The 2008 version of the High-Def Home
Theater server is in progress now.
Expect a 4U, 16TB or bigger, power-efficient
system, running on WinXP 32 with SageTV!
I
had to drop T-Mobile in favor of Verizon.
EV-DO speeds are around 550kbps down,
110kbps up. Not bad, just like 2001
DSL speeds! The phones they have kinda
suck compared to WM6.0 units I'd rather use,
so I opted for the LG Voyager.
We're looking at an eeePC vs ultraportable
article within the summer, hopefully.
I like the eeePC with the 8.9" LCD, and
compare that against a Penryn-based
dual-core 12.1" notebook or smaller.
We created a new
Summary page, listing out pertinent test scores
related to the CPU, chipset, memory, and GPU
performance. We loaded it up with previous
scores, some lacking in certain tests, but still
a good comparison nonetheless. The Phenom
9500 was there first, but now we've updated it
with a newly minted Phenom 9550 - no more TLB
bug! Check it out...
HITACHI
ENTERPRISE HARD
DRIVE ESTABLISHES NEW PERFORMANCE
AND CAPACITY STANDARDS
450GB
Ultrastar Drive Delivers 30 Percent
More I/Os than its Predecessor
SAN JOSE,
Calif. – April
16, 2008 –
Assuming the reins as the enterprise
hard drive performance and capacity
leader, Hitachi today announced the
Ultrastar™ 15K450. The new drive
uses perpendicular magnetic
recording (PMR) technology to
deliver 450GB of storage, currently
the highest available capacity in
15,000 RPM enterprise-class hard
drives. The Ultrastar 15K450 is an
ideal solution for mission-critical
server and storage applications,
such as online transaction
processing, intensive database
queries and other multi-user
applications.
The
Ultrastar 15K450 is a performance
leader, with Hitachi tests indicating a 30 percent
improvement in sequential throughput
over its predecessor. The drive
features average seek times as low
as 3.3 milliseconds and the fast
rotational speeds reduce average
latency time to 2 milliseconds,
enabling customers to access data
more quickly and efficiently. The
new drive will ship with either
3Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or
4Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) interfaces.
The
Ultrastar 15K450, which is built on
a mature design platform to ensure
greater reliability and reduced
qualification times, offers a host
of industrial-strength technology
for proven reliability in
mission-critical, server-class
environments. Technologies such as
fluid dynamic bearing motors deliver
a low acoustic rating and improved
data integrity, and Rotational
Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology
anticipates disturbances that can
occur in multi-drive configurations
and counteracts them. In addition,
the Ultrastar 15K450 uses Hitachi’s patented head load/unload ramp to
minimize integration induced drive
damage.
“With
the higher capacity and performance
of the Ultrastar 15K450, enterprises
are able to address their throughput
requirements using fewer drives,
which reduces three things; the cost
of ownership, the datacenter’s
footprint and overall power
requirements,” said Dean Amini,
director, Enterprise Market &
Strategy, Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies. “Coupled with our
intensive testing and quality
assurance process, the Ultrastar
15K450 offers the highest available
performance and reliability for
mission-critical computing
environments.”
The
Ultrastar 15K450 will be shipping
this quarter to customers worldwide.
Technical
Specifications:
Ultrastar 15K450
450GB (GB = 1 billion bytes,
accessible capacity may be less)
183 billion bits per square inch
maximum areal density
4 platters, 8 recording heads
2090 Mb/s max. media data rate
3.6 ms average seek time (with
command overhead)
15,000 RPM, 2.0 ms average latency
3Gb/s SAS, 4Gb/s FCAL interfaces
16 MB data buffer
25.8 mm in height (max)
750 in weight (max)
250 G/2 ms pulse non-operating shock
SAS: 13.3 watt idle power
FCAL: 13.4 watt idle power
3.7 Bels typical idle acoustics
5 to 55 degrees C operating
temperature
About
Hitachi Global
Storage Technologies
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
develops advanced hard disk drives
to store and preserve the world’s
valued data. Founded by the pioneers
of hard drives, Hitachi GST enables
users to fully engage in the digital
lifestyle by providing high-value,
high-capacity storage in formats
suitable for the office, in the home
or on the road. With vertically
integrated research, design and
manufacturing capabilities, Hitachi GST delivers leadership technology and
quality to its global customer base.
With
approximately 33,000 employees
worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard
drive products for desktop
computers, high-performance storage
systems and servers, notebooks and
consumer devices. For more
information, please visit the
company’s website at
www.hitachigst.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT/TSE: 6501),
headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics
company with approximately 384,000
employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended
March 31, 2007)
consolidated revenues totaled 10,247
billion yen ($86.8 billion). The company
offers a wide range of systems, products
and services in market sectors including
information systems, electronic devices,
power and industrial systems, consumer
products, materials and financial
services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at
http://www.hitachi.com.
One
GB is equal to one billion bytes and one
TB is equal to 1,000 GB when referring
to hard drive capacity. Accessible
capacity may be less.
Ultrastar
is a trademark of Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies. Hitachi trademarks are authorized for use in countries and
jurisdictions in which Hitachi has the right to use, market and
advertise the brands. Contact Hitachi for more information. Hitachi Global
Storage Technologies shall not be liable
to third parties for unauthorized use of
its trademarks.
Foxconn Launch GeForce® 9800GX2-1024 Graphics
Cards
The Extreme Gaming Power for Extreme Gaming
Enthusiasts
<For Immediate Release> Yan Tai, China, March
18th 2008 – As a global leader in extreme visual
graphics technology, FOXCONN has launched the
flagship GeForce® 9800GX2-1024 graphics card.
Designed for the high-end enthusiast gaming
market, this card will deliver extreme visual
graphics performance which no other predecessors
can match.
Foxconn 9800GX2 Graphics Card Powered by
NVIDIA® Quad SLI™-Ready GeForce® 9800GX2 GPU,
FOXCONN 9800GX2 is the ultimate choice for
extreme gaming enthusiasts! With our superb
engineering and manufacturing capabilities, this
is a powerful graphics card with excellent
stability and reliability under the most extreme
DirectX10 gaming conditions. FOXCONN’s motto in
“Performance without Compromise” once again
shines thru.
Award-Winning Foxconn VGA Products Received
over 80 awards worldwide in 2007, FOXCONN VGA
products are widely recognized for its excellent
performance and quality by major NVIDIA media
partners. Our philosophy in “The Truth in
Engineering” is the key to success.
Foxconn VGA – The Truth in Engineering
FACT 1: Foxconn only use Japanese SOLID
Capacitors on board
Benefits:
Up to 6X Longer Life Span than
electrolytic caps
Increased Stability and Reliability under
extreme thermal conditions
Increased Overclocking Performance
FACT2: Dual Power
Input Filters
Benefits:
Ensures overall stability and
reliability.
FACT3: FOXWARE – Utility which Optimizes
Hardware Performance
Value-Added Bundles (A $100 value)
Every FOXCONN 9800GX2 graphics card come bundled
with two great-value software (DriveClone 3.0
and Virtual Drive 11.5), along with the FOXWARE
overclocking utility. These bundles retail more
than $100.00 when acquired separately at retail
locations.
Bundle Benefits:
DriveClone 3.0 backs up your important
hard drive data and game archives. Into any
backup device!
Virtual Drive 11.5 eliminates the needs to
swap game CD one at a time.
Foxconn is the registered trade name of Hon
Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., a global
leader in the design, manufacture, and
distribution of advanced computer,
communications, and consumer electronics
components, including motherboards, graphics
cards, CPU coolers, barebone systems, and
chassis for personal computer desktops and
servers. With over three decades of demonstrated
manufacturing excellence, Hon Hai sets the
standard in the industry for product quality and
reliability, customer support, and value. In
2006 Hon Hai had sales of $25 billion (USD).
The Channel Service Division (CSD), part of
the PCE Business Group of Hon Hai, is Hon Hai's
worldwide organization for servicing channel
customers. Guided by the mantra "The Art of
More", CSD is dedicated to making it simpler and
more affordable for its customers to offer
superior information systems to their consumer
and enterprise customers. CSD serves a network
of distributors and OEM customers in Asia, EMEA,
and the Americas.
Yan Tai, China, February 21st2008
– As a global leader in extreme visual graphics
technology, FOXCONN has launched the new
GeForce® 9600GT
512MB. Designed
for the performance gaming segment, and positioned
at a sub-US$200 price point, gamers will
surely
appreciate the “Truth in Engineering”
which FOXCONN delivers
on the 9600GT series graphics cards.
Foxconn
9600GT Graphics Cards
Powered
by
NVIDIA® SLI™-Ready GeForce®
9600GT GPU, FOXCONN GeForce® 9600GT 512MB
is ready to rock the gaming community! With our
Excellency in engineering, FOXCONN
has developed 2 versions on the 9600GT (Standard
OC and OC) which guarantees to deliver a
significantly better performance.
Award-Winning Foxconn VGA Products
Received over
80 awards worldwide in 2007, FOXCONN
VGA
products are widely recognized for its excellent
performance and quality. The FOXCONN
9600GT will continue these excellent heritages,
by delivering stunning fast, stable and reliable
performance, while offering a second-to-none
quality with implementation of only the highest
quality components on board.
Foxconn
VGA – The Truth in Engineering
FACT 1: Foxconn only
use
Japanese SOLID Capacitors on board
Temp°C
Electrolytic Capacitors
(Working Hours)
Japanese Solid Capacitors (Working
Hours)
105◦C
800 Hrs
2,000 Hrs
2.5X longer
85◦C
8,000 Hrs
20,000 Hrs
2.5X longer
65◦C
32,000 Hrs
200,000 Hrs
6.25X longer
Benefits:
lUp
to 6X Longer Life Span than electrolytic caps
l
Increased Stability and Reliability under
extreme thermal conditions
l
Increased Overclocking Performance
FACT2: Dual Power Input Filters
Benefits:
l
Ensures overall stability and reliability.
FACT3: FOXWARE – Utility which Optimizes
Hardware Performance
Value-Added Bundles (A $100 value)
Every Foxconn
9600GT 512MB graphics card come bundled with two
great
software (DriveClone 3.0 and Virtual Drive
11.5), along with the FOXWARE overclocking
utility. These bundles retail more than
$100.00 when acquired separately at
retail locations.
Bundle
Benefits:
l
DriveClone 3.0 backs up your important hard
drive data and game archives. Into any backup
device!
l
Virtual Drive 11.5 eliminates the needs to swap
game CD one at a time.
Foxconn is the registered trade
name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., a
global leader in the design, manufacture, and
distribution of advanced computer,
communications, and consumer electronics
components, including motherboards, graphics
cards, CPU coolers, barebone systems, and
chassis for personal computer desktops and
servers. With over three decades of
demonstrated manufacturing excellence, Hon Hai
sets the standard in the industry for product
quality and reliability, customer support, and
value. In 2006 Hon Hai had sales of $25 billion
(USD).
The Channel Service Division (CSD),
part of the PCE Business Group of Hon Hai, is
Hon Hai's worldwide organization for servicing
channel customers. Guided by the mantra "The Art
of More", CSD is dedicated to making it simpler
and more affordable for its customers to offer
superior information systems to their consumer
and enterprise customers. CSD serves a network
of distributors and OEM customers in Asia, EMEA,
and the Americas.
Greetings!
I apologize for not posting or any new
reviews. The AMCC RAID data is just
taking so much time to enter into HTML.
But watch out for it!
Seaburg-platform
i5400 motherboards from Asus, Supermicro and
Tyan all coming soon. We will be
testing with 3.0GHz 1333FSB Penryn Xeons!
Several
peripherals will be reviewed, including a
couple from Logitech, Addlogix, and SEH.
Very unique and exciting products indeed.
We also have an
awesome case provided by Akiwa Technology.
This is a 4U monster with 16x hot swap HDD
trays. Perfect for HTPC servers!
New AMD chipset
motherboards with the SB700 will be
appearing at the end of the month. We are
truly excited about this.
Hauppauge's
HVR-1600 is coming to the lab. This is
a dual-tuner card with ATSC and clear-QAM
capabilities. No doubt a leader in TV
tuners.
And now for a
rare software review: Remote Anything.
Google it. This amazing piece of
software will allow for remote PC control
(software KVM over IP) even through
firewalls. The key is having a system
loaded with RA's Directory Server software
in a DMZ.
Samsung's F1 1TB
drives are finally coming. We will
examine the consumer F1 and the
RAID-qualified F1R drives as well.
Hitachi ahs come
out with the 5K500, crazy-big 500GB notebook
HDDs, but at a girth of 12mm.
Lastly, we
benchmark Zotac's 8800GTS video card.
It will be a busy
month. Thanks for your patience!
Sure, U160/320 SCSI drives are cheap nowadays.
But which controller can give you more
performance? We test three popular but
very different cards using two Seagate Cheetah
15k.5 300GB drives in RAID-0, RAID-1 and
software RAID-0 configurations to see which one
reigns supreme!
