Internet News

Ma Labs today announced they will begin offering Ceedo Personal with Super Talent's USB 3.0 Express RAM CACHE flash drives. Ceedo is a software virtualization and delivery platform that creates managed application workspaces – a set of applications that can be run on any Windows PC without installation, and then managed remotely. Combining Ceedo Personal with the 4-channel USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache flash drive (16, 32 and 64 GB versions) allows you to create a Windows Virtual PC environment that is FAST, flexible and totally portable — your personal virtual PC in a wee USB stick. When used on a USB 3.0 port, the speeds approach those of standard SATA SSDs. *Discuss this news in the SPCR Forums.*

"AMD's SB800-series fan speed controller has the sort of functionality enthusiasts want in spades", apparently, and "motherboard makers need only to connect fan and diode traces to the south bridge and implement the necessary BIOS hooks to give users access to fan control variables. But none have." More on these ignored fantastic features in the AMD chipset, in a rant by Geoff at The Tech Report. * Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

Western Digital's announcement yesterday of its new 3TB GreenPower drive brought many issues in the storage sector into sharp relief. A 3TB HDD by itself is not unique. Seagate's 3TB FreeAgent external hard drive has been available since the end of June, some four month ago. That begs the question of why Seagate has yet to release the bare 3TB drive.

Microprocessor industry analyst David Kanter recently posted a detailed analysis of Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture at Real World Technologies, describing it as the "most ambitious and aggressive microprocessors designed at Intel." It touches on the Atom as well as the new AMD Bobcat and Bulldozer microprocessors as well. Well worth a read.

Meanwhile, work on the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is happening on many fronts to break free of legacy limitations of the BIOS. UEFI may feature on motherboards released before the end of the year. A succinct summary by AMI's Brian Richardson.

Discuss this news in the forums.

Ad blocking isn't wrong, Ken Fisher writes, but it can deal a severe financial blow to Web sites, especially tech sites where a large percentage of readers have blockers installed. This applies to SPCR as well as Ars Technica, which has been experimenting with technology to block content for readers with ad blockers, a new twist in this online struggle. And, just a day later, a counterpoint from Techdirt's Mike Masnick who argues, Don't Blame Your Community: Ad Blocking Is Not Killing Any Sites. || These articles have provoked lively debate and a wide range of responses in the SPCR forum discussion.

In a relevant "classic" match, MadShrimps compares two similarly equipped systems based around the midrange Intel Core i3-661 and AMD's fastest but still cheaper quadcore, Phenom II X4-965. Results are intriguing. Discuss this news in the SPCR forums.

Experience the fun of PC gaming and a chance to try out new Core i7 processors at the Intel Extreme Masters global challenge. Watch PC gamers from around the world compete in top PC games: Counter-Strike 1.6, World of Warcraft and Quake Live. Visitors can also experience the thrill of BMW Sauber F1 Simulators and win cool prizes. This international throw-down has great prizes for pro gamers and the public. The games begin at the West Edmonton Mall, Dec 11–13. Full details at www.intelextrememasters.com.

Intel recently launched a worldwide custom desktop challenge. The challenge is to build desktops powered by Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors that envision the possibilities of tomorrow's technology. >> Discuss this news in the SPCR forum.

TechWare Labs posted a mod article by Artiom that transforms a $120 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB into a speed demon that outperforms a $230 VelociRaptor 300TB in almost every way. The mod only requires the use of Seagate's own Sea Tools utility. Discuss this news in the SPCR forum.

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!