already be familiar with EnGenius. EnGenius is well known for their long range, outdoor
wireless communications products solutions. I myself have used
EnGenius outdoor wireless receivers and have been impressed by their
price for performance ratio.
Let's do a little digging and see if this ESR-9710 has what it takes
to make demanding gamers happy.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
OCZ Expands on Gaming
DDR3 Lineup with Special Ops Urban Elite Edition
Sunnyvale,
CA—May 8, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in
innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory,
today announced the Special Ops Urban Elite DDR3 Series, available
in high-speed PC3-12800 kits featuring the high densities and
stability gamers demand. These blazing fast modules are ideal for
users taking advantage of the incredible performance of DDR3 gaming
platforms, offering the speeds, density, and reliability required
for the latest DirectX® 10 PC titles. Featuring a unique “urban”
camouflage motif heatspreader design, the DDR3 Special Ops Urban
Elite Series was designed to lend some extra style to system builds
while unleashing the performance potential of your entire gaming
platform.
“Designed to meet the unique needs of the latest memory hungry DX10
games OCZ introduces the new PC3-12800 Special Ops Urban Elite
memory modules,” said Alex Mei, CMO of the OCZ Technology Group.
“This is one set of modules that have the style to match the kit’s
exceptional performance. The new OCZ DDR3 SOE Urban Elite arms
gamers with a stunning combination of high speed and high density
for the most intense new titles.”
The PC3-12800 SOE Urban Elite Series will be available in 1GB and
2GB modules, and 2GB and 4GB dual channel kits for the high density
requirements demanded by graphic-intensive games, operating systems,
and applications. With today’s games requiring a minimum of 2GB of
system memory, the SOE Urban Elite is the ideal solution for gamers
who need high density options in addition to superior reliability
and bandwidth management combined with breakneck frequencies. These
modules offer the stability and speed to give gamers the performance
edge with a highly reliable, future-proof system that takes
advantage of all high-speed DDR3 has to offer.
All DDR3 SOE Urban Elite modules are 100% hand-tested for quality
assurance and compatibility and feature high quality XTC (Xtreme
Thermal Convection) heatspreaders for the most effective heat
dissipation. Furthermore, each OCZ SOE Urban Elite module is backed
by the industry leading OCZ Lifetime Warranty and technical support
for unparalleled peace of mind, even during the most intensive
gameplay.
For more information on the OCZ SOE Urban Elite PC3-12800 Kit,
please visit the product page
here.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
OCZ Introduces New
Additions to the Reaper HPC Series, with High Density DDR3 Kits
Featuring Incredible Speeds
Sunnyvale, CA—May 7, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader
in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory,
today announced two new Reaper HPC solutions for enthusiasts
upgrading to next generation of cutting-edge platforms. The
PC3-14400 and PC3-12800 Reaper HPC Series are now available in both
2GB and 4GB dual channel kits to meet the specific needs of
customized gaming systems or workstations, offering perfect
compatibility with the latest platforms and chipsets at the height
of DDR3 performance.
“At
OCZ we know that there is more than just one type of high end user,
and we continually expand our DDR3 offering to deliver tailored
solutions for a wide range of unique applications,” said Alex Mei,
CMO of the OCZ Technology Group. “Our latest Reaper DDR3 kits are an
ideal solution for hardcore gamers and overclockers looking for a
combination of higher performance and stability supported by
superior heat pipe based cooling.”
With the high frequencies of DDR3 comes added heat that can damage
the module’s sensitive ICs. To ensure superior stability and
performance over the entire life of the modules, the Reaper HPC
Series makes use of an innovative cooling solution to more
effectively dissipate heat produced by high-speed memory. The
thermo-conductive copper heat pipe conduit is ideal for overclocking
where every degree matters, making certain that your cutting-edge
investment will maintain its integrity throughout the toughest
gaming missions, overclocking, or intense program applications.
You can check out the details here!
NASA, Intel, SGI Plan
to 'Soup Up' Supercomputer
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA, Intel Corp., and SGI today announced
the signing of an agreement establishing intentions to collaborate
on significantly increasing the space agency's supercomputer
performance and capacity.
Under the terms of a Space Act Agreement, NASA
will work closely with Intel and SGI to increase computational
capabilities for modeling and simulation at the NASA Advanced
Supercomputing (NAS) facility at NASA's Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif.
Read more about it here.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
Windows XP SP3
Released to Web; now available on Windows Update and Microsoft
Download Center
Today Microsoft announced the release of
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to Windows Update and Microsoft
Download Center. Microsoft also resumed automatic distribution of
Windows Vista SP1. In addition,
Chris Keroack of Microsoft TechNet announced today
that
Microsoft will begin automatically
distributing Windows XP SP3 in early summer. So XP SP3 is finally
here and you can download the official release of Windows XP SP3
today!
NVIDIA introduces
Hybrid SLI® technology and the new 790a chipset
SANTA CLARA, CA—MAY 06, 2008—
PC users love the visual realism that high-performance graphics
processors give their PCs, but would rather do without the noise and
power consumption typical of modern entertainment and gaming PCs.
Starting today, however, they can have the best of both worlds,
thanks to the new NVIDIA® platforms based on the company’s Hybrid
SLI® technology. These new platforms are the foundation for a new
breed of PCs that deliver a richer visual experience while reducing
energy consumption and costs, fan noise, and even heat. The new
technology is available immediately with new NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI
and GeForce 8 Series based motherboards.
Read more here.
Intel, Samsung Electronics, TSMC Reach Agreement for 450mm Wafer
Manufacturing Transition
May 5, 2008 – Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics and TSMC today
announced they have reached agreement on the need for industry-wide
collaboration to target a transition to larger, 450mm-sized wafers
starting in 2012. The transition to larger wafers will enable
continued growth of the semiconductor industry and helps maintain a
reasonable cost structure for future integrated circuit
manufacturing and applications. The companies will cooperate with
the semiconductor industry to help ensure that all of the required
components, infrastructure and capability are developed and tested
for a pilot line by this target date.
Read more about it here.
Corsair
real-world testing demonstrates significant performance benefits of
4GB meory for gaming PCs
Fremont, CA, May 6, 2008 – Corsair®
www.corsair.com, a
worldwide leader in high performance computer and flash memory
products, announced today lab findings that show significant
increases in performance and efficiency when increasing system
memory capacity from 2GB to 4GB.
Read the full press release here.
Super Talent
Launches MLC SATA-II SSDs for Notebooks
 San
Jose, California – May 6, 2008 – Super Talent Technology, a
leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM
memory modules, today launched a new line of MasterDrive
solid state drives (SSDs) that are 100% interchangeable with
hard disk drives (HDDs), but are faster, lighter, use less
power and are far more rugged and reliable. Read
the full press release with price schedule here. |
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
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 Over the past year, we've had the pleasure of reviewing all sorts of
DDR3 memory. Our opinion was has been generally favorable for the memory
and negative about the price. Now we have an odd situation.
Patriot Memory has just sent us the fastest, default memory speed that
we've every tested here at the Club and it comes with the cheapest price
of any of the other DDR3 kits we've reviewed. I'm still trying to
find out what the catch is. Before I wake up or Patriot emails me
that the price was a mistake,
Let's go take a look at some DDR3 that is
running a default speed of 933Mhz (1866DDR). |
OCZ Technology Announces the World’s First
High-Density 2GHz Solution, Offering 4GB of High-Performance
Memory for Ultra High-End Desktops
Sunnyvale, Calif.—May 5, 2008—OCZ Technology
Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high
performance and high reliability memory, today premiered the
world’s first PC3-16000 4GB (2x2048MB) DDR3 kits to provide even
greater performance and productivity on the latest DDR3
platforms. Designed to offer the earliest adopting enthusiasts
the advantages of high-density memory coupled with the highest
speeds available, the OCZ PC3-16000 4GB kits make use of the
unbeatable overclocking capabilities of the latest platforms and
takes DDR3 to unimaginable performance levels.
Read the full press release here.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
Microsoft Withdraws Proposal to Acquire Yahoo!
REDMOND, Wash., May 3, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) today announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to
acquire Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).
“We continue to believe that our proposed acquisition made
sense for Microsoft, Yahoo! and the market as a whole. Our goal
in pursuing a combination with Yahoo! was to provide greater
choice and innovation in the marketplace and create real value
for our respective stockholders and employees,” said Steve
Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft.
“Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by
roughly $5 billion, Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our
offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics
demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us, and it is in the
best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other
stakeholders to withdraw our proposal,” said Ballmer.
Read Microsoft's press release here.
Read the Yahoo! response here.
Trial Court
Finds for NVIDIA in 3dfx Bankruptcy Trial
SANTA CLARA, CA─MAY 2, 2008—NVIDIA
Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced that the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California
issued its Memorandum Decision After Trial (the "Decision") in
the 3dfx bankruptcy action. In the Decision, the Court found in
favor of NVIDIA on all issues and rejected the Trustee's
attempts to obtain damages from NVIDIA in excess of $100
million. The Trustee's lawsuit arose from NVIDIA's 2001
acquisition of certain assets of its former competitor, 3dfx
Interactive, Inc. Specifically, the Trustee claimed that NVIDIA
did not pay fair value for the assets it acquired in the
transaction, thereby allegedly harming 3dfx's creditors.
"A trial was necessary to fully demonstrate that we conducted
ourselves appropriately in the acquisition and we are very
pleased with the Decision from the Court. The Decision is
comprehensive, thorough, well-reasoned, and a complete rejection
of the Trustee's legal and factual arguments," said David
Shannon, NVIDIA's senior vice president and general counsel.
The Court expressly found that "the Trustee's valuation
theory--every way it is articulated--is simply not credible,"
and concluded that "the creditors of 3dfx were not injured by
the Transaction."
"We will continue to fight this matter through any and all
appeals," said Mr. Shannon.
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Here at the Club we have looked at a lot of power supplies over the
years so its nice to see a familiar face once in a while. The
Ultra X3 800 Watt Modular power supply is the latest in a run of
solid Ultra products from the X3 line. The X3 800W has all the
great features we have come to expect from Ultras top power supplies
like FlexForce cabling and 85% efficiency under a normal load.
Combine this with Ultra's Limited Lifetime warranty and this power
supply should be just what the doctor ordered.
Lets take a
look. |
Full retail and volume
license installs of Windows XP SP3 now available
Chris Keroack, of Microsoft TechNet, has announced that full retail
and volume license installs of Windows XP SP3 are now available
in select languages to MSDN and TechNet Plus
subscribers. Chris went on to say "Windows XP SP3 will be available on
Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center soon".
Windows XP SP3 official download was delayed on Tuesday due to a
compatibility issue between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System
(RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
OCZ Technology Introduces
Special Ops Edition DDR3 Series for Gamers and System Builders in Need
of the Ultimate Stability
Sunnyvale, CA—April 29, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in
innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today
announced the Special Ops Edition DDR3 Series, available in both
PC3-8500 and PC3-10666 kits featuring the high densities and stability
gamers demand. These DDR3 kits are ideal for users advancing to the next
generation of memory platforms, offering the speeds, density, and
reliability required for the latest DirectX 10 PC titles. Featuring a
unique camouflage motif heatspreader design, the DDR3 Special Ops
Edition Series was designed for gaming systems in need of a reliable
upgrade as well as some extra style.
Read the full press release here.
Sun to cut 1500 to 2500
jobs
CNET~ The server and software company on Thursday announced grim
results for its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 30, that showed
declining revenue and a swing to a net loss. Sun Chief Financial Officer
Mike Lehman also said the company will cut 1,500 to 2,500 jobs. The
company had 34,400 employees at the end of the quarter. Read the article
over at
CNET.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
Sapphire HD 3850 1
Gigabyte High Definition Graphics Card Review
Not too long ago, our very own Paul did a pretty intensive review of one
of the latest ATi powered video cards to hit the market, the 3870 Toxic.
Hot on the heels of that review, Sapphire sent us the 3870's little
brother, the HD 3850 1GB. We already know that Paul loved the
3870, both for the performance, the price, and the sweet bundle, so will
the 3850 keep us satisfied as well, or leave us wanting for more?
Find out here at
ClubOC!
Eagle Tech Computers is back with an
addition to their expansive line-up of external hard drive enclosures. Back in
September of 2007 we took a look
(here) at three of their enclosures including the D-Series, a full-size dual
SATA drive enclosure that uses RAID JB0D technology to maximize storage space
and drive compatibility. The latest from Eagle Tech falls within that category
and is called the I-Series.
Check
it out right here at Club Overclocker!
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
3DMark Vantage Review
If you have been involved with PC gaming or GPU overclocking at all
in the last few years, then you are familiar with the name "3DMark".
Starting with 3DMark 2001, Futuremark has essentially been the
name in GPU benchmarks. However, many things have changed
since 2001, and so Futuremark must keep up with the times. How
well does it manage to stay relevant?
Let's find out
right here at Club Overclocker!
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Gigabyte
GeForce 8800GT 512MB Review
Has there ever been a more confusing time to buy a video card?
ATI cards are still pretty straight forward, even after their dual
card. It was team nVidia that threw us for a loop, spiking the 8800
series cards with a new GPU core and moving things around within the
model naming scheme. nVidia gave us a sneak peak at the new
G92 core on two cards; the 8800GTS and the 8800GT. At the same time,
there are also cards available that use the original G80 core with
the same name.
Today we test Gigabyte's GeForce 8800GT based on the G92 GPU coupled with 512 Megabytes of on
board GDDR3. With this card, the Windows Vista Aero Desktop will be no
problem! Let's take a look at what the NX88T has to offer.
Windows XP Service
Pack 3 Release Delayed
Chris Keroack of Microsoft TechNet announced today that Windows XP
SP3 will be delayed due to a compatibility issue between Microsoft
Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and
Windows Vista Service Pack 1. There is no definitive information on
a new release date but it sounds like the team will have a fix in
place very quickly.
AMD Introduces AMD Business Class, Designed
With Business in Mind
SUNNYVALE, Calif. --
April 28, 2008 --AMD
(NYSE: AMD) today introduced
AMD Business Class, an initiative dedicated to developing AMD
processor-based commercial desktop and notebook solutions designed
specifically for businesses. AMD Business Class technology is
designed to offer the best value and tools on the market for OEMs
and system builders to provide a solid, reliable foundation that
delivers exceptional performance and power savings, industry-leading
longevity and stability, and supports the essential security and
manageability business users require. The launch of AMD Business
Class also brings with it the introduction of AMD’s new line of
commercial stable AMD Athlon™ and AMD Phenom™ processors.
Read the press release here.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
Antec Launches
Twelve Hundred PC Case
Fremont,
CA - April 28, 2008 - Antec, Inc., the leading global brand of
high-performance computer components for the PC upgrade and
Do-It-Yourself markets, has launched the Twelve Hundred PC
enclosure, the next evolution of its best-selling Nine Hundred case.
With an advanced cooling system, a spacious design and other
convenient features, the Twelve Hundred is an excellent choice for
gamers and other high-performance PC builders.
The Twelve Hundred features an exceptionally
robust cooling system, designed to accommodate even the most
demanding gaming PCs. This system is composed of a top 200mm TriCool
fan, two rear 120mm TriCool fans and three front 120mm fans. All
TriCool fans come with 3-speed control, enabling users to optimize
their balance of cooling and quiet. Two additional 120mm fan mounts
give builders the option to provide cooling to the graphics cards
and the CPU. The Twelve Hundred also comes with a water cooling
platform that can be used to position a reservoir or a pump. A
perforated front panel and a washable air filter help to take in air
more efficiently and reduce dust build up. The case also includes an
advanced cable management system that allows cables to be tucked out
of the way for unrestricted airflow.
The Twelve Hundred is spacious and versatile,
with twelve drive bays and seven expansion slots. This provides
builders with room for all their high-performance components
including dual full-length graphics cards, while a clear side-panel
allows users to show off their cutting-edge systems. All fans come
with internal blue LED illumination; the light on the top fan can be
turned on and off by an easily accessed switch. A convenient top
accessory tray gives builders a place to store their favorite
gadgets such as media players or digital cameras, while two
front-mounted USB ports and eSATA as well as HD audio ports provide
convenient access. Read
the full press release here!
Futuremark Launches
3DMark® Vantage
Espoo, Finland - April 28th, 2008
- Futuremark (www.futuremark.com)
brings users one step closer to understanding the performance
potential of their personal computers with the launch of 3DMark®
Vantage. Gamers, media and OEMs now have a modern gaming performance
benchmark to measure native DirectX 10 and multi-core CPU
performance with large amounts of physics, AI and graphics.
3DMark® Vantage was created by a select group of
Futuremark artists and engineers working in close cooperation with
the Benchmark Development Program (BDP) members [Ageia, AMD, Compal,
Dell, Gateway, HP, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Sapphire Technology,
Velocity Micro, Vivante Corp., Qimonda] , "3DMark smashes out of the
box in delivering a view to virtual reality that pushes the
performance envelope of the latest in PC Hardware for years to
come." said Jukka Mäkinen Ph.D., Vice President of the PC Business
Unit at Futuremark. "Consumers to professionals will be able to get
immediate comparisons with thousands of others using our online
results browser, helping them to fully understand the results and
how they can improve their computer’s gaming performance potential."
3DMark®Vantage is composed of four full-bore
benchmarking tests (2 different CPU tests and 2 different GPU tests)
and 6 feature tests. Four presets, a groundbreaking new feature,
vastly augment the variety of PCs that can be tested with the
product. Presets range from value through performance to high end
cinematic rendering resolutions and features. By creating a new set
of high end presets, 3DMark®Vantage is future proofed for the new
multi-core CPU and Graphics Processing Unit products as well as
supporting the Physics Processing Unit to expand the range of
technology, testing and prevent the benchmark from being
bottlenecked for its users.
Read the full press release here!
Cray and Intel Collaborate to Develop Future Supercomputing
Technologies
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SEATTLE,
April 28, 2008 – Cray Inc. (Nasdaq GM: CRAY) and Intel Corporation
announced today they signed a multi-year agreement to advance
high-performance computing (HPC) on Intel microprocessors while
delivering broad new Intel and Cray technologies in future Cray
server systems. The collaboration of these two industry leaders will
result in HPC systems that will help solve some of the world's most
complex scientific, engineering and humanitarian challenges.
Read the press release here.
More tech news & reviews from around the web...
