Enermax Introduces ETD-T60 Series Bottom-Flow CPU Coolers

ENERMAX introduces a new down flow CPU cooler, the ETD-T60 series. ENERMAX thermal team presents the new CPU cooler, ETD-T60, with down flow solutions and thermal resistance down to 0.12°C/W; a breakthrough for down flow CPU coolers. ETD-T60 combines six Ø6mm heat pipes that cross from two sides of the heat sink with enhanced soldering technology to ensure flawless thermal conduction from CPU to heat sink. The fins of ETD-T60 series are added with ENERMAX’s unique VGF, VEF technology and Twister-bearing fan.

Furthermore, the ETD-T60 is attached with ENERMAX’s new patented AAP (Auto-Adjustable-Pressure) universal brackets. The AAP brackets support various CPU sockets and gives perfect contact force (18~28kgw) in between CPU and cooler. Thanks to AAP, the insufficient thermal conduction due to under-pressure or damage to CPU from over-pressure will no longer be an issue for users.

Ingenious design for best cooling performance
  • VGF (Vortex Generator Flow, patented): Small Vortex Generators applied around the heat pipes that makes air go through the windless area behind the heat pipes of 55 fins to maximize air convection and remove heat that conventional designs cannot reach
  • VEF (Vacuum Effect Flow): The unique design on the heat sink creates an air channel with the fin flaps. That makes more cool air sucked in by utilizing the differential pressure in between the heat sink’s internal and external air temperature.
  • AAP (Auto-Adjustable-Pressure, patented): Inside the bracket’s pillars, ENERMAX integrates Auto-Adjustable-Pressure mechanism giving perfect contact force between CPU and cooler. It reduces the risk of insufficient cooling performance caused by improper installation. 






WD Announces New My Passport Studio and My Studio for Mac Portable Hard Drives

Western Digital today introduced its newest generation of My Passport portable hard drives specifically designed for use with Mac computers and Apple Time Machine, featuring compact, elegant Mac-inspired designs with high capacity storage options and exceptional security for today's active lifestyles.

My Passport Studio boasts the all-metal design and performance needed for today's discerning Mac user, serving as an ideal companion for the on-the-go photographer, videographer, graphic artist, or creative professional that produces, shares and consumes massive amounts of digital content daily. Offering up to 1 TB capacity, the My Passport Studio also provides multiple connectivity options with two FireWire 800 ports and a USB 2.0 interface.

The dual FireWire ports provide blazing fast upload and transfer speeds while also allowing users to daisy chain additional drives or other peripherals such as HD camcorders. My Passport Studio also features encryption and password protection software, and an all-new design constructed of metal for a sturdy feel in your hand and scratch resistance.

Housed in a stylish yet durable slim enclosure, the My Passport for Mac is designed for Mac users who need high capacity storage in an ultra-compact and lightweight design. Available in capacities up to 1 TB, My Passport for Mac remains a favorite among students and other Mac users whose work environments may include extensive travel or outdoor and adventure locations.

With minimal local storage on the MacBook and MacBook Air products, My Passport for Mac serves as an easy-to-use and reliable storage and back-up source for music, videos, photos and all digital content. Conveniently powered through its USB 2.0 interface, users can quickly connect the My Passport for Mac drive to their MacBook or MacBook Air without the need for additional cables or power source.

"Whether you are a member of the creative community or simply use your Mac to enjoy digital content on-the-go, users will find the perfect portable storage solution with WD's My Passport Studio and My Passport for Mac high-capacity portable hard drives," said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager of WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups. "We know the value our customers place on their digital content, which is why we set demanding requirements for durability, security, and long-term reliability, with all our drives." 

Pricing and Availability
WD's My Passport Studio and My Passport for Mac are available on the WD store at www.wdstore.com and at select retailers and distributors.

My Passport Studio (MSRP in USD):
  • 500 GB - $129.99
  • 750 GB - $159.99
  • 1 TB - $179.99
My Passport for Mac (MSRP in USD)
  • 500 GB - $99.99
  • 750 GB - $119.99
  • 1 TB - $129.99






ZOTAC Announces A75-ITX WiFi Motherboard

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world’s largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today announces the A75-ITX WiFi platform that enable users to embrace the power of AMD accelerated processing units, or APUs, in a compact mini-ITX form factor to form the perfect gaming capable home theatre PC.

The ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi features an FM1 socket to take advantage of the latest AMD A8, A6, A4 and E2 series APUs with AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphics processors for the perfect synergy of CPU and GPU performance power. Two memory slots enable users to install up to 8GB of high-speed DDR3 memory with speeds up to 1866 MHz, depending on the APU installed, for maximum system responsiveness for media playback, gaming and every-day use.

“Our goal at ZOTAC is to pack as many features and capabilities into the smallest form factory possible. The ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi is no different – we’ve packed it with features and expansion capabilities typical of larger ATX offerings,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.

There is plenty of expansion with the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi, including a PCI Express x16 slot, up to eight USB 3.0 and four SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports, for maximum internal and external upgrade potential from a compact form factor. Dual Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 networking technologies enable the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi to deliver lightning-fast network transfers over wires or wireless and easily connect to wireless peripherals and phones.

It’s time to play with the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi mini-ITX platform.





I-O Data Intros BDXL-Capable Portable Blu-ray Burner

Japanese company I-O Data unveiled its latest portable Blu-ray drive, the BRP-U6XE, which is capable of writing the new BDXL format, with disc capacities of up to 100 GB. Measuring 137 x 154 x 20 mm, the drive relies entirely on USB 2.0 for its connectivity. Its USB cable is built into it, and is retractable. Corel WinDVD BD3D and Nero Express Essentials come bundled.

The drive is capable of burning single and double layer BD-R discs at 6X, triple and quadruple layer (BDXL) BD-R discs at 4X, BD-RE at 2X, DVD-R/+R and DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-R/+R double-layer and DVD-RW at 6X, DVD-RAM at 5X, CD-R at 24X, and CD-RW at 16X. Backed by a one-year warranty, the I-O Data BRP-U6XE is priced at about $233.

NVIDIA Tegra 3 has fifth low-power core for power savings

NVIDIA revealed that Kal-El, the third-generation Tegra chip, will feature a fifth core to enhance energy efficiency. Just like the four regular cores the fifth core is an ARM Cortex A9-based companion core, but it's manufactured on a low-power process and intended to run up to 500MHz only. According to NVIDIA, the companion core enables power savings of 14 to 61 percent compared to Tegra 2. Full details about the fifth core and more new features of Kal-El can be found in these two whitepapers on NVIDIA's blog. 
The first whitepaper outlines the patented fifth core. This extra core – which we call the “companion core” – runs at a lower frequency and operates at exceptionally low power.

During less power-hungry tasks like web reading, music playback and video playback, Kal-El completely powers down its four performance-tuned cores and instead uses its fifth companion core. For higher performance tasks, Kal-El disables its companion core and turns on its four performance cores, one at a time, as the work load increases.

The Variable SMP architecture is also completely OS transparent, which means that operating systems and applications don’t need to be redesigned to take advantage of the fifth core.

The second whitepaper discusses the benefits of quad-core across different types of use cases – web, games, apps, multitasking and more. We also highlight examples of how quad-core Kal-El uses less power than dual-core processors across all performance points.

Project Kal-El also includes a brand-new 12-core GPU that delivers up to 3x the graphics performance of Tegra 2, as well as several additional new capabilities. We’ll have more details on these aspects soon.



HIS Intros HD 6870 IceQ 1 GB Graphics Card

HIS today released its latest performance segment graphics card, the HD 6870 IceQ 1GB. This card makes use of the large IceQ cooler found on Radeon HD 6970-based IceQ graphics cards. Its cooler makes use of a large heatsink to which heat is fed by four exposed-copper heat pipes, and ventilation is care of what HIS calls "Black Hole Impeller", a blower that draws in air from both sides of the card (obverse, reverse), channels it though the heatsink, and out of the case. This cooler, HIS claims, can keep temperatures down by as much as 24°C, and noise levels down by as much as 10 dB, compared to the AMD reference cooler.

Under the hood is an AMD Radeon HD 6870 GPU, which follows reference clock speeds of 900 MHz core, and 1050 MHz (4200 MHz effective) memory. It is backed by 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. Perhaps the idea here is to let users take advantage of the cooler and overclock the card themselves. The HD 6870 packs 1120 VLIW5 stream processors, and is DirectX 11 compliant. The card draws power from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Display outputs include two DVI, one HDMI 1.4, and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors. There is a single CrossFire connector, that allows you to pair with any other HD 6800 series graphics card. Expect the HIS HD 6870 IceQ to charge a small premium over the reference base model graphics card.



Eurocom Adds Intel Core i7-2960XM Processor Extreme Edition to its line of Notebooks

Eurocom Corporation, a leading developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable notebooks,high performance  mobile workstations and mobile servers is adding new high performance Intel Core i7 Processors to its line of High Performance Notebooks.

“Eurocom is always striving to offer the best available technology, and in our mind the second generation Intel Core i7 Mobile Processors will greatly improve our Business and Gaming Notebooks, through increased efficiency and performance” said Mark Bialic, Eurocom President.

“Eurocom now has the ability to offer a 15.6 inch system (EUROCOM Racer) with a 100 Watt video card (NVIDIA GTX 580M, AMD HD 6990M) and a 55 Watt Processor, not many notebooks pack that amount of power into such a small and mobile form factor, that is what’s so special!” explains Matthew Thompson, Eurocom Corporate Sales Manager.

The EUROCOM Racer is currently the only notebook on the planet of its size that can support the most powerful mobile GPU’s on the market with the most powerful mobile processors. The EUROCOM Racer supports high performance, high power VGA technologies up to 100 Watt GPUs including NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M, AMD Radeon Mobility HD6990M or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5010M equipped with 2GB of superfast DDR5 Video Memory. EUROCOM Racer also supports up to 32GB of high performance DDR3-1333 or DDR3-16000 memory required for heavy duty computing and/or virtualization. EUROCOM Racer can be equipped with a Matte or Glossy Full HD 1920-by-1080 pixels 16:9 LED backlit display panels. EUROCOM Racer is a high end professional and gaming notebook. Being fully configurable and customizable allows users to build their system to their exact specifications, operational and/or application requirements

Eurocom High Performance Notebooks are built to offer unmatched performance, long lifespan and full upgradeability of the processor, memory, storage, operating system and VGA technology, and are designed with the most innovative technology and components available, from workstation class desktop Xeon processors and RAID support to dual GPU support. Now Eurocom Performance Notebooks are available with the most powerful Mobile processors in the world.

The second generation Intel Sandy Bridge Processors are based on 32nm technology and Sandy Bridge architecture. They support Intel Turbo Boost 2.0, which can automatically allow processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency. Turbo Boost is activated when the Operating System requests the highest processor performance.

Intel Hyper-Threading is also supported, which uses processor resources more efficiently, enabling multiple threads to run on each core. Hyper-Threading increases processor throughput and improves overall performance.

Due to the high Turbo Boost, large L3 cache, and Hyper-Threading, the performance of the Core i7-2000 series processors will vastly improve Eurocom’s mobile offerings. All Eurocom systems are custom built to the customer’s specifications; this allows them to configure their platform to be a Mobile Server, Mobile Workstation or an Ultra High Performance Gaming Rig.

Supporting Eurocom Models
  • EUROCOM Neptune- 17.3” display- 16.46x11.08x1.67-1.82 inch; 3.90kg/ 8.58lbs
  • EUROCOM Racer- 15.6” display- 15.04x10.24x1.4-1.72 inch; 3.1kg/6.82lbs
  • EUROCOM Fox 2.0- 15.6” display-14.96x10.00x1.00-1.61 inch; 2.6kg / 5.72lbs
  • EUROCOM Lynx 3.0- 17.3” display-16.52x11.1x1.0-1.66 inch; 3.1kg / 6.82lbs
Supported Intel Processors & Specifications
  • i7-2960XM- 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 2.7 GHz, 3.7 GHz (Turbo), 8 MB L3 Cache, 55W TDP
  • i7-2860QM- 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 2.5 GHz, 3.6 GHz (Turbo), 8 MB L3 Cache, 45 W TDP
  • i7-2760QM- 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 2.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz (Turbo), 6 MB L3 Cache, 45 W TDP

Micron Unveils RealSSD C400 Series Self-Encrypting Solid State Drives

Micron Technology, Inc., introduced a new version of its popular RealSSD C400, featuring self encryption for unmatched data security. The C400 SED (Self-Encrypting Drive) is based on the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Opal specifications and provides a hardware-based answer for the increasing wave of data breaches that continue to impact computer users and enterprises worldwide.

Security breaches caused by malicious attacks are on the rise, according to the recent Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. While it's notable that the increase in small-scale external attacks doesn't rely on highly sophisticated approaches, encryption is widely credited as the first choice for the most affordable security solution for deterring such intrusions.

"Self-encrypting drives represent the future of data protection," said Dr. Joerg Borchert, 2011 president and chairman of the nonprofit Trusted Computing Group. "Hardware encryption provides the strongest security and best performance, and solid-state technology like Micron's will provide even quicker data access."

The C400 SED's encryption capabilities are delivered through a hardware-based, AES-256-bit encryption engine and advanced security firmware. Micron's firmware is designed to comply with the TCG Opal specification. TCG Opal is an open industry standard that provides a verifiable path for companies who need to prove they're compliant with tough data security regulations when devices or drives are lost or stolen.

Like all hardware-encryption, the drive works in conjunction with an encryption management system. Micron's C400 SED solution was built in partnership with leading encryption management provider Wave Systems (Nasdaq:WAVX). Wave's EMBASSY® management software provides policy-based access controls, comprehensive reporting, directory services integration and end-user access recovery that allows IT to cost-effectively implement and administer endpoint encryption. Importantly, Wave's management software gives IT confidence that data is protected in the event that a computer—or the drive itself—is lost or stolen.

"Micron is a true innovator in the field of flash-based storage devices and we applaud their decision to incorporate Opal-based encryption on their new C400 drives," said Steven Sprague, CEO and President of Wave Systems. "By incorporating self-encryption in the C400 SED, Micron provides not only outstanding performance, but also the peace of mind that confidential information stored on a laptop is secure. Wave is excited about this new partnership with Micron and we look forward to providing our customers with a high preformence SSD with strong data protection capabilities."

The security and reliability of Micron's C400 SED was designed for large corporations, government systems and other multiple-user networks that require maximum security without cumbersome workflow interruptions or decreased performance.

The C400's encryption key is protected within drive hardware—separate from the host. This is one reason why hardware-based encryption is superior to software encryption (an alternative solution that stores the encryption key in the computer's memory, where it's vulnerable to attack). Micron's SED offers stronger security because the encryption key never leaves the drive. User authentication is performed by the drive prior to starting the operating system ensuring independence from the operating system. Another disadvantage of software-based encryption is its dependence on the computer's processor, which can degrade performance. In contrast, Micron's C400 SED performs all encryption inside the SSD's controller, ensuring no system performance degradation.

"The C400 SED will help users and IT teams alike to sleep better at night. We've leveraged our popular client SSD and partnered with the leading encryption management vendor to create a product that provides a solid defense against data theft," said Justin Sykes, Micron's general manager of client SSD solutions. "With security breaches increasing for every type of user, this solution scales without sacrificing high performance or reliability."

The C400 SED SSD is available in 128-, 256-, and 512GB capacities, a SATA 6Gb/s interface, and 2.5 and 1.8-inch form factors. The drive's sophisticated NAND management delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 500 MB/s and 260 MB/s respectively – the same high performance as Micron's popular C400. The drive will be sampling and in production in the fourth quarter of this year and will be available through Micron's global distribution network.




Gigabyte Unveils 990FXA-UD3 1.2 Motherboard

Gigabyte unveiled a new socket AM3+ motherboard targeting a price-point sweetspot, the 990FXA-UD3 1.2. The board is based on the AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, and supports the upcoming AMD FX processors apart from socket AM3 processors in the Phenom II and Athlon II series. As a new revision, the board supports AMD FX processors out of the box. The AM3+ socket is powered by an 8+2 phase VRM. The board is constructed according to the UltraDurable 3 Classic specifications, with 2 oz copper-layer PCB, 50,000+ hours capacitor durability, and DualBIOS. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory with overclocking.

There are four PCI-Express x16 slots on this board, however, only two of them are wired to the AMD 990FX northbridge, both run at full PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth at all times. The other two are electrical PCI-Express x4, wired to the SB950 southbridge. The board supports both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX, though it's likely that it will ship with just the 2-way SLI bridge cable.

Other expansion slots include two PCI-Express x1, and one legacy PCI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the southbridge are assigned as internal ports, there are two eSATA 3 Gb/s ports, driven by a JMicron JMB363 controller. There are four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two via a standard header, driven by Etron EJ168 controllers. Other connectivity includes 8 channel HD audio driven by Realtek ALC889 codec, one gigabit Ethernet connection by Realtek RTL8111E, and FireWire. The board makes use of traditional AwardBIOS, with HybridEFI extensions that lets you boot from volumes bigger than 2.2 terabytes.

OCZ Technology Introduces Synapse Cache Series SSDs for High-Performance Caching

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today launched its Synapse Cache Series 2.5” SSDs. The new Synapse SSDs are optimized for caching applications and leverages Dataplex cache software to dynamically manage the Synapse SSD in conjunction with standard hard disk drives (HDDs), to provide users with SSD-level performance across the entire capacity of the HDD.

"The industry has shown that it craves the performance advantages that SSDs provide, however, many users still value the high capacities associated with HDDs,” said Tobias Brinkmann, Director of Product Management, OCZ Technology Group. "We see the Synapse Cache SSDs integrated with Dataplex software as a big win for a large number of customers who value SSD performance but still require HDD capacity. We are proud to be the first to offer this no-compromise approach to enabling high-performance and high-capacity storage for virtually any PC platform.”





This comprehensive caching solution prioritizes the most frequently/recently used “hot” data on the Synapse Cache SSD, while “cold,” less frequently used data is stored on the larger capacity HDD. The OCZ Synapse series features the latest and most advanced hardware and software technology to deliver superior storage performance without sacrificing HDD capacity.


AMD FX Processor Prices Lower Than Expected

Sources among retailers told DonanimHaber that retail prices of AMD's next generation performance desktop processor series, the AMD FX, are a lot lower than expected. On October 12, AMD will launch three new parts worldwide, the eight-core FX-8150, FX-8120, and six-core FX-6120, priced at US $245, $205, and $175, respectively.






LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series Now Available

LaCie announced the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series is now available for purchase. It is the first portable solution to feature the shocking 10Gb/s speeds of Thunderbolt technology. This next-generation Little Big Disk is the first product in LaCie's series of high-end Thunderbolt solutions.

Designed for the most demanding applications, the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series will bring a new level of performance to creative workflows and professional storage users. It offers ultra-fast data transfers, complete system backup in minutes, and faster content editing than ever before.

 "Performance can come in small packages," says Jason Ziller, Intel director of Thunderbolt Marketing. "LaCie's Little Big Disk with Intel's Thunderbolt technology delivers blazingly fast transfer speeds in a truly portable form factor; we think media creators and entertainment enthusiasts alike are going to love it."

A FEATHERWEIGHT POWERHOUSE
The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series sets the new standard for the storage industry. Featuring a pair of 2.5" drives in a Mac OS RAID configuration, the Little Big Disk delivers stunning read speeds more than 480MB/s in SSD and up to 190MB/s in HDD.

The more Little Big Disks you chain together, the more impressive the performance. Users can daisy chain several Little Big Disks to maximize the interface's capabilities and reach transfer rates around 800MB/s — truly rackmount storage speeds in a portable solution.

NEXT GENERATION STORAGE
A game changer for content creators and professional users, the Little Big Disk is the ultimate portable solution for fast access to data or on-set editing. It supports multiple RAID levels (0,1 and JBOD) and daisy chaining for storage expansion or connecting other peripherals. Additionally, it features a heat sink casing and quiet fan for dual cooling.

"The great thing about the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series is its versatility," said Erwan Girard, Professional Business Unit Manager, LaCie. "No matter which Little Big Disk model you choose, it will serve your most demanding applications with ease and portability. It's the ultimate in storage technology."

For more than 20 years, LaCie has worked in the Apple™ marketplace, introducing innovative products and launching cutting-edge technologies. LaCie developed the first Apple branded storage solution and showcased the first implementations of FireWire technology. Since then, LaCie has collaborated with Intel™ and Apple to develop a range of professional storage solutions featuring Thunderbolt technology.

AVAILABILITY
The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series HDD models are available through Apple retail stores worldwide and Apple.com. The SSD model will be shipping this October. All models will be available shortly through LaCie's reseller channel and LaCie.com. The Thunderbolt cable can be purchased separately on Apple.com. For full specifications and product information on the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series visit this page.


Super-High 4096 x 4096 Display From An IGP? The Upcoming Ivy Bridge Can Do It

The new Ivy Bridge processors, due out in about six months, have one apparently overlooked but important feature. No, it's not the greatly increased speed (about double or more of Sandy Bridge) or the advanced feature set. It's actually the super-high resolution capability: specifically 4096 x 4096 pixels. This astonishing capability is far better than any of the top-end discreet graphics cards such as the NVIDIA GTX 590 or AMD HD 6990 via a single monitor port. It's so high in fact, that there's almost no content at that resolution and no monitor that can handle it. This IGP can actually play multiple 4K video streams, too. NVIDIA unsurprisingly, is talking up the gaming possibilites at such a resolution. I'd like to see what kind of monster GPU could handle it. It will be interesting to see what uses this capability gets put to generally - and just how much the whole setup will cost.