Asustek Packs Power of Intel Core i7 Extreme Processors into mATX Form-Factor

URL: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20120117194922_Asustek_Packs_Power_of_Intel_Core_i7_Extreme_Processors_into_mATX_Form_Factor.html

Asustek Launches World's First LGA2011 Mainboard in microATX Form-Factor

550-850W Power Supply Units Roundup

URL: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/psu-550w-850w.html

Today we are going to introduce to you six power supply units with capacities ranging from 550 to 850 watts. We will talk about products from Chieftec, Cooler Master, Enermax, Thermaltake and Vantec.

Intel Set to Release Eight-Core Chips for LGA2011 Platform in March - Rumour

URL: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20120116164649_Intel_Set_to_Release_Eight_Core_Chips_for_LGA2011_Platform_in_March_Rumour.html

Intel to Launch Romley Platform in March, Unofficial Sources Say

Intel Core i7-3820 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge-E CPU Review

URL: http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73820-QuadCore-Sandy-BridgeE-CPU-Review/

A few weeks back, we took a look at the Core i7-3960X, Intel’s first desktop processor to feature the company’s Sandy Bridge-E microarchitecture. If you're unfamiliar with the chip, Sandy Bridge-E is the ‘tock’ in Intel’s tick-tock release schedule cadence that bridges the gap between first-gen Sandy Bridge-based...

EVGA Plans to Enter the PSU Market with the NEX PSU

URL: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5379/evga-plans-to-enter-the-psu-market-with-the-nex-psu

While we won't see final hardware for a couple of months, EVGA is teasing its entry into the power supply market with a 1500W sample of its upcoming NEX PSU. The NEX lineup will also include 650W, 750W and 1000W models. 

EVGA is being purposefully quiet about the NEX's featureset other than to say that it'll feature an innovative new cable design, "configurable" +12V rails and an easy to use dummy mode for dual-PSU systems.

A number of PC component companies have entered the PSU business as it generally comes with decent margins and it's a good way of building up additional revenue. The question is, how will EVGA differentiate in a crowded market? You could argue that it has a lot of experience with that sort of problem given that its primary business involves selling video cards. There are simply a lot of unknowns at this point.

Gallery: EVGA Plans to Enter the PSU Market with the NEX PSU

CES 2012: HD da IOSafe sobrevive a uma tempestade elétrica

MSI's Z77 Ivy Bridge Motherboards at CES, Now With Thunderbolt Support

URL: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5351/msis-z77-ivy-bridge-motherboards-at-ces-now-with-thunderbolt-support

Ivy Bridge is apparently on track for an early Q2 release so it's no surprise that we're starting to see 7-series motherboards at CES. Although Ivy Bridge should be backwards compatible with supported 6-series Sandy Bridge boards, you do get some features from moving to a 7-series board. For starters there's native USB 3.0 (many 6-series boards provided it through a 3rd party controller) as well as guaranteed PCIe 3.0 support on the slots that branch off of the CPU. 

MSI showed us two Z77 boards, the Z77A-GD80 and the Z77-GD65. The GD80 is unique because it will actually ship with Thunderbolt support. The controller hasn't been placed on the board yet, nor has the Thunderbolt port, but the design is nearly complete. MSI doesn't have an estimate on pricing yet but I'm hearing that the Thunderbolt controller should add another $20 - $30 on average to any design.

Gallery: MSI's Z77 Ivy Bridge Motherboards at CES, Now With Thunderbolt Support

DDR3 SDRAM for LGA 2011: Which Memory Is Best?

URL: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/lga2011-ddr3.html

Sandy Bridge-E processors brought a lot of new tasks to computer enthusiasts, one of which is to choose the optimal memory for the new system. What is more important for LGA 2011 performance: the number of memory channels, memory frequency or memory timings?

Gigabit Wi-Fi chips emerge, will power super-fast home video streaming

URL: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/gigabit-wi-fi-chips-emerge-will-power-super-fast-home-video-streaming.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

The first wireless networking chips capable of powering gigabit-per-second speeds using the forthcoming IEEE 802.11ac standard are starting to emerge, with routers and other consumer networking products expected to launch in the second half of 2012. With speeds three times faster than the current generation of Wi-Fi routers, the new products will speed up synchronization between home devices and greatly improve the quality of in-home audio and video streaming, according to Gigabit Wi-Fi vendors.

Read the comments on this post

Fabricante japonesa Elpida pede US$ 500 mi a clientes, diz jornal

URL: http://exame.abril.com.br/tecnologia/noticias/fabricante-japonesa-elpida-pede-us-500-mi-a-clientes-diz-jornal

A fabricante japonesa afirmou no mês passado que estava considerando várias opções para levantar recursos, entre elas, o refinanciamento da dívida

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (51817 bytes)

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (51817 bytes)

Logitech's HD Pro Webcam C920 Enables Skyping in 1080p

URL: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5295/logitechs-hd-pro-webcam-c920-enables-skyping-in-1080p

CES is supposed to begin next week, but the press releases have already started coming out. Logitech is one of the companies we follow closely here at AnandTech. This CES, they are coming out with two new products, the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 and a novel mouse design in the Logitech Cube. We will write about our impressions of the Logitech Cube after using it first-hand at CES next week. The webcam announcement, however, is interesting for a number of reasons.

A follow-up to the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910, this version brings an on-board H.264 encoder to enable full 1080p video encode without taxing the CPU. It also coincides with the availability of Skype 5.7 Beta which enables full 1080p video conferencing (Hopefully, Google Talk will also start supporting 1080p soon). In addition to HD video calling, the unit also supports 15 MP photo capture. Dual stereo microphones with noise reduction round up the audio side.

1080p capable webcams have been around for more than a year. However, they have all had some drawbacks:

1. None of them could video conference at resolutions greater than 720p (Windows Live Messenger, Skype and other services have supported only upto 720p video conferencing till now)
2. The 1080p capaibility was advertised on the basis of sensor resolution / local video capture, which was often at abysmal frame rates (720p at 15 fps / 1080p at 5 fps for the Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam and 1080p at 15fps for the C910)
3. The absence of an on-board video encoder meant that the CPU ended up getting taxed heavily, leading to a bad user experience (Both the Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam and the C910 lacked an on-board encoder)
4. The only 1080p webcam with an on-board H.264 encoder to guarante 1080p recording at 30 fps had numerous other issues, resulting in a number of negative reviews.

At present, the C920 looks to be the only game in town for 1080p HD video conferencing using Skype. The auto-focus and low-light correction capabilities, as well as the sensor resolution and 1080p encode frame rates are still unknown quantities at this point of time. (Update: Logitech claims that the webcam can record 1080p video at 30 fps)

The unit is expected to hit the market later this month with a suggested retail price of $99.99. We will have some hands-on time with the unit at CES and report back on our experience next week.

Intel Core i7 3820 Review: $285 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge E

URL: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5276/intel-core-i7-3820-review-285-quadcore-sandy-bridge-e

If you are a normal desktop user or even a power user with plans to run at over 4GHz, the vanilla LGA-1155 Sandy Bridge platform is good enough. You get some of the fastest CPUs on the market today paired with reasonably priced motherboards and the ability to use Quick Sync to transcode video...er...quickly. If that's not enough, Intel launched a higher end platform last month: the LGA-2011 Sandy Bridge E.

Take a regular Sandy Bridge, add PCIe 3.0 support, increase the number of PCIe lanes that branch off of the CPU (from 16 to 40 lanes), double the number of memory channels (4 x 64-bit DDR3 memory controllers) and you've got Sandy Bridge E and its LGA-2011/X79 platform. SNB-E is currently available in two forms: a $999 6-core Extreme Edition part (Core i7 3960X) and a $555 6-core unlocked version (Core i7 3930K). Neither is exactly cheap but if you need the PCIe lanes, core count and memory bandwidth, they are your only ticket.

LGA-2011 SNB-E (left) vs. LGA-1155 SNB (right)

Sandy Bridge E is a fairly niche platform to begin with, but what about the niche within the niche (extremeception?) of users who just need the LGA-2011 platform but not necessarily a 6-core behemoth? For those users, there's the Core i7 3820.

Read on for our review!

Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 Review

URL: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5271/gigabyte-gax79ud3-review

Over the years, Gigabyte has given us some interesting products.  More recently in the past 18 months, Rajinder gave their H55N-USB3 motherboard a well deserved recommendation, and more recently, I have scrutinized their Sandy Bridge range.  For X79, Gigabyte is uncharacteristically launching only a few motherboards, of which we are looking at their cheapest model, the GA-X79-UD3.  We are also for the first time introduced to what Gigabyte believe should be a graphical BIOS compared to their competitors.   Read on for the full review.