PATREONItems tagged with force
A few months back, we rounded up a half dozen SATA III solid state drives in this article. In that showdown, we had drives based on SandForce SF-2200 series and Marvell controllers represented, with both synchronous and asynchronous memory types... Since that article was published, however, we received some updates to a couple of the drives that were featured. First, Corsair sent over the 240GB variant of their excellent Force GT drive and Crucial made available a firmware update that significantly changed the performance profile of their M4 SSD. Let's have a look......
Read more...
A few months back, we rounded up a half dozen SATA III solid state drives in this article. In that showdown, we had drives based on SandForceSF-2200 series and Marvell controllers represented, with both synchronous and asynchronous memory types. We ultimately found the SandForce-based drives when paired to synchronous NAND flash memory offered the best all-around performance, but they were also the most expensive. Generally speaking though, each of the drives featured in that article had merit, all things considered. Since that article was published, however, we received some updates to a couple of the products that were featured. First, Corsair sent over the 240GB variant of their excellent...
Read more...
With all of the new products to hit the SSD market recently, we thought it was a good time to pull together a varied sampling of cutting edge SATA III solid state drives to see how they stack up. We’ve got six drives on tap for this piece, two apiece from OCZ and Corsair, one from Patriot and another from Crucial. On tap are the Corsair Force GT, Corsair Force 3 Series, OCZ Agility 3, Patriot Wildfire, OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS, and the Crucial M4... SATA III SSD Round-Up: OCZ, Corsair, Patriot, Crucial...
Read more...
We’ve opened our last few SSD round-ups with comments regarding the break-neck pace at which the solid state storage market has advanced these last few years. At the risk of repeating ourselves, the SSD market continues to show no signs of slowing down. New drives are being introduced constantly and along with updated interfaces, drivers and firmware, manufacturers continue to push the envelope. Consider this; Solid State Drives have gone from essentially non-existent on the desktop to the preferred storage medium of enthusiasts in less than three years. And they’ve offered significant performance improvements along the way. Many would even argue (myself included) that upgrading your...
Read more...
Corsair's "Force" series of solid state drives have been widely praised across the industry, but the kicker is that only a few sizes have been made available. And for some users, the 60GB, 120GB and 240GB models just won't fit the bill for one reason or another. But now the company is introducing a few new members into the Force family, with expanded size options for those who need them. Three new models are being introduced, with 40GB, 80GB and 160GB editions being added to the lineup. Corsair notes that the 40GB model is ideal for use as a Windows 7 boot drive, while the other two just provide more price points to focus on for those in need of a basic SSD replacement for their notebook hard...
Read more...
The solid state storage industry is really ramping up; SSDs have been slow to catch on due to small sizes compared to cheaper HDDs, and the general price premium associated with them, but the stars may finally be aligning. Corsair recently added a nice and spacious 256GB SSD to their Nova family, and today the company is providing even more options for those looking to upgrade their notebook drive and boost performance. Corsair's Force series is gaining three new members today: the F60 (60GB), F120 (120GB) and F240 (240GB). Easy to link the model name with capacity, right? All of these are build using the SandForce SF-1200 SSD processor, and the two companies worked closely together in order...
Read more...
ASUS and Sam’s Club Canada Join Forces to Deliver Green Computing to Canada-- World’s first bamboo notebook to be sold exclusively at Sam’s Club Canada -- Fremont, California (November 10, 2008) – ASUS, a world leader in the notebook design and one of the fastest growing notebook brands, today announced that Sam’s Club Canada will give eco-friendly Canadians a chance to purchase a limited number of ASUS’ highly-anticipated U6V bamboo notebook. The partnership is a “win” for ASUS, Sam’s Club Canada, and consumers, as it allows ASUS to expand its market presence further into Canada, and gives Sam’s Club Canada and its Members access to an exquisite, environmentally-friendly notebook that truly...
Read more...
It was all very suspicious, an email in our inbox from MTV and the Beatles' Apple Corps. It seemed to point to a "Rock Band" link. But it was the Wall Street Journal that solidified things. According to the all too familiar anonymous sources, we have a deal a-cooking.This is a major coup for MTV, getting the Beatles to sign onto Rock Band. The Beatles join Aerosmith, Metallica, and Jimi Hendrix (Guitar Hero) and AC/DC (Rock Band)as the latest --- and biggest -- group to license its songs to a music-oriented video game.The Beatles represent the biggest prize to date in the category. Not only do they have the best-selling album catalog of any band, they haven't yet licensed...
Read more...
We simply must chalk this one up in the totally cool column. After all, how many times have you been asked to specify your own dream product by top-tier manufacturers? The world's first "crowd-sourced" personal computer is the vision and goal of the new Asus and Intel WEPC campaign and web site. What are your top five must-have features for a top-of-the-line notebook? Do you want it as powerful as you can get it, at the expense of a boat anchor weight class? Or would your rather have something lighter, nimble but still full-featured? We here at HotHardare, in conjunction with our friends at Intel and Asus are joining forces to help you, our...
Read more...
When we think about ECS and their product lines, we typically expect a budget-minded approach. Solid products at reasonable prices that don't exactly wow the consumer, but don't hit them hard in the wallet either. The ECS X48T-A motherboard that we looked at a few weeks ago was one of the first steps by ECS to change that image, although a few missteps with the construction as well as some overclocking issues didn't overly sway us to their new way of thinking.Thus, we were a bit surprised when we first heard about the ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ Hydra - a twin pack of high-end graphics cards consisting of two GeForce 9800 GTX+ cards combined with liquid-cooling. The 9800 GTX+ is the upper level of...
Read more...
When we think about ECS and their product lines, we typically expect a budget-minded approach. Solid products at reasonable prices that don't exactly wow the consumer, but don't hit them hard in the wallet either. The ECS X48T-A motherboard that we looked at a few weeks ago was one of the first steps by ECS to change that image, although a few missteps with the construction as well as some overclocking issues didn't overly sway us to their new way of thinking. Thus, we were a bit surprised when we first heard about the ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ Hydra - a twin pack of high-end graphics cards consisting of two GeForce 9800 GTX+ cards combined with liquid-cooling. ...
Read more...
NVIDIA has just recently released a fresh set of beta drivers from some GeForce cards with plenty of noteworthy changes and updates. The GeForce 180 series drivers as they are known are still currently in the beta phase, but NVIDIA wanted to get them out the door ASAP because these new drivers incorporate significant FarCry 2 performance enhancements of the 170 series drivers. But there's more to these drivers than just some FarCry tweaks. First, here are the release highlights as per NVIDIA's website:Beta driver for GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8800-series desktop GPUs (refer to the products supported tab for more detail).Recommended for the best experience on Far Cry 2: “Since we first...
Read more...
With all of the recent hoopla surrounding Intel and NVIDIA as of late, today's announcement may come as a bit of a surprise to many of you. To say that there has been some tension between Intel and NVIDIA lately would certainly be putting it mildly. But the fact of the matter is, for now at least, the two companies share a somewhat symbiotic relationship. The products we'll be showing you here are proof of this fact. What we have on tap for you today is a new NVIDIA chipset with an mGPU (or IGP) designed for the Intel Socket 775 platform, the GeForce 9300. We should note, however, that NVIDIA is also announcing the GeForce 9400 today as well, the same chipset that powers Apple's new MacBook line...
Read more...
With all of the recent hoopla surrounding Intel and NVIDIA as of late, today's announcement may come as a bit of a surprise to many of you. To say that there has been some tension between Intel and NVIDIA lately would certainly be putting it mildly. But the fact of the matter is, for now at least, the two companies share a somewhat symbiotic relationship. The products we'll be showing you here are proof of this fact.What we have on tap for you today is a new NVIDIA chipset with an mGPU (or IGP) designed for the Intel Socket 775 platform, the GeForce 9300. We should note, however, that NVIDIA is also announcing the GeForce 9400 today as well, the same chipset that powers Apple's new MacBook...
Read more...
One of the criticized "features" of the iPhone since day one has been the lack of a user-swappable battery. For any heavy user, the fact that you can no longer rely on being able to carry a spare battery for a long day of use, but rather, a charger, has been a sore point. Of course, with the device's amazing popularity, many have overlooked that flaw, or worked around it with external battery extenders. However, the EU will likely not be so kind. Current regulation, introduced with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) in July of 2006, primarily sought to prevent the unnecessary use of toxic metals in batteries as well as making it easier to recycle and dispose of used batteries....
Read more...
NVIDIA's current list of graphics products reads like a mathematician's crib sheet; there are no fewer than 10 active SKUs in their GTX 200- and 9000-series of graphics cards. It's generally understood that higher model numbers typically mean better peformance, but the subtleties behind the GSO / GT / GTX / GX2 monikers are enough to confuse even the most stalwart tech gurus. NVIDIA admits to creating some buyer confusion, and plans on making things easier from here on out with the model type coming first (GTX meaning high-end) and the part number corresponding to the performance level second, with higher numbers obviously equalling better performance (ie, a GTX 280 is faster than a GTX 260).Adding...
Read more...
NVIDIA's current list of graphics products reads like a mathematician's crib sheet; there are no fewer than 10 active SKUs in their GTX 200- and 9000-series of graphics cards. It's generally understood that higher model numbers typically mean better peformance, but the subtleties behind the GSO / GT / GTX / GX2 monikers are enough to confuse even the most stalwart tech gurus. NVIDIA admits to creating some buyer confusion, and plans on making things easier from here on out with the model type coming first (GTX meaning high-end) and the part number corresponding to the performance level second, with higher numbers obviously equalling better performance (ie, a GTX 280...
Read more...
NVIDIA has posted a fresh set of Forceware drivers for all of you GeForce owners out there. The new Forceware 178.13s are WHQL-certified drivers for GeForce 6-series, 7-series, 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs, including the recently released GeForce 9800 GTX+, 9800 GT, 9500 GT and 9400 GT GPUs.In addition to a number of bug fixes, NVIDIA has updated support for PysX in these new drivers and they also allow for two- and three-way SLI configurations on the Skulltrail platform.A number of performance enhancement are offered with the drivers as well, which include... Single GPU increases up to 11% in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset) Single GPU increases up to 11% in Assassin's Creed DX10...
Read more...
NVIDIA Announces Workforce Reduction SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 - NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced a workforce reduction to allow for continued investment in strategic growth areas. As a result, NVIDIA expects to eliminate approximately 360 positions worldwide, or about 6.5 percent of the Company’s global workforce. The reduction is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2009 ending October 26, 2008. NVIDIA will provide employees affected by this reduction with severance packages, counseling, and job placement services."Our action today is difficult, but necessary considering current business realities. Despite our reduction, we will continue...
Read more...
In the conclusion of our coverage of the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 launch, we posted this statement, "...dare we say a $300 graphics card represents an excellent value, from a price point perspective? These cards are definitely going to put significant price pressure on NVIDIA's GTX 200 series." At the time, the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 were selling for upwards of $650 and $400 respectively, and ATI's newly released Radeon, which performed somewhat better than the GTX 260, was introduced at "only" $299.Of course, NVIDIA quickly responded with a hefty round of price cuts that brought the GTX 280's price down considerably and put the GTX 260 and Radeon HD 4870 on roughly equal footing, but it...
Read more...
In the conclusion of our coverage of the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 launch, we made this statement, "...dare we say a $300 graphics card represents an excellent value, from a price point perspective? These cards are definitely going to put significant price pressure on NVIDIA's GTX 200 series." At the time, the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 were selling for upwards of $650 and $400 respectively, and ATI's newly released Radeon, which performed somewhat better than the GTX 260, was introduced at "only" $299.Of course, NVIDIA quickly responded with a hefty round of price cuts that brought the GTX 280's price down considerably and put the GTX 260 and Radeon HD 4870 on roughly equal footing,...
Read more...
We are writing to let you all know that we have just posted a new article at HotHardware in which we evaluate the features and performance of the BFG GeForce 9600 GT OCX with Thermointelligence cooling. The BFG GeForce 9600 GT OCX takes mid-range graphics up a few notches by cranking up both the memory and GPU clock speeds over NVIDIA's GeForce 9600 GT reference spec, while coupling a potent cooling solution with intelligent temperature management for maximum stability and performance. Click the link below and check it out... BFG GeForce 9600 GT OCX Graphics Card...
Read more...
