We've gotten our hands on plenty of IPS displays, but we've never seen one break that magic $200 barrier. AOC isn't a display manufacturer we've reviewed before, so we'll be very interested to see what kind of performance they have to offer, based on specs alone this could be a very compelling product. The 23-inch IPS panel, offering the de facto 1080p resolution, is clad in a 9.2 mm thick body accented with a brushed aluminum bezel and sports 2 HDMI ports around back along with a pair of speakers. Backlighting is provided by WLED, lending the display that outlandish 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and the more typical 250 nits of brightness. TigerDirect will be featuring this display for that surprising $199 price, and availability is now so if you're looking for a display bargain, this might be the one for you. We're still holding out for the 4K version.
]]>Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Toshiba DX735 All-in-One: Notebooks Without Batteries
NVIDIA Demos Ice Cream Sandwich Running on ASUS Transformer Prime
Two days after the public release of Android 4.0.1 (Ice Cream Sandwich), NVIDIA had it up and running on ASUS' announced but not-yet-released Eee Pad Transformer Prime. NVIDIA sent along a video as proof. The usual big-company red tape kept the video from being released until now. There's not too much we can learn from the video other than the OS is up and running on Tegra 3, and the UI seems to be reasonably quick.
Keep in mind the act of porting Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) to a platform similar to one that already runs Honeycomb isn't that big of a deal. It's the optimization, driver work and bug hunting that will occupy the majority of the coming weeks for companies looking to get ICS running on their hardware.
This video doesn't change the launch plans for ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime: it will still launch (and be reviewed with) Honeycomb.
I've also heard ICS is up and running on Tegra 2, although obviously not featured here. The priority for everyone (read: OEMs) right now is the latest and greatest, but given the similarities between Tegra 2 and Tegra 3, I wouldn't expect the former to be too far behind.
]]>Windows 8 to Feature Streamlined Downloadable Installer
As with every new Windows version, Microsoft is streamlining the Windows setup process, writes Christa St. Pierre on the Building Windows 8 Blog. The biggest change is the new online installer for Windows 8, which can download the installation media directly from Microsoft's servers and install the operating system without so much as bothering the user for a product key (for upgrade installs). Those wanting to do clean or advanced installs will be given the option to copy the installation files to a DVD or USB drive.
Windows 8 will further streamline the upgrade process by folding both Windows Upgrade Advisor, which scans your computer for hardware and software and checks its compatibility with Windows 8, and Windows Easy Transfer, which allows easy and granular controls for backing up and restoring files and settings, into the Windows installer rather than keeping them as separate applications. The new installer will be able to upgrade OSes as old as Windows XP (which will preserve only user data), though users upgrading from Windows Vista or Windows 7 will also be given the option to preserve Windows settings and applications, respectively.
Lastly, Microsoft has made changes to how the upgrade install works with user files to reduce the amount of time taken. Previous installers would move user files to a temporary location, install the OS, and then move them back. The Windows 8 installer reduces the number of file moves, and uses "hard links" to files to change their location in the file structure without physically moving the data around. Microsoft's graph below shows a drastic reduction in time for an upgrade install under Windows 8.
For those of you who prefer boxed software, Microsoft will continue to sell boxed copies of Windows on DVD. Users who initiate the install by booting from a DVD or USB drive will continue to see more advanced options for performing clean installs and partitioning disks. Enterprise administrators and power users who need more customization options can continue to use Microsoft suite of deployment tools (now called the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit, or ADK).
For more details, check out the post at the Building Windows 8 Blog.
Source: Building Windows 8 Blog
]]>OCZ's Octane: Initial Performance Results
Last month OCZ finally unveiled the fruits of its Indilinx acquisition: the OCZ Octane SSD. Based on the Indilinx Everest platform, the Octane was to be OCZ's more affordable high-performance SSD. The drive will be available in two versions: 3Gbps (async NAND), and 6Gbps (sync NAND). Capacities start at 128GB and go all the way up to 1TB.
The drive was originally supposed to be available in the channel starting on November 1st. OCZ delayed the launch in order to get some additional testing under its belts. Given the not too distant memories of the infamous SF-2281 BSOD issue, the additional validation time is definitely appreciated.
We just got our review sample yesterday and we won't be able to share the complete review with you all until tomorrow morning. To tide you over however I convinced OCZ to let me share one benchmark graph with you:
In our Heavy 2011 suite the 512GB Octane does very well, hot on the heels of the SF-2281 based Vertex 3. It's actually beyond impressive that OCZ was able to ressurect Indilinx's seemingy dead controller project and turn it into something that can at least (on the surface) hang with the big boys. I have a lot more testing ahead of me before I can really characterize the drive's performance, but this is a very good start.
OCZ is touting incompressible performance as a major advantage of the Octane over its Vertex 3/Agility 3 drives. The controller is more traditional in the sense that it doesn't do any real time data deduplication/compression. The drive's performance is data agnostic, similar to drives from Intel, Crucial, Samsung, etc...
Inside the chassis we get a look at the drive's Indilinx controller and 512MB (2 x 256MB) DRAM cache. Our 512GB sample features sixteen 32GB Intel 25nm NAND packages, each with four die per package.
Gallery: OCZ Octane
Check back tomorrow morning for the review!
]]>Origin PC Offers Ready-To-Ship Gaming System
We've only had the opportunity to look at one Origin PC so far, and while the performance was impressive the packaging was equally so—Dustin had to struggle to get the large wooden crate into his place. Origin does have some seriously high-end (almost ludicrously so) PCs that you can put together if you're willing to shell out, but some people just want a reasonably high-end PC that's ready to go with a minimum of fuss. And if you're thinking of getting something for the holiday season, a ready-to-ship system could be exactly what you need. Enter the Origin Millennium RTS.
Origin states that it will ship within one day of your payment being processed, and what you'll get is a pretty high-end setup ready to run all the latest and greatest games. Here's a quick rundown of the specs—the only area you can customize on the RTS build is the warranty.
Origin Millennium RTS SpecificationsChassisBitfenix Shinobi Red/BlackNoiseblocker fansProcessorIntel Core i5-2500K overclocked to 4.0-4.5GHzCoolingOrigin Frostbyte 120 Sealed Liquid CoolingMotherboardASUS P8P67 Pro B3 steppingMemory2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB GDDR5Power SupplyCorsair 1050W HX1050StorageCorsair Force 3 120GB SATA 6Gbps SSDOptical Drive24x CDRW/DVDRWNetworkingOnboard Gigabit EthernetAudioOnboard Realtek ALC892 HD AudioOperating SystemWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bitWarrantyStandard 1-year part replacement
45 day free shipping
Lifetime phone support
DVD image
Upgrade to 1-, 2-, or 3-year warranty with free shippingPricing$1,799 online, ships in one day from payment processing
If you're like me, the first thing you're going to do when you see the above list is to go spec out how much it would cost you to put everything together yourself. Never fear, I have already done that (substituting the Corsair H80 for the Origin cooler, as that seems to be similar), and my total price for the parts comes to $1,675, plus around $30 for shipping (with pricing predominantly coming from Newegg, linked for your convenience).
We might have a few quibbles with the parts selection—specifically, I'd like to see a large secondary HDD included, and while the Bitfenix Shinobi is a good case I'd be more inclined to go with a Fractal Design Define R3 personally—but overall this is a beefy gaming system priced just $100 over what it would cost for me to put together the same system. In fact, my own gaming/work PC is running a stock GTX 580 with a Core i7 CPU, and even with a 30" LCD I've found that the GTX 580 is able to handle nearly every game I've got at near-maximum details. Given that my time (and your time) isn't free, if you're happy with the part selections and you want your new gaming system ASAP, we have no qualms about recommending Origin's latest offering.
]]>Toshiba Qosmio F755-3D290: Glasses-Free 3D?
The OCZ Octane Review (512GB)
Having just taken over the company, Ryan was eager to know what he had to change to fix OCZ's reputation. I gave him a long list of issues to address. Most of my suggestions were obvious, just to go above and beyond the call of duty in taking care of his customers and our readers. He agreed to do everything on the list, with one exception. I told him that if he really wanted to succeed, he needed to abandon the OCZ name and start fresh. He told me that he didn't believe it was necessary. We agreed to disagree.
I remember leaving that meeting thinking that Ryan didn't stand a chance. Memory companies were a dime a dozen. Differentiation was bordering on impossible. Having to overcome a bad reputation on top of that didn't make things any easier.
Ryan is headstrong. He'll sow a bunch of seed with the hopes of seeing just one blade of grass grow. I consider myself an optimist, but he's a different breed of one. He's had his share of failures over the years. Remember the OCZ brain mouse? The foray into notebook PCs? No one ever succeeded without trying.
Since then OCZ has abandoned memory altogether. It focuses on two product lines: power supplies and SSDs, the latter making up the bulk of its revenue. And earlier this year, OCZ bought one of the first high-performance SSD controller manufacturers - Indilinx.
OCZ's strategy there didn't make sense to me. I knew Ryan wanted to buy SandForce, but SF was too expensive. I asked Ryan why bother with Indilinx if what he really wanted was SandForce? He told me that the best way to drive the price down on SF was to buy Indilinx. It didn't add up until now.
Ryan took a big risk on Indilinx. They had a promising controller in 2009 and he bought up the bulk of what they could make in exchange for exclusivity rights. OCZ made Indilinx, and Indilinx made OCZ. As Indilinx began courting more vendors, OCZ went after SandForce. As soon as a first generation controller was ready, OCZ began shifting its volume from Indilinx to SandForce. More partners stepped up to fill the gap left by OCZ, but by then no one wanted Indilinx - they wanted SandForce based drives.
Simultaneously (perhaps a result?) Indilinx's execution suffered, the stumble was irrecoverable. The value of Indilinx went down, and Ryan got the company for cheap.
I can only assume the strategy was to rinse and repeat. I had heard rumors of OCZ working on its own controller for the past two years. The Indilinx acquisition sped things up considerably. If the Indilinx solution was good enough, OCZ would shift its volume away from SandForce to its own controller. Starve SandForce and swoop back in later to buy them at a more reasonable price. Competition makes for competitive prices on both sides of the fence it seems.
Things of course didn't work out that way. OCZ took a while to get its own controller design done and it was still very dependent on SandForce. At the same time, SandForce had diversified its portfolio. Since the announcement of the Indilinx acquisition, SandForce brought on a number of new partners to sell its drives. Even Kingston signed up. Finally, LSI agreed to purchase SandForce at a number well in the range of what SF was looking to sell for.
The situation didn't play out exactly how Ryan had hoped, I'm sure. But the result actually isn't all that bad. LSI has no intentions of stopping its supply of SandForce controllers to OCZ (or other partners), and all of the work OCZ put into its own controller finally paid off. Personally, it's hard to believe that I'm writing about the company I once advised to completely abandon their brand. Furthermore, I'm not just writing about them, but I'm writing about their first in-house SSD controller. This is our review of the Indilinx Everest based OCZ Octane, read on!
]]>Batman: Arkham City—New Villain DX11 Man on PCs!
If you’re one of the gamers who waited anxiously for the PC release of Batman: Arkham City yesterday, and you have a reasonably high-end PC, there’s a good chance the initial experience caused some serious concerns. Originally launched last most for the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, PC gamers have waited for what they hoped would be the superior version, complete with DX11 support. The game released on Steam yesterday, and like many we were in line for the download. 16GB+ later, I fired up the game and decided to see what it could do—as a benchmark, of course.
Now, a bit of background information on my PC: I have a GTX 580, 12GB RAM, an overclocked i7-965X processor, and plenty of storage, all hooked up to a 30” LCD. Gaming in general isn’t a problem on this system, even at the native 2560x1600 resolution. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim for instance launched a couple weeks back, and after poking around at the settings for a bit I settled for 2560x1600 and the “Ultra” defaults, and I still get >30FPS throughout the game, and typically >60FPS. Batman: Arkham Asylum was a great game, but it wasn’t particularly taxing on PC hardware, easily pulling 60+ FPS even on moderate systems. So, with that in mind I decided to go for the glory and set everything to maximum quality.
Upon launching the game and playing through the intro, it became readily apparent that the settings were too much. FRAPS was showing 60+ FPS in some areas, but with frequent dips into the single digits, and averages of around 30FPS. Ouch! I decided to dial it down a notch, since 1.5GB of video memory might not be enough for 4xAA and 2560x1600, right? Off went AA, with almost no difference in performance. Hmmm. Then I dropped to 1920x1200, still with very little difference in performance: single digit minimums remained in the built-in benchmark, with averages around 35 FPS. I tried disabling PhysX, which helped a bit, but the choppy performance remained. Then I tried turning off DX11 Tessellation (nope, it didn’t help), Ambient Occlusion (again, nope), and eventually I disabled the DX11 features entirely. Bingo!
Without DX11 features enabled, my setup is able to max out all the remaining settings (including PhysX) and still pull >60FPS in most areas, with dips to around 30FPS in scenes with a ton of PhysX eye candy (e.g. the pellets from the ice gun in the built-in benchmark). Turn off PhysX and minimum frame rates are above 50FPS with averages above 85FPS. So at least on NVIDIA, there’s a serious problem with DX11 right now, but what about AMD hardware? Additional testing confirmed that the extreme choppiness with DX11 features enabled extends to AMD hardware as well; on an HD 6950 DX11 mode got 22FPS average (and 0FPS minimum) while disabling DX11 bumped it up to 70FPS. The problem is also confirmed by this Batman forum post (for those who likely missed it).
So for now, disable DX11 support for the game and you’ll be fine as far as performance goes, but there’s a bigger question: why did this happen? I don’t think it requires a mathematics degree to put things together:
Thanksgiving Break + Black Friday + New Release = Profit!There’s no way this didn’t get caught in validation testing, particularly since DX11 support was one of the new features added for the PC version of the game. Sadly, not only do we get second-hand treatment but we also get broken enhancements. We’ve heard a fix is in the works and should come within the next week or so, at which point we can add Batman: Arkham City to our revised benchmark list and move forward. Still, after the delayed DX11 support for Crysis 2 this sort of thing doesn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. On the bright side, if you liked the last Batman game, Arkham City picks up pretty close to where things ended and is so far looking to be another intense and entertaining outing for the Dark Knight.
PS: As if the above doesn’t already show the PC version was shoved out the door, Steam Cloud, Games for Windows Live, and/or Batman apparently overwrote my save game when I ran it on a second PC, wiping out my progress. Probably some combination of the three, but regardless I’m a bit ticked that several hours of playing just went poof. Consider yourself warned.
]]>Zotac Introduces Passively Cooled GTS 450 Zone Edition
A look at the list of passively cooled GPUs on Newegg reveals that higher end NVIDIA GPUs are not represented well. In fact, we have a number of GT 430 and GT 520 passive models, but only one GT 440 model. On the other hand, AMD's GPUs seem to be quite popular in this space. We have a large number of 6450s. There are two models each of the 6570 and 6670. The 6750, 6770 and even the 6850 have one passively cooled model each.
Zotac is trying to level the playing field here with the introduction of a passively cooled GTS 450.
The GTS 450 Zone Edition comes with a GTS 450 GPU (192 shaders) underclocked to 600 MHz / 1200 MHz. The 128-bit 1 GB DDR3 memory runs at 1333 MHz. Unlike other GTS 450 units, this one will not require a PCI-E power connector. The GTS 450 Zone Edition will have a MSRP of 99 Euros in the EU (with the pricing in the NA market yet to be determined). The unit is currently shipping to retailers and is expected to be out on sale in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Gallery: Zotac GTS 450 Zone Edition
Given that even the NVIDIA GT 5xx models seem to be looking a bit dated right now, we asked Zotac as to why this cooling mechanism wasn't put on one of the more recent NVIDIA GPUs. It appears that the thermal limitations of passive cooling required underclocking which NVIDIA wouldn't allow on the 500 series. We are sure this will turn out to be better than the GT 430 models we have been recommending for HTPC use so far (particularly if you want to use madVR with 1080i60 streams). Will the lower speed DDR3 memory and core clock speeds hurt it when compared to the passively cooled GT440 (for HTPC purposes) ? We will know as soon as the card hits the market.
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