t-break: Tech @ Its Fastest » Components

OCZ RevoDrive 3 120GB SSD Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:04:03 +0000

While PC enthusiasts go gaga over the latest consumer grade SATA III SSDs, when it comes to bleeding edge performance there is another type of SSD that is in a different league all together. PCIe drives reign supreme when it comes to SSD performance, as they are not limited by the bandwidth capacity of SATA III (6Gbps). Today I’ll be looking at the OCZ RevoDrive 3 PCIe 120GB SSD.

Given the price and form factor of the RevoDrive 3, it’s clear that this is an enterprise level SSD. Still, there are many enthusiasts and professionals working on high-end machines that will find the RevoDrive 3 right up their alley.

The basic anatomy of the RevoDrive 3 isn’t so far off from a regular SSD, but some tweaks give it the beastly performance OCZ claims it to have. First off there’s the SAS 6Gbps to PCIe 2.0 x4 bridge that provides full 2Gbps bandwidth compared to 750Mbps through SATA III.

The SAS chipset is said to be from Marvell with custom drivers, allowing TRIM support, SMART data readouts and firmware update through the SSD Toolbox. OCZ calls it the SuperScale storage accelerator with the new Virtualized Controller Architecture 2.0 (VCA 2.0). This basically allows the processor to send real-time I/O commands simultaneously to the two SandForce 2281 controllers.

Furthermore, the sixteen 8GB NAND chips would have given a total of 128GB of storage, but actual usable space is limited to 111GB (rated is 120GB). The extra space allows for better garbage collection, which coupled with the VCA 2.0 allows OCZ to claim that data integrity is near 100%. Time will tell if this claim holds true, though.

Before we move onto the benchmarks, let’s take a look at the packaging. Coming in a rather large box, the RevoDrive 3 comes in a rather solid box. Packed inside the safe cushions is the RevoDrive 3 itself, with the drivers CD as well.

Installation is simply plugging the RevoDrive 3 into any PCIe 2.0 or 3.0 slot you have on your motherboard, and downloading the drivers directly from OCZ. Without the drivers Windows 7 won’t recognize the drive, nor will it be bootable if you’re planning to install Windows 7 on it.

ASUS Rampage IV Gene Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:21 +0000

As soon as Intel launched the new Sandy Bridge-E processors, you knew ASUS would bring out the big guns for the X79 platform. And sure enough, both the Rampage IV Formula and Rampage IV Extreme were one of the best performing motherboards we have tested.

Of course, not everyone wants to have a massive tower for their gaming rig, but for the power hungry user who wants high-end performance in a small package, ASUS has the Rampage IV Gene mATX motherboard.

Looking at the features list and the basic layout, the Rampage IV Gene looks like a cut down version of the Rampage IV Formula. Included with the Rampage IV Gene are similar accessories as well.

First off we have the ROG sticker and the door hanger, followed by the instruction manuals and drivers and utilities CD. A very handy sticker chart is also available for you to label all your cables inside the case. Then there are six SATA cables, one ROG Connect cable, an SLI bridge, and a set of Q-connectors. And bringing it home is the rear I/O panel cover.

AMD A8-3870K Black Edition Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:53:16 +0000

Late last year I reviewed the AMD A8-3850 APU, which the first high-end Llano based offering from AMD, giving desktop users a taste of how successfully integrated graphics can work with a quad-core processor. And while the performance in multi-threaded applications was decent, as were the onboard graphics, the chip still felt somewhat lacking compared to the direct competition, which is the Intel Core i3-2100.

So today I’ll be looking at the new flagship APU from AMD, the Llano A8-3870K. Apart from having a 100MHz increase over the A8-3850, the ace up the A8-3870K is the fact that it has unlocked core multiplier. Of course, given that the Llano APUs aren’t being targeted towards the hardcore gamer, you won’t find high-end motherboards geared towards overclocking. As such, currently overclocking the A8-3870K is only possible on those motherboards who have an updated BIOS which supports switching the multiplier.

Outside of the unlocked multiplier, the A8-3870K has the same HD 6550D GPU with 400 Radeon cores running at 600MHz speed as the A8-3850. Now one of the coolest things about the Llano APUs is that they are targeted mostly towards HTPC users and the extremely budget conscious gamer who doesn’t want to play Battlefield 3 at Ultra high settings. As such, if the built-in HD 6550D GPU isn’t enough, you can pair it with an AMD Radeon HD 6670 graphics card for asymmetrical CrossFire where both the Llano APU’s integrated HD 6550D and the discrete HD 6670 work in tandem.

AMD roadmap for HD 7000 series graphics cards leaked

Taimoor Hafeez — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:18:48 +0000

With the launch of the new AMD HD 7950 graphics card, a lot of information has come out from various sources. Bright Side of News reported a leaked document from one of AMD’s partners that listed the roadmap for the release of the rest of the HD7000 series graphics cards.

The slide itself is pretty self explanatory with the release schedule. After the HD 79xx series, the first thing we’ll see are the budget oriented, sub-$100 HD77xx cards in mid-February. Following that will be the mainstream, sub-$200 HD 78xx cards out in March, presumably along the same time as the Nvidia 600 series cards. So by the time Nvidia launches their new cards, AMD will have already released most of their line-up.

Of course, that’s not where the Graphics Core Next architecture release ends, as the dual-GPU HD 7990 comes out in early Q2 of this year, most likely in April.

AMD HD 7950 Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:00:50 +0000

Often times AMD and Nvidia release their flagship GPUs with the launch of a new series of graphics card, but it’s the one under the newly crowned king that people most look forward to, the price/performance champion of the people. And in between all the festivities, we usually tend to overlook the middle sibling, the one who sits smack in the middle of the mid-range champion and the performance king. Today marks the launch of one such card, the AMD HD 7950.

The AMD HD 7950 is basically a cut down version of the HD 7970 released a month back. Clocked slightly lower than the 7970 and 256 lesser Stream units, the HD 7950 is made from the same wafer, with 384-bit bandwidth and 4.3 billion transistors and GCN architecture on a 28nm process. Our test units were all 3GB variants, although there will be 1.5GB HD 7950s coming out later, potentially costing $50 to $60 less than the 3GB versions.

Going by those specs and price, AMD has put the HD 7950 squarely against the current Nvidia champ, the GTX 580. And given that the 3GB price of the HD 7950 matches 1.5GB GTX 580s, expect a price drop very soon on the GTX 580.

So let’s take a look at our test cards today, both of which have custom cooling solutions and are factory overclocked to boot.

Retired WoW servers for auction

Taimoor Hafeez — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:21:25 +0000

If you consider yourself to be a hardcore WoW fan, and also like showing off your techy side, then this auction will be right up your alley. After upgrading their servers recently, Blizzard has decided to sell off their old blade servers used to host World of Warcraft realms.

“Following a recent upgrade of our World of Warcraft server hardware to improve your gameplay experience, we have decided to auction off the retired HP p-Class server blades and donate the proceeds to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” Blizzard announced.

Each of these server blades is sold as-is, in non working conditions, although they probably do work. However, what makes the auction great, apart from 100% of proceeds being donated to a children’s hospital, is that each blade has a clear plaque with the WoW logos inscribed on it. And apart from the realm name which the server was used for hosting, the below message is also there:

“Blizzard Entertainment has carefully preserved and archived our retired server blades, releasing only a limited number for a noble cause. To us, this server blade is more than just hardware: within the circuits and hard drive, a world of magic, adventure, and friendship thrived. From fishing in quiet lakes to defeating Arthas in Icecrown Citadel, this blade was home to thousands of immersive experiences across the world of Azeroth and beyond. We thank you for the safekeeping of this important part of history.”

And the development team signatures follow below.

Right now most of the 2000 servers that are being auctioned on eBay are up for around $100, with some famous servers like ‘Nagrand’ touching sub-$200. Shipping is apparently provided worldwide, so UAE residents shouldn’t have any problems getting this technically historical piece of gaming memorabilia into their homes.

Western Digital ready for hybrid drives?

Taimoor Hafeez — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:22:53 +0000

Western Digital announced their 2nd quarter 2012 results, with sales of $2bn, compared to $2,5bn from a year earlier. The mere 20% decrease in sales is quite remarkable considering how badly WD’s manufacturing plants were hit during last year’s Thailand floods. In fact, WD did indeed ship almost half the hard drives shipped in the same period last year, with 28.5 million drives in Q2 2012 compared to 52.2 million drives in Q2 2011. Despite this, increase in prices and gross profit margins lead to profits of $145m, compared to $225m last year.

While discussing these earnings call, WD’s CEO, John F. Coyne was asked about ultrabooks and what medium storage will be used in them, given the heavy push from Intel and other OEMs. “I expect ultrabooks to have both hard drives, traditional hard drives and hybrid hard drives and SSDs. So I think there will be, depending on the specific version of ultrabook, you will see all 3 solutions and even in certain models, choices between those solutions in the same model, ” said Coyne (via transcript at Seeking Alpha).

“And we think that the SSD penetration profile will be in very low single digits in a mature ultrabook environment. And then we see an emerging position for hybrids a little early to develop a view on exactly what percentage of penetration, but we see hybrids as a very compelling alternative on the performance side to solid state on bang for the buck. And we anticipate that in large capacity environments, traditional hard drives will continue to be the compelling solution.”

One of the biggest reasons we don’t find Seagate’s Momentus XT in many notebooks as a default, or even optional HDD is because Seagate is the only manufacturer making hybrid drives; nobody else in the industry is making them. The critical mass for hybrid drives hasn’t been achieved simply because there is only one supplier in the market. With WD entering the foray of hybrid drives, the landscape for traditional hard drives could change very soon.

You can check out our review of the latest Momentus XT drive to see how fast it is compared to traditional HDDs vs SSDs.

ASUS HD 7970 Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:31:16 +0000

As the whole PC community was partying last December when the AMD HD 7970s were out for review, our invitation was misplaced as the test unit AMD was supposed to send us didn’t come through until two weeks back. As such, I decided to wait for a retail HD 7970 to review the card. Finally ASUS came through with their standard HD 7970, and today I’ll be looking at stock and CrossFire HD 7970 performance.

For those of you who still don’t know the hoopla surrounding the AMD HD 7970, here’s a quick primer on the new Radeon architecture. First of all, it’s the first graphics card to use a 28nm GPU core, the smaller size bringing with it lesser heat dissipation and lower power consumption. Secondly the HD 7970 uses AMD’s new Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture which is a multi-purpose computation processor designed to handle various applications (not just games) of today and tomorrow.

The HD 7970 is the first implementation of the GCN architecture with double the L2 cache over previous generation VLIW4 architecture. This allows for a massive 2TBps bandwidth capacity across the core of the HD 7970.

The rest of the technical specs can be seen on the chart below:

Now let’s talk about the ASUS HD 7970 that I’ll be reviewing.

The packaging is standard fare for ASUS, nothing overly flashy on the box. Inside we have a manual, driver CD which comes with the ASUS GPU Tweak utility, a HDMI to DVI and a mini-DP to DVI cable. Furthermore we have a 6-pin power cable along with a CrossFireX bridge.

Belkin SURF N150 Wireless Adapter Review

Nick Rego — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:17:52 +0000

Size does matter, especially in the world of gadgets. Bigger screens, smaller phones, larger capacity drives – it seems everything around me is either expanding or shrinking. So I was rather nonchalant when I received the Belkin Surf N150 USB Wireless Micro Adapter for review. The device is a little bigger than my thumbnail, so I was interested to see if this little gem could live up to the task of being my wireless interface for the day.

Installation is very simple and is just a matter of popping in the supplied CD and then plugging the Belkin adapter in. I disabled my laptop’s Wi-Fi and instantly the Belkin Wireless Adapter kicked in with a flashing blue light, and Windows prompted me to connect to my home network. The device is compatible with most forms of wireless security such as WPS, WPA and WEP. Once I was connected, performance was quite good with streaming videos off my network drive, and I found that I was able to continue surfing upstairs in the guest bedroom where I previously wasn’t able to pick up a Wi-Fi signal. But strangely enough when I walked out into the garden, the signal suddenly dropped to just one bar, even though my router was just a few feet away behind a wall. I never had any issues with using my onboard Wi-Fi outside, so this was a bit peculiar.

The true beauty of the N150 Wireless Adapter is surely its size. Measuring just 18mm x 15mm, you can plug it into your laptop or desktop and completely forget about it. It’s almost flush with the side of my laptop, so it doesn’t cause any problems at all when I slide my laptop back into its carrier case. If you do decide to take it out, I suggest putting it someplace safe as it nearly disappeared into the depths of my bag!

Speeds using the Belkin N150 were overall satisfactory. It took me 14 minutes to transfer a 1.67GB file from my laptop to my network drive and just over 12 minutes to copy the same file with my onboard Wi-Fi. Apart from the issues with wireless coverage outside, I was able to stream comfortably from my media centre as well as YouTube without any interruptions. The only downside is that this is a Windows-only device (Ubuntu was able to detect it as a Belkin wireless adapter) and will not work on a Mac.

If you’re looking for a quick wireless replacement for your Windows based laptop or want to add some Wi-Fi to your desktop PC, then this little gem is for you. Its easy installation and ridiculously small footprint will charm most users, though be wary of the device’s drop in performance if you wander into the great outdoors.

VGA and DVI interface to be left behind in 5 years

Taimoor Hafeez — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:38:22 +0000

In a recent study by NPD In-Stat, some interesting predictions were made about the current display interfaces used for computers around the world. Right now the global market is dominated by the VGA and DVI ports. If you have a mid-range card or higher from the last year or two, all you’ll see are DVI and HDMI ports. More recently, high-end cards have just one DVI port with multiple combinations of HDMI and DisplayPorts.

According NPD In-Stat, both HDMI and DisplayPort interfaces will take over the ageing VGA (introduced in 1986) and the still young DVI (introduced in 1999) within the next 5 years. Both Intel and AMD will be dropping support for the old interfaces by 2015. After which motherboard and graphics card manufacturers will have to provide these old interface via converter cables (most likely) at their own expense, similar to how VGA-to-DVI adapters are bundled with some graphics cards.

“The DVI interface was developed and went through one minor upgrade cycle, but its road has now ended,” said Brian O’Rourke, research director at NPD In-Stat. ”HDMI and DisplayPort are being continuously upgraded and will replace the older interfaces going forward, especially as PCs, tablets and smartphones get thinner.”

As HDMI and DisplayPorts, especially their ‘mini’ variants, are found in an increasing number of tablets and smartphones, NPD In-Stat predicts devices with these two display interfaces, along with DVI, to pass 2 billion by 2015.

“Though DisplayPort and HDMI are different in nature and compete at a certain level, both can coexist and make significant strides in different market segments,” O’Rourke said. “DisplayPort is a digital, packet-based technology, making it a fit for PCs. HDMI is a mixed-signal, streaming technology, making it less optimal for PCs and more for consumer electronics,” he said.