Internet News

Madshrimps' first CPU Cooler Roundup of 2009 reportedly took 200 hours of testing, and features 23 different products that can be compared to 72 Intel/AMD heatsinks they've tested in the past. It's one of the few sites outside SPCR that takes noise consistently into consideration in assessing heatsink/fans. * Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

A recent article by The Register describes how Apple is filing patents about computer silencing. Most of the concepts mentioned are old hat for SPCR, namely noise/thermal management of components for not only low measured noise but also low annoyance factor. It's interesting to see a major computer maker taking the matter seriously enough to try to patent the concept of automated noise management based on user preferences. It's doubful that such a system would actually work well enough to make it worth implementing. It's easier and cheaper to make inaudible computers using the principles and practises we've been honing at SPCR for years. On the other hand, business is not always about effectiveness but marketability. Apple has a knack of pitching to the public, and for some consumers, anything they touch is gold. - Discuss this news in the SPCR forum.

FrostyTech reports: "Diamond thermal paste? Yup, the penultimate material for thermal conductivity has been turned into thermal paste by Scottish company called Electrospell. Electrospell's Thermodimeâ„¢ diamond heat transfer compound is an ultra high thermal conductivity thermal interface material composed of pure surface-modified diamond microcrystals (1-micron diameter) suspended in a special carrier fluid." Several times higher rate of heat transfer over conventional TIM is claimed. - Discuss this news in the SPCR forum.

Madshrimps compares the performance/noise balance of 35 different 120mm fans from AcoustFan, Aerocool, Arctic-Cooling, Cooler Master, Coolink, CoolJag, Delta, Gelid, GlobalWin, mCubed, Nexus, Noctua, NoiseBlocker, Papst, Revoltec, Scythe, Sharkoon, SilenX and Xthermal. Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

A chorus of reviews on the web today sing the praises of five new AMD Phenom II processors for AM3, prompting some to proclaim a new era of serious competition for Intel, the undisputed king of x86 processors for the past several years.

Anandtech - Xbitlabs - Legit Reviews - HotHardware - Benchmark Reviews - PC Perspective

Vancouver, the home of SPCR, and the rest of Canada (as well as much of the US) has been hit for the past week with serious winter weather. A Canada-wide white Christmas is expected, the first time since 1971. All this may even impact SPCR editorial content delivery. Meanwhile... Happy Holidays, everyone!

Maui is a fusion of AMD Live! Media Center software and AMD hardware that combine into a complete home theater PC platform. Maui features an Athlon X2 or Phenom series processor, an energy-efficient AMD M780G chipset (used normally for notebooks) motherboard, a special audio preamp aand a high quality PCIe multi-channel amplifier that eliminates the need for an external amplifier. Various HTPC combo packages with MSI and AMD products for DIY builders are offered at Newegg. A complete Maui HTPC system sample is in the SPCR lab right now. This PC contains a 65W energy-efficient Phenom 9350e quad-core, the ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo tuner/video card, and the MSI Live DIVA (MS-7411) motherboard that has D2's programmable audio chip onboard for up to 7.1 pre-amp or 5.1 amplified home-theater quality audio right out of the back of your HTPC, and the audio quality said to be is on par with $1,000+ A/V receivers. Look for our review in the near future. *Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.*

Intel chose the day before the voting day of the 2008 US presidential elections to lift the news embargo about its latest processor. Naturally, the tech web sites are overflowing with articles today about Intel's Core i7; they've had upwards of a month to prepare. Intel could have lifted the news embargo after the elections, but perhaps Intel bigwigs felt even obsessed computer geeks might be distracted by tomorrow's outcome at the polls. Here are some of the reports on Core i7 released today, in no particular order: The Tech Report * Hardware Secrets * Lost Circuits * Tweaktown * Benchmark Reviews * Hexus * Hot Hardware * Driver Heaven * Tom's Hardware * Ars Technica * Mad Shrimps * Legit Reviews * bit-tech.net * HardOCP * AnandTech -- Discuss Core i7 in the SPCR forums.

Daily Tech says new reports from a competitive market research firm indicates netbooks and bargain notebooks are driving global PC sales in a market where concerns over the global economic crisis have pushed budget PCs to the fore. According to Gartner, netbooks are leading the increase in sales, although it is not that clear whether sales are being driven by new models or by cannibalized older models that have seen their prices slashed. One fact not mentioned is that the popular budget models are less speedy, and much more energy efficient than their bigger, pricier conventional counterparts. For computer users, it's one way to go on an energy diet; we all need to get used to the idea. Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

The Tech Report has a review of Intel's soon-to-come high end X25-M SSD today. Ditto Ars Technica, Legit Reviews, PC Perspective, and Hot Hardware also has a comparison of four SSDs and a WD Velociraptor.

But by far the most comprehensive and authoritative review comes from Anandtech, one of the oldest PC tech sites: Anand's investigative 17-page review of Intel's MLC-based SSD is a must read for geeks. These make for an interesting snapshot of the current state of solid state drives, a subject of great interest for anyone interested in silent computing. Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

Two articles in RAM (Reseller Advocate Magazine) this month struck deep. RAM's perspective is that of the reseller rather than the consumer, and its insights are often considerably more reality based than typical tech web sites. The 2008 Race for Mobility is a well-balanced, in-depth look at both Intel Centrino 2 and AMD Puma notebook platforms. AMD Redefines Performance examines the way that AMD is carefully targeting the performance sector of mainstream buyers.

Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

The July issue of Ode— which describes itself as a magazine "about positive news, about the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better" — was devoted entirely to noise or conversely, peace and quiet. They called it the Silence Issue, and featured many interesting articles on acoustics from health, business, science and other points of view. Included is an article about a vsit to Orfield Labs in Minnesota, an anechoic chamber reputed to be the quietest place on earth.

Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

We all know that AMD has been in trouble for a while, and Intel is riding surging waves of success. But AMD has been in lots of trouble in the past, and they've managed to survive and even thrive for some years despite the big shadow cast by its main competitor. Reseller Advocate magazine (RAM) "pursued some of the key channel people at AMD to ask the hard questions and get real answers." The resulting interview article, one of the best I've come across recently, provides interesting insights about where the #2 CPU company is going. They're not going away. Discuss this news in the forums.

Reviews of the new Western Digital VelociRaptor have popped up on the web today; perhaps a news embargo was lifted today. It's a 2.5" 300GB 10k rpm update of their 3.5" 150GB Raptor 150... and it looks to be better in every way. We should have a sample to examine soon. In the meanwhile, here are some of today's reviews: Storage Review, The Tech Report, Legit Reviews, PC World, Hot Hardware. And the official WD announcement.

A great number of CPU announcements have come down the pipe recently. First it was VIA announcing their new Isaiah CPU, picking up where the C7 left off. Then it was Intel with their Silverthorn and Diamondville (now both known as Atom).

Scythe has been busy too, releasing two new heatsinks. The Zipang (which appears to be an archaic name for Japan) and the Orochi (a legendary dragon with 8 heads and 8 tails). Both are massive- the former weighs 815g, while the latter is a frightening 1285g), and use 140cm fans.

MSI has generated a lot of press recently with their announcement of a northbridge cooler powered by a Stirling engine. While it is interesting, it doesn't appear scalable at this point.