t-break: Tech @ Its Fastest » Spotlight

2012 Jaguar XK Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:15:20 +0000

The Jaguar XK has been one of the most prominent luxury sports car in the world over the two decades, as was the XJ series before it and the E-Type before that. In typical Jaguar fashion, it’s known to be luxurious, powerful and beautiful. While I can’t say the previous generation had the beauty factor going for it, at the end of the day it’s all a matter of taste.

So with such a highly regarded pedigree, it was very exciting to see the latest Jaguar XK in action. Our test unit comes in candy red, with the standard 5.0 liter V8. The Supercharger is, of course, reserved for the XKR and XKR-S. Coming back to the XK, the basic body style may look like the previous generation XK, but the essence of the car is anything but.

The front fascia retains the long oval grill, with the long hood stretching back, complimented perfectly by the beautifully sculpted headlamps angled backwards. The door is curved from the back, although I would have preferred some sort of angle rather than the straight cut from the front. This minor nitpicking aside, the rear third of the XK extends out beautifully as the curvy end extends ever so lightly towards the rear spoiler.

Looking at the XK from behind you’re left wondering just how beautiful the rest of the car would be like if it’s this good looking from behind. Nonetheless the huge tires you catch a glimpse of give the feeling that the XK means serious business if push comes to shove on the roads. Indeed the 20-inch 5-spoked alloy wheels give the XK a rather aggressive look from the side. Still, one cannot help but admire the beauty of this car, and wonder what it feels like to ride it.

MSI R7850 Power Edition Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:29:33 +0000

Features

While MSI already launched their R7850 graphics card a few months back, there’s nothing like a new refresh with added features to entice customers for an upgrade. Today I’ll be looking at the MSI R7850 Power Edition graphics card.

The new ‘Power Edition’ brings a good number of features with it. First and foremost is the new Twin Frozr IV heatsink, which until now was featured only on the R7970 card from MSI. The other thing you’ll notice is how impressively small the R7850 Power Edition is, measuring just 8.5-inches; less than the width of a standard ATX motherboard.

Design

The custom PCB which measures 8-inches uses MSI’s top end Military Class III components, known to be used in their high-end motherboards and graphics cards. Coming back to the heatsink, we see aluminum fins that sit directly on top of the GPU and memory modules, with three heatpipes expanding outside.

The heatsink is covered by two 80mm fans that push air down to cool the components. The whole area is then covered by a cool black, metal casing on top. It’s interesting to note that MSI have used complete metal components as much as possible, and except for the fans, nothing on the heatsink is plastic.

Interestingly the two fans on the Twin Frozr IV heatsink adopt the same ‘Dust Removal’ technology that debuted for the first time in the MSI GTX 580 Extreme Lightning Edition. What basically happens here is that during the first 30 seconds of startup, the fans will run in reverse direction which should help pull off dust particles stuck in the heatsink fins.

The defining factor of the R7850 Power Edition comes from the improved PWM design which allows for massive power efficiencies, which further allows you to control voltage settings for GPU, memory and VDDCI. Of course, what all this, the improved heatsink and PWM, translates into is simply better overclocking. You should be able to take the R7850 Power Edition to the limits.

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:36:08 +0000

Features

The Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD which was reviewed last year was one of the first SATA III SSDs to use the latest SandForce SF-2281 controller, and it turned out to perform so well that to this day we use it as part of our testbed.

While the regular HyperX 240GB, like most other SSDs in this category, is rather expensive, Kingston launched a budget version of the same drive, the HyperX 3K.

Basically the HyperX 3K is the exact same as the regular HyperX enthusiast SSD, with one component change. Instead of using Intel’s 25nm NAND Flash that’s rated for 5K P/E cycles that’s used in the regular HyperX, the HyperX 3K uses Intel’s 25nm NAND Flash rated at 3K P/E cycles. That, and the color for the 3K version is black instead of blue.

So what does the 3K program/erase cycle mean? For that let’s have a very quick look at how solid state drives work. Every time information is stored on SSDs, every cell within the NAND Flash deteriorates as data is programmed on it. Over time this results in the cells holding no charge at all, resulting in your SSD being unusable. However, this process of wear and tear takes years, multiple decades in most cases, by which time you will have moved on other (presumably better) storage media.

In the long run (of our lifetime) all data storage is temporary; we just move our important documents and beloved media from one place to another. Right now solid state drives just presents us with an incredibly fast way to access data, something we need on a daily basis as our lives get busier.

However, not everyone wants, or can afford, to pay for the privilege of high speed data access, and so we have the 3K P/E NAND Flash from Intel that’s being used in the HyperX 3K drive. Assuming you’re writing and erasing 10GB data every day, the 3K program/erase cycle will result in a rough lifespan of over 20 years.

So with that out of the way, let’s have a look at how the HyperX 3K performs compared to its peers that use 5K P/E NAND.

Benchmarks

For testing the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD, the below testbed was used:

Note: To further stress the SF-2281 controller and see how good TRIM support is, I have copied all the contents from our original testbed SSD, which contains Windows 7 and all the games and benchmarks and tests used for various review, in addition to some more games that were installed. This gave a nice spread of data, both compressed and uncompressed. Out of 223GB of available space, 56% of the drive was filled up. The below benchmarks show results with both empty and (near) half full performance.

Speeds

I have used ATTO Disk Benchmark to get the sequential read and write speeds, Crystal Diskmark for 4K speeds and HD Tach for burst speeds.

PCMark 7

The PCMark 7 Storage benchmarks are some of the most stressing tests designed for modern hard drives and solid state drives. There are a number of tests performed, focusing on different aspects of the drive and eventually churn out a score based on the overall performance of the drive. Below I have shown the total PCMark 7 storage score for multiple hard drives and SSDs.

AS SSD

In this case I have used AS SSD, which utilizes read and write speeds based on uncompressed data. After filling up 56% of the drive, it here where we can see a tangible difference in sequential read and write speeds.

Conclusion

The Kingston HyperX 3K without a doubt performs exceptionally well. The relatively low-life NAND Flash doesn’t hurt the performance in the least. In fact, not only is it able to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best SSDs in the market, but the performance is admirable even with the drive over 50% full.

Apparently the 3K P/E lifespan hardly affects daily performance, nor will it for many years. Furthermore with improved firmware which increases the efficiency of read/write operations, additionally TRIM support reliability increases even more. What more proof than the fact that to date we have not had any problem with our Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD despite multiple motherboard and other component changes.

If you’re in the market for an SSD, Kingston’s drives are certainly one of the best SandForce controlled drives out there. Performance is as high as any SATA III SSD can hope to achieve, and the 3 year warranty from Kingston certainly adds another layer of reassurance. So for overall performance and price, the Kingston HyperX 3K is one of the best SSDs to be had in the market right now.

MSI GT70 Gaming Laptop Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:49:52 +0000

The MSI GT780R that was reviewed two months back was pretty impressive, but now that both Intel and Nvidia have released their Ivy Bridge processors and GTX 600M series graphics cards, it was time for a refresh.

The new GT70, for all intents and purposes, is the same as the GT780R before it, i.e. a big desktop replacement high-end laptop meant for gaming. It’s big, it’s bulky, it looks scary, but that’s what gaming laptops are.

Packing the latest lntel Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM @ 2.3GHz (TurboBoosting up to 3.3GHz), the Nvidia GTX 670M (with 3GB GDDR5 RAM), 16GB DDR3 RAM and 2x 64GB SSD (in RAID 0) and a 500GB HDD (@ 7,200RPM). The gold plated audio ports with built-in amplifier, 3x USB 3.0 ports and the high-end Killer E2200 LAN card ensures the MSI GT70 has bleeding edge tech as far as laptops are concerned.

Usage

On the surface the GT70 is the exact replica of the GT780R, having just some internal components changed. You have the same non-glossy 17.3-inch screen supporting a crisp resolution of 1920×1080. The mirror finish camera resides on top, along with the mic.

Down below the Steelseries multi-color backlit keyboard looks as mesmerizing as ever. The keys are easy to use and feel nice to touch, however, I noticed that due to the limited spacing between the keys it’s very easy to push another key accidentally.

On top of the keyboard are the Dynaudio speakers, their subwoofer tucked away underneath. The 2.1 speakers certainly make an impact, and indeed the bass reproduction is pretty impressive for the size of these speakers. While this setup is very good for songs and games, for movies and competitive gaming I would suggest using headphones.

The touchpad mouse is average at best, but a non-issue really, as you’re most likely to use a proper gaming mouse instead of the built-in touchpad.

Temperature & Noise

According to HWMonitor, the internal temperature of the GT70 did reach as high as 75°C. However, most of this heat is dissipated by the large fan at the bottom right. As long as there’s good ground clearance, or the GT70 is kept on a clean flat surface, temperatures actually felt through the palm rest area will not go higher than ‘mildly warm to touch’.

Now to keep such powerful hardware cool, especially during games, the fan does make a fair bit of noise. It doesn’t get too irritating because the built-in Dynaudio speakers do a good job of drowning out the whining noise. However if you’re watching a Bluray or DVD, the drive is going to make some very annoying sounds, so better use headphones.

2012 Audi A6 Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:13:41 +0000

The Audi A6 has been one of the most popular executive sedans from the German marque since it launched almost two decades ago. It has been on the forefront of technological advances in their fleet, second, perhaps, only to the Audi A8, and has been ever in the limelight for being the muscular gentlemanly car. And if such a category didn’t exist before, the A6 certainly personifies that image.

So the latest iteration of the A6 sees a really interesting amalgamation of Audi’s new design feel that we’ve seen in both the new A8 and the A7. The front of the car looks incredibly sharp; thanks to the stretched out LED headlamps that look more like an angry squint. The double layers formed by the daytime LEDs and Xenon headlights gives it a very distinctive look that’s now standard in all Audi cars. As is the huge front grill that we have come to associate with the Audi brand since the launch of their previous generation cars in mid-2000s.

Moving to the side we see long sweeping lines that looks too simple and very much like the previous generation A6. The distinguishing factor comes from the 20-inch forged aluminum wheels that have shiny brushed metal finishing on different angles to give the side profile of the A6 a gorgeous look. That, more than anything else, gives away the sports sedan nature of the A6. Well, the wheels and the 3.0 TFSI badge on the back, but I’ll get to that later.

Coming to the back we see the rear taillights continue to look rather subdued; it’s only in the night when you see the elegant glowing lines form beneath. The twin exhausts look great, but I would say overall the A6’s rear is its weakest design aspect.

So to wrap up the exterior of the A6, the front is very eye-catching, the sides would’ve looked incredibly bland were it not for the gorgeous wheels, and the back end is too composed for its own good, therein highlighting its mature target audience.

Zotac Zbox Nano XS AD11 Plus Review

Nick Rego — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:46:34 +0000

Introduction
They say that size matters, and in the world of computing that’s always taken literally. Companies are always gunning for the fastest, thinnest, lightest laptops, or the biggest most powerful desktops. But caught in the middle are the bevy of users who just want a PC that they can use for some simple tasks like watching endless YouTube clips, tidying up their resumes, or streaming media from their network.

Zotac have for a while been making small-form PCs that seem to grow smaller with each one they put out. The latest one to head to our offices is the Zotac Zbox Nano XS AD11 Plus (whew!), a ridiculously tiny PC that Zotac bills as the perfect companion for anyone looking for a small PC to take care of their media needs in the living room.

Build quality & design
While the box that the Zbox Nano XS came in was quite large, I was absolutely floored when I actually opened the box and looked at the unit itself. When I say this thing is small, I mean it – I could just about fit it in the palm of my hand. As a size comparison, here’s the Zbox Nano XS next to a standard du SIM card box:

As you can see, the device is really tiny and would go relatively unnoticed no matter where you set it up.

Taking a quick tour of the device, on the front you have the power button and IR receiver for the media remote, a SD card slot, USB 2.0 port, and ports for headphones and microphone. On the sides of the device are two ventilation grills, one side takes in air and the other side pushes warm air out. At the back you’ve got a nice selection of ports on offer with an HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, and two USB 2.0 ports, one of which can be used for the included Wi-Fi dongle. I would have preferred if Zotac had moved the audio ports to the back of the device and put another USB port on the front, as the rear ports can be used up quite quickly once you start connecting other peripherals such as your keyboard and mouse. The top of the device features a glossy black finish, which as the name suggests is an instant fingerprint magnet. There’s also a large green ring that glows when the device is on, which you can thankfully turn off in the BIOS.

Overall the device feels quite sturdy in its casing, and flipping the unit over reveals an interesting aspect about it’s underside. The four raised legs are actually screws, which you can twist open to remove the bottom plate and expose the memory slot and hard drive if you want to do a quick hardware upgrade. Other than these two components, there’s nothing else that you can tinker around with unless you void your device warranty.

Like many of its previous mini PCs, the Zbox Nano XS comes with a metal plate that can be used to mount the device to the back of any standard LCD monitor equipped with a VESA mount, so you can hide it away – the downside of this is that it might get a little difficult to switch around hardware or unplug USB devices.

Specs and Comparisons
Despite its compact size, Zotac were able to adjust the specs inside the Zbox Nano XS to deliver a respectable amount of performance. Having looked at a few of Zotac’s PCs in the past, I chose to compare this model to the Zotac Zbox Nano AD10 Plus. Here’s a quick comparison sheet between the two:

Nvidia & Zotac GTX 670 (AMP! Edition) Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:56:35 +0000

Nvidia’s GTX 680 launched 2 months back with much hype, and not only did it live up to the expectations, but also set a new benchmark on how much performance can be squeezed out with such little power.

GTX 680 DNA

What Nvidia has built is a slightly detuned version of the fastest single GPU based graphics card in the world. Looking at the spec sheet below we see a small reduction in the CUDA Cores and core clock speeds, but pretty much everything else remains the same.

We have the same 28nm GK104 chip inside as the GTX 680, the same four 64-bit memory controllers, giving the 2GB GDDR5 memory 256-bit bandwidth and the same number of transistors. Coming in at 9.5-inches, the GTX 670 requires a 500W PSU powered with two 6-pin connectors.

Interestingly the power supply was moved towards the left side, rather than the complete right side as is usually the case. The fan, which is the same one used in the GTX 680, is thus moved to the right end. Sucking in the air, the hot air is then blown out through the left side of the GTX 670, i.e. outside the case. Nvidia have said that thanks to the power efficiencies of the Kepler architecture and the high overclockability of the GTX 670, which partners can make cars with customized heatsinks and much higher clock speeds. Let’s take a look at one such example. Temperatures remained at a fairly middle of the road 37°C when idle, and going up to 76°C under load.

Zotac GTX 670 AMP! Edition

If we take a look at the new Zotac GTX 670 AMP! Edition, we see some major improvements in the cooling solution. First off this is the exact same heatsink we have seen being used in the recently reviewed Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Edition. Measuring 10.5-inches, the GTX 670 AMP! Edition is also cooled by the massive heatsink, with the large copper pipes extending outwards and two big 80mm fans as the GTX 680 AMP! Edition.

Basically what this has allowed Zotac to do is to overclock the card to 1098MHz core clock (boosting to 1176MHz) and 3304 MHZ (6608MHz effective) memory speeds. That’s an overclock of 20% on the core clock and 10% memory speeds. That’s quite an incredible bump in speed over there. The best part, however, was that the temperature remained at 29°C when idling and touching just 60°C under load!

Hands On Preview: HP Envy Spectre XT

Nick Rego — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:11:27 +0000

I’m at the HP Global Influencer Summit 2012 in Shanghai, and in between product showcases and forums, I slink away to get a closer look at what HP is demoing at the show. While the entire show floor is abuzz with activity, there is a growing mob of people desperately trying to get a glimpse of a particular product – the HP Envy Spectre XT. While HP have launched a whole host of products at the show, this is one Ultrabook that got everyone’s attention. I was lucky enough to have some ‘quiet time’ with the unit to really find out what made this Ultrabook so appealing.

At first glance I have to say that the unit does look very similar to another device that’s “lighter than Air”. Having said that, the Envy Spectre XT comes in a beautiful aluminum finish and looks gorgeous from any angle.

Taking a quick tour of the device, on the left hand side is full-sized Ethernet port, USB, and HDMI ports as well as a Kensington security slot.

On the right side is another USB port, SD card reader, AC input, headphone jack, and power/HDD indicator. While I would have liked just one more USB port somewhere, I think the selection of ports available will keep most people happy and free them from carrying around various dongles that other Ultrabooks seem to require.

The chiclet-style keyboard is backlit, which is a welcome addition to any laptop or Ultrabook. While the keys were comfortable enough for a quick typing test, I did have to fiddle with the arrow keys which are of different sizes. The trackpad is responsive and responded fairly quickly to my rapid double clicking.

Like with most of their lineup, the Envy Spectre XT comes with Beats audio, and features four speakers for optimum sound; two near the base of the Ultrabook and two hidden in the display hinge. I wasn’t able to check out how the audio sounded, but generally the Beats lineup does not disappoint.

The model I looked at was running Windows 7 Professional x64, with an Intel i7-3667U 2.5GHz processor, and 4GB of RAM. You can also configure the device with a 256GB SSD which I believe was what was in the demo unit. The only two downsides I found were that it only has integrated graphics, and the price point starts at around USD$ 1,000. Still, it’s hard to resist the allure of the Envy Spectre XT, as evident by the hordes of people trying to snap a photo or play with the device.

Logitech Z906 Speakers Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:02:31 +0000

The Logitech Z906 Surround Sound speakers come from a long line of successful speakers released by Logitech over the past decade. The Z906 have some significantly large boots to fill, since the Z5500 were a spectacular set of PC speakers released 6 years ago. So let’s see if new Z906 speakers live up to our expectations.

6 Speakers

The 5.1 speaker system is THX certified, so rest assured there’s some level of audio quality that’s good enough for large rooms. Speaking of which, at 500W (RMS) the entire setup is powerful enough to rock any mid-sized room. Each of the satellites is rated at 67W, while the 8-inch subwoofer itself takes 165W of that power to pump out a very decent amount of bass. Of course, that all depends on the position of the subwoofer in the room.

Like most PC based speaker systems, it’s the subwoofer that takes all the inputs. While normal for such class of speakers, I was actually a little disappointed that the input ports were not in the main control panel. Although, to be fair, the control panel is rather slim and lightweight, so it would’ve been awkward to have so many wires coming out of it, but more on that later.

Connections

On the rear panel we have the place for 5 separate audio sources. Input “1”is for PC, “2”is for RCA, “3 & 4”are Optical and “5”is Coaxial. Apart from that all the 5 speakers and the control unit also plugs into the back of the subwoofer, along with the power being routed through it as well.

The 5 speakers look the same, except the rubber feet on the center speaker are on its side, which is the orientation it’s meant to be kept in. Each of the speaker also has a small hole for you to plug in stands or wall mounts if you so desire. I will say the speakers look rather bland. There’s no sense of excitement, they’re simply designed to be functional, not evoke any other emotion. And this is sadly the case with the entire Z906; nothing looks great, just good enough.

Central Console

Coming down to the central console, as I mentioned earlier it doesn’t have any sort of input; its primary purpose is to show you which source is being played and how it’s being decoded. Depending on your input source, you can have natural Dolby Digital 5.1, direct DTS or 3D Stereo (upconverted from 2-channel sources). There are two more options where you can upconvert from normal 2-channel sources; being 4.1 and 2.1.

Another cool feature of the central console is to show which of the 5 speakers are currently active, so you know what decoding process is being used. This also helps when tuning the speakers (adjusting the volume level of each), although, that’s easily done because only one speaker a time is being played when tuning.

Setting Up

Setting up the system depends on how many inputs you’re going to connect and how large your room is. The supplied cables are 6 feet for each of the satellite speakers, and depending on how well hidden you want them, the setup process can take anywhere from 10 minutes to over half an hour.

Once setup, the only thing left to do is adjusting the volume on each channel, which takes barely 2 minutes. After that select your source and you’re good to go. The only thing you need to be mindful of is the decode selection. Obviously your Bluray player, consoles and PC have 5.1 and DTS decoding built-in, so need to worry about that. Any 2-channel source, like your TV for instance, needs to be used with the 3D decode method to get full virtual surround sound. This is where things can get a bit spotty, as the surround speakers output 2-channel upconverted sound in a somewhat muffled and muddy way. But that’s to be expected given the low fidelity of the source.

The Sound

Coming to actual audio in 5.1 or DTS format, this is where the Logitech Z906 truly shines. Everything is crystal clear, with the satellites speakers packing a nice, punchy bass themselves. Of course the subwoofer provides the vibrating boom you’d expect. I was genuinely surprised at the audio quality and how high the audio can go without the sound ever cracking. Then I remembered they were THX certified, so of course the experience would be nothing less than stellar.

If you’re a fan of Logitech speakers and have used them in the past, or just want to upgrade your existing setup, the Z906 present a great opportunity. Sure they may not look as flashy as some other speakers out in the market, but they are simple to use and easy to setup. The sound quality is really impressive and hooking up to 6 sources is definitely a big advantage in today’s world where we want to connect all of our consoles and media players to on source.

Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Edition Review

Taimoor Hafeez — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:55 +0000

Historically most of Zotac’s ‘AMP! Edition’ graphics cards have just had a mild tweak with slightly overclocked speeds. Sure, some of them have had an improved heatsink, but it wasn’t until the GTX 580 AMP²! Edition released late last year that we saw some significant improvements in the design. Today I’ll be looking at the GTX 680 AMP! Edition, but instead of just having a mild overclock, we get a significant heatsink as well.

Let’s take it from the top, and have a look at the goodies packed inside with the GTX 680 AMP! Edition. First off, we have three Assassin’s Creed games: Assassin’s Creed Director’s Cut, Assassin’s Creed II Deluxe Edition and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. These games will not in the least push the GTX 680, but they do look gorgeous.

Next up there are two molex to 6-pin power cables and one DVI to VGA adapter. Sadly there’s no SLI bridge included.

Now let’s have a look at the card itself. The most obvious thing is the huge heatsink on top of the PCB, which looks strangely disproportioned. A closer look will reveal some rather interesting characteristics.

The actual aluminum fins block on top of the PCB is slightly thinner than the overall width of the board. Popping out of it are four rather long heatpipes that stretch out an inch over the width of the PCB. I guess Zotac engineers found this to be the easiest way to dissipate heat, unorthodox as it is.

Stretching out over the aluminum fins is a metal cover, on top of which are the two 80mm fans. This metal cover itself stretches beyond, making the GTX 680 AMP! Editon into a 3-slot card. The hexagonal cuts for the fan further add to the bizarre design.

In total the Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Edition measures in at 10.5×2.2×5 inches. The width, as I mentioned is due to the copper pipes rising well out of the heatsink. Default factory speeds are 1176MHz core clock and 3304MHz (6608MHz effective) memory clock speeds. Compared to reference Nvidia speeds of 1006MHz core and 3004MHz memory clock speeds, that’s an effective overclock of 14.5 % and 10% respectively.

So all in all this is a pretty big card with some serious cooling solution and factory speed; let’s see if it can perform just as impressively.