Effects of CPU frequency on 3DMark06 Scores (9800GTX Single)

OverviewThis experiment is to record the effects of CPU frequency on 3DMark 06 Scores using a single 9800GTX
The conditions will keep the GPU frequencies at stock and 3DMark06 will be benchmarked 3 times for every 200MHz increase in the CPU frequency
The CPU used is a QX9650, overclocked from 3.0 Ghz to 4.6 Ghz

EVGA to Release GPU Testing amp; Benchmarking Tool

HardwareCanuckshas reported that EVGA is rumored to release a new software for stress testing and benchmarking graphic cards. The unnamedutility features an artifacts scanner for checking the stability ofover-clocked video cards and a benchmark tool (similar to FurMark). Nodate has been given for its release but the utility is said to be outsoon and will most likely work on most graphic cards, regardless ofmanufacturer.

News via [Hardwarecanucks]

Effects of CPU frequency on 3DMark06 Scores (GTX 280 Single)

Overview
This experiment is to record the effects of CPU frequency on 3DMark 06 Scores using a single GTX 280

The conditions will keep the GPU frequencies at stock and 3DMark06 will be benchmarked 3 times for every 200MHz increase in the CPU frequency

The CPU used is a QX9650, overclocked from 3.0 Ghz to 4.4 Ghz

Elpida samples 4Gbit Wide IO Mobile RAM

2012 is so far looking like itll be a great year for mobile devices with plenty of quad core ARM implementations arriving, higher resolution screens expected, faster flash storage memory at ever increasing capacities and now, super-fast, low power memory, at least if Elpida has anything to do with it. The company has announced that it has started to ship samples of its new Wide IO Mobile RAM as well as its Mobile DDR3 RAM in 4Gbit capacities.

Lets start with the Mobile DDR3 or LPDDR3 as its also known as (not to be confused with Low Voltage DDR3) which is the next generation of "standard" DRAM to be used in mobile devices and its a simple evolution from LPDDR2. Were looking at a doubling in the data rate from 800MHz to 1600MHz, or from 3.2GB/s to 6.4GB/s if you prefer. LPDDR3 still uses a fairly narrow 32-bit bus and it will be available in sizes of 512, 1024 and 2048MB down the line, although initial sample shipments will be 512MB. LPDDR3 can of course be configured in dual-channel which effectively doubles the bandwidth and this is something wed expect to see in some high-end tablets where PCB space restrictions arent as much of a concern as they are in smartphones.

So what about Wide IO Mobile RAM? Well, as the name suggests it has a much wider bus than regular DRAM, in fact its 512-bit wide, thats 16 times wider than that of LPDDR3 in single channel mode. However, the operating speed is a mere 200MHz, but thanks to the wide interface data transfer speeds still hit 12.8GB/s. Elpida claims that the vastly lower clock speed of Wide IO Mobile RAM allows for up to a 50 percent power saving compared to todays LPDDR2. Just as with its LPDDR3, well see capacities of 512, 1024 and 2048MB, but with initial shipments being limited to 512MB modules.

The interesting thing here will be once clock speeds increase, as even fairly minor increases in the speed of Wide IO Mobile RAM (they really need to come up with a catchier name though) should result in big performance improvements. Hopefully well see a widespread adoption of Wide IO Mobile RAM, but its not clear how easy it is to add support for it for the SoC manufacturers, but its clear that it would require a different memory interface than what is widely used today.

Source: Elpida

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Arrives in Singapore

Dell has introduced the mini-sized Inspiron Zino HD, which is versatile enough to handle tasks from basic computing chores to driving a big-screen, High-Definition video media center. With a choice of colors, the Inspiron Zino HD can be easily personalized to add flare to any room in the home.

The Inspiron Zino HD includes standard HD-capable integrated graphics, HDMI output and built-in networking and is idea forword processing, e-mail, organizing photos and music, and surfing the Internet.

The economical Inspiron Zino HD, with optional additional memory, hard drive storage, combo Blu-ray disc player andwireless remote control can be configured into a powerful home media center computer. In that capacity the Inspiron Zino HD displays high-definition content from the Internet, and stores and delivers music, video and photos very well.

The Inspiron Zino HD is also ideal as an additional household PC that can fit in tight spaces and make home networking a cinch. It measures about 7.75 inches square and 3.5 inches tall.

Features
- Ultra-small form factor designed to fit almost anywhere
- Easy personalization with 10 color choices for Inspiron Zino HD
- Choice of AMD processors or dual core Athlon Neo X2 6850e
- Up to 8GB dual channel DDR 2 memory
- Up to 1TB internal hard disk storage
- Combo DVD/CD RW drive with optional Blu-ray Disc combo
- Integrated 10/100/1000 networking with wireless option
- Optional wireless keyboard and mouse
- Built in 2.1 high-definition audio and 4-in-1 media card reader
- Integrated ATI graphics adapter with standard HDMI and VGA video connections, and optional 512MB discrete graphics adapter
- Four USB ports (2 front/2 rear); two eSATA ports (rear)
- Energy-Star 5.0 compliant

A basic Inspiron Zino without High-Definition capability is now available in Singapore at S$449 while The Inspiron Zino HD is selling at S$649. You can order yours directly from Dell at http://www.dell.com.sg/ with a choice of operating systems from Windows Vista Home Basic through Windows 7 Professional.

Dell Singapore Introduces Three New LED Printers For SMBs And Home Offices

Speak of the name 'Dell' and most people should have little to no problem conjuring up a mental image of the renowned techcompany whohas a wide variety of computer systems and peripherals like notebooks, desktop PCs and even monitors. But add in printers to the mix and chances are you may get more than just a few raised eyebrows from the average Joe.

Unfortunately, this is a situation whereby Dell has been facing for some time already, and Isaac Levin, Dell's General Manager of Software and Peripherals Asia-Pacific Japan Small and Medium Businesses, was keen to rectify the issue.

"A lot of people in the Asia Pacific/Japan region do not know that Dell does printers," he said. “The truth is that Dell has been in the printer business for seven years, and going on to eight. We launched our first printer lineup in 2003: at that time, we focused mainly on the US market and in some of the markets in the APJ (Asia Pacific and Japan) region"

Levin also spoke about Dell's achievements in the printing field, such as how the company released the world's fastest colour printer in 2008 which was capable of producing printouts at a rate of 47ppm.

"You'd think that other competitors like HP offer the best printers with the leading technology. But that is not the case; it is Dell who has it. And it wasus who produced the world's fastest printer," he said.

Also present at the launch was Isabel Zhou, Dell's Regional Director for Imaging, Displays and Peripherals Product Marketing, who explained some of the technical aspects of the new LED printers being launched today.

"Because of LED technology, we are able to reduce the size of our printers, thus resulting in size efficiency," she said. "Our laser-class colour A4 LED printers are 10% smaller than the world's smallest laser printers, and almost 40% smaller than competing LED printers in the market today. That is the kind of space that we can give back to consumers due to the presence of lesser moving parts in an LED printer."

She also spoke about how the company's new colour LED printers, can help to reduce operational costs by specially designing the drum and fuser unit to last for the entirety of the printer's life.

"You don't have to change anything else in the printer except for the toner," she explained. "The drum and fuser unit is designed to last for the printer's lifetime, and there are no waste toner compartments or belts to replace. This makes our printers cheaper and easier to maintain."

Last but not least, she highlighted how Dell's Clear View LED technology allows its printers to consume up to 8% less energy than conventional LED printers marketed by the competition. This was also elaborated upon by Baskar Parthasarathy (pictured below), Regional Director for Product Development Imaging.



When you think about printers, the first thing that usually comes to mind is print quality. That is the primary function of a printer," he said. "Unlike conventional LED technology, we actually went and changed the technology for our printers. We improved and refined it to a point where it is close to, or in some cases, surpasses that of laser quality."

Coming up next: technical specifications of the new LED printers

Eurocom officially unleashes the Panther 4.0 notebook

Eurocom has just formally introduced its latest mobile powerhouse, the Panther 4.0 which is based on Intels X79 / Sandy Bridge-E platform with the option of a Core i7 3960X Processor Extreme ticking things over at rapid pace.

This 17.3-inch sized (1920 x 1080) notebook gives a multitude of GPU options with both GeForce SLI and AMD Radeon CrossFireX support via Modular MXM 3.0b connectivity. NVIDIA GPU options include the GTX 675M, 670M, 660M, GTX 580M and GTX 560M as well as Quadro 5010M, 4000M or 3000M GPUs. On the AMD side, theres the option of Radeon HD 6990M or HD 6970M GPUs.

Heres the full rundown on the specs side of things for Eurocoms Panther 4.0 :-

• CORE LOGIC: Intel X79 Express Chipset
• BIOS: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI); AMI
• PROCESSOR: up to Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme(3.30GHz, 15MB L3 cache)
• MEMORY: up to 32GB; DDR3-1333/1600/1866; four physical memory sockets
• EXPANSION: Built-in ExpressCard 34/54 slot
• STORAGE: up to 4TB of storage with four physical SSD, Hybrid or HDD, RAID 0/1/5/10 support;
• I/O PORTS:
• 3x USB 3.0
• 2x USB 2.0
• eSATA
• Firewire-400 (TI XIO2221ZAY)
• Display Port v1.2
• DVI-I (SL)
• HDMI 1.4a out w/HDCP
• Headphone
• Microphone
• S/PDIF out
• Line-in
• RJ-45 / LAN

• COMMUNICATION: built-in 10/100/1000Mb Base-TX Ethernet LAN (Intel 82579V); WLAN (optional); Bluetooth v2.1+EDR (optional); 2M Video Webcam (built-in)
• SECURITY: TPM 1.2; Fingerprint, Kensington Lock
• KEYBOARD: Illuminated full-size with separate numeric keypad; with three customizable lighting areas and seven optional colours; W/A/S/D gaming key; built-in touchpad with multi-gesture and scrolling functions; 6 touch sensor instant buttons: Volume Up/Down, Mute, WLAN, BT, Webcam
• WEIGHT/DIMENSIONS: 5.5kg (12.1lbs); 419(W)x286(D)x57.9-62.1(H)mm (16.76x11.44x2.31-2.48inch)

Quite the serious piece of kit indeed. The below video also lets you get a good glimpse underneath the covers.

For further details including the full list of optional extras on this US $3,499 base priced 5.5Kg chunk of mobile PC, head over to the official product page here.

Dell ships the Inspiron M101z ultrathin laptop with long battery life

Sub-four pound laptop packs premium style and performance in an ultra-portable PC

SINGAPORE, Aug. 17 2010 – Dell today announced the latest in compact computing - the ultra-portable and ultra-stylish Inspiron M101z laptop. The perfect combination of size, weight, performance and contemporary lux looks, the Inspiron M101z is the ideal on-the-go, easy-to-use laptop PC for today’s mobile population.

Whether a student running between classes, a mom trying to keep the kids entertained, carrying this ultrathin sub-4-pound laptop that fits easily in a handbag or backpack helps lighten the load. Despite its diminutive size, the Inspiron M101z laptop packs performance punch, nimbly stepping through everyday tasks quickly and delivering impressive stutter-free playback of streaming movies and HD videos.

Blending brains and beauty, the Inspiron M101z laptop is built around a clever hinge-forward design that moves the display closer and keeps the body rigid for improved strength and durability. It features a full-width keyboard that simplifies typing and navigation, while the attractive finishes and smooth curves make it stand out in a crowd. And with a choice of four vibrant colors, people also have the ability to add personal style to their PC.

Powered by AMD Athlon™ II Neo Mobile processors and integrated ATi graphics, the M101z laptop leaves comparably-sized netbooks in the dust, while achieving up to 6.5 hours of operation with its standard 6-cell rechargeable battery.

The Inspiron M101z is available today from www.dell.com.sg and prices begin at S$699 with a one-year limited warranty standard. The Inspiron M101z comes with Syncables Desktop® software that makes it easy to synch photos, music, video and data with a primary computer for quick, on-the-go access. Another helpful application pre-installed includes Skype.

Highlights:

· Speedy AMD Athlon™ II Neo single and dual core mobile processor options with integrated ATi graphics
· Dazzling 11.6-inch TrueLife™ HD glossy WLED display (1366x768)
· Full-width ergonomic keyboard with raised individual keypads
· Up to 4GB of fast DDR3 memory at 800MHz
· Up to 320GB SATA hard drive that can store 142 hours of DVD-quality video, 38 hours of HD video or up to 80,000 MP3 songs
· Built-in 1.3 megapixel Webcam, SRS Premium Sound with two 1.5W speakers, three USB 2.0 connections, one with USB PowerShare, HDMI port, VGA port and 7-in-1 media card reader
·Integrated 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-Fi (b/g/n) with Bluetooth 3.0 wireless standard
·Selection of colors and finishes including Clear Black, Peacock Blue and Tomato Red with Jax pattern, and Promise Pink with DigiPais pattern and matching design on palmrest
·Standard 6-cell battery with 9-cell battery option available later this fall
·Choice of operating systems, up to Windows® 7 Home Premium
·Clean user interface with Dell Dock and pre-installed applications including Syncables Desktop, Skype and Microsoft Office 2010 Starter.
· Available external DVD/RW drive and portable USB speakers options

Dell Blamed For Severe Shortage Of Athlon X2 CPUs

System builders are irked about a severe shortage of AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors and blame the chip maker's partnership with Dell."It's a fiasco. There's no product in the channel. It's all going to Dell," said Glen Coffield, president of CheapGuys, a system builder in Orlando, Fla. "AMD is divorcing the channel." Coffield said AMD is hurting its loyal system builders, who feel they have been used and dumped now that the chip maker has a partnership with Dell and other top-tier OEMs. Another large system builder that has a relationship with AMD agreed that the situation is dire for channel partners. He said the supply problem started at the end of June and is hurting his business.

Dell Reveals Della, Shopping Experience Targeted At Ladies

In a recent change to Dell's US website is Della, a website targeted at ladies for a unique online shopping experience.

Well, the onesection that caught our eyes - Seven Unexpected Ways a Netbook Can Change Your Life: Use your mini to track calories, carbs and protein with ease, watch online fitness videos, map your running routes and more.

Now ladies, did the fashion look of the site catch your attention already ?

Engineered microbes pave way for 50 TB DVDs

A Harvard scientist has developed a modified protein that he says could allow DVDs to store up to 50 Terabytes of data. The protein, normally found in the membrane of salt marsh bacteria, is converted to intermediate molecules when it enters into contact with sunlight. The intermediate state only lasts hours or days before returning to a ground state, but Harvard Medical School Professor V. Renugopalakrishnan and his colleagues altered the host bacteria's DNA to enable the intermediate states to last for "more than several years."

Coating DVDs with the modified protein and assigning its respective intermediate and ground states to ones zeros could allow for significantly higher storage densities than current optical media. Indeed, the proteins are "only a few nanometers across," whereas pits in Blu-ray media can only be as small as 150 nanometers, according to a Memorex whitepaper (PDF). Renugopalakrishnan says protein-based DVDs could therefore store at least 20 times more data than Blu-ray media (up to 1 TB), adding that they could eventually go up to 50 TB. Thanks to Reg Hardware for the tip.

CyberLink throws in some AMD Trinity APU support for its major programs

One of AMDs weakest points when it comes to adding custom features to its hardware compared to Intel has always been to get the software vendors to implement support for its hardware solutions. It looks like AMD has at least managed to make some progress in this regard, as CyberLink has announced support for AMDs upcoming Trinity APUs across the board of its top selling programs.

Most interesting in our opinion is support in PowerDirector 10 and MediaEspresso 6.5, as this should see the time it takes to encode video vastly reduced. In fact, CyberLink is quoting a 3.6 times performance improvement in the time it takes to produce a video in PowerDirector 10 using an AMD A10-4600M APU using hardware acceleration rather than doing it all in software mode.

PowerDirector 10 has had supported added for AMDs Video Codec Engine (VCE) and this goes for MediaEspresso 6.5 as well, which is what helps speed up the encoding and transcoding of video by leveraging the power of the integrated GPU. Judging by the fairly mediocre CPU performance of Trinity, it looks like this is a much needed feature for AMD if the company wants to compete on equal terms with Intel when it comes to consumer perception of how long time it takes to do certain tasks.

PowerDVD 12 and MediaShow 6 have also been updated to take advantage of VCE for transcoding on the fly when needed, although its not clear as to which formats are supported. AMD shouldnt really have any issues with any kind of media playback, as this has never really been a weak point for the company, although of course 3D playback is supported for those that care about it.

If you already own any of the above mentioned software, CyberLink will enable support for the Trinity APUs via a software update which is already available from its website. In the case of PowerDirector, CyberLink has also added support for Intels recently launched Ivy Bridge processors and video encoding in H.264 which works better with Apples "new" iPad.