Little Rock Computer

A-DATA Using ''DNA Authentication'' to ID RAM

2009-11-20T11:26:00.002+07:00

A-DATA is forced to use an invisible numbering system on all of its DRAM modules.

A-DATA Technology said today that it now must use what it calls a DNA authentication technology in all of its standard DRAM modules thanks to problematic counterfeiting and fraud, a "serious and growing problem" in the DRAM industry, according to the company. A-DATA said that the authentication technology--while not using real DNA--will embed an invisible sequence of a unique DNA into the product label, not the actual DRAM module.

"As a leading manufacturer of DRAM module in the industry, A-DATA is committed to offer the highest quality of DRAM module and solution to the consumers," said Gibson Chen, Vice President and Head of Product Management Division. "Thus, we adopted the DNA authentication technology to protect our intellectual property and our consumers’ interests."

So what does DNA authentication mean to the consumer? This guarantees a true A-DATA product, and not a fake DRAM module stamped with A-DATA's logo. To verify the chip's authenticity, consumers and retailers can simply use a black light pen that will light up the DNA's fluorescent coding. The label itself also utilizes "special designed significant cuts" that keeps counterfeiters from removing it easily.

While this implementation of authentication is interesting, it will only be a matter of time before counterfeiters figure out a way around the new system.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Intel Prototypes New Cooler for Gulftown CPU

2009-11-20T11:24:00.001+07:00

Intel's heatsink and fan goes to the gym, gets beefcake.

Intel retail boxed processors always come packed with a heatsink and fan. While they aren't the most elaborate cooling solutions, they are quiet, efficient, and even adequate for some light overclocking.

Of course, those serious about keeping their hot chips cool will opt for aftermarket solutions. For the upcoming six-core Nehalem-based Gulftown CPU, Intel will be packing it with a tower-style heatsink.

PCWorld.fr snapped pictures of a prototype of the cooler that will be paired with Gulftown. Besides just a bigger heatsink with more fins, the proposed cooler also features four copper heatpipes.

Check out more pictures here.

Source : Tom's Hardware US

Monday Deals: Win 7 OEM, SSD, Gaming Mouse

2009-11-20T11:22:00.002+07:00

Happy shopping!

As usual, a big thanks to our partners Logic Buy for sponsoring this post. Be sure to let us know if you take advantage of any of these deals and how it works out for you!

Laptops and Desktops

HP dv6t Quad Core i7 16-inch Laptop for $1,314.99 - $200 off - $200 Coupon = $914.99 with free shipping.

HP dv8t Quad Core i7 18.4-inch Laptop for $1,499.99 - $200 off - $200 Coupon = $1,099.99 with free shipping.

HP dv7t Quad Core i7 17.3-inch Laptop for $1,349.99 - $200 off - $200 Coupon = $949.99 with free shipping.

35% Coupon on Dell Latitude E5400, E5500, E6400 and E6500 Laptops configured $899 or more.

Lenovo IdeaPad U350 13-inch Ultra-thin Laptop for $699 - $200 off - 10% Coupon = $449.10 with free shipping.

Lenovo IdeaPad U550 15.6-inch Laptop for $699 - $20 off - $80 Coupon = $599 with free shipping.

35% Coupon on Dell Latitude E5400, E5500, E6400 and E6500 Laptops configured $899 or more.

Dell XPS One 24-inch Core 2 Quad all-in-one Desktop PC for $1,648 - 20% Coupon Code = $1,318.40 with free shipping.

Acer Aspire AM5700-E5801A 2.5Ghz Core 2 Quad Desktop PC for $399.95 with free shipping.

LCD Monitors, Storage and Peripherals

Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse for $99.99 - $50 off - $15 Coupon = $34.99 with free shipping.

Logitech G9x Laser Gaming Mouse with Free Logitech Custom Grip ($20 value) for $90.40 with free shipping.

Logitech Performance Mouse MX for $99.99 - $10 off - $10 rebate = $80.10 with Free shipping.

Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro for $129.99 - $70 off = $59.99 with free shipping.

Samsung LD190N Lapfit 18-inch LCD Monitor for Laptop dual-display for $149.99 - $40 off - $10 Coupon = $99.99 with free shipping.

Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System for $99.99 - $25 off - $15 Coupon = $59.99 with free shipping.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM for $105.99 - $10 Coupon = $95.99 with free shipping.

Corsair CMFSSD-128GBG2D 128GB SATA II Solid State Drive for $389.99 - $20 off - $10 exclusive LogicBUY Coupon - $25 rebate = $334.99 with free shipping.

Networking

HP MediaSmart LX195 Home Server for $399.99 - $150 off - $20 Coupon = $229.99 with free shipping.

Refurbished Linksys by Cisco WRT160N Ultra Dual-N Band Wireless Router with storage for $109.99 - $15 off Coupon = $94.99 with free shipping. Home Theater and TV

Sony BRAVIA KDL46V5100 120Hz LCD HDTV bundled with Sony BDP-S560 Blu-ray Playerk for $1,000 with free shipping after instant discount.

32" Panasonic VIERA TC-L32X1 LCD HDTV with iPod Dock for $599.99 - $222 off = $377.39 with free shipping

58" Panasonic VIERA TC-P58S1 1080p Plasma HDTV for $1,679 - 5% Coupon = $1,595.05 with free shipping.

Gaming

Spend $80 on XBOX 360, PS3, Wii video games, get $20 off using Coupon Code.

Nintendo Wii Console bundled with Wii Fit Plus and $50 Gift Card for $349.99 - $60 off = $289.98 with free shipping

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim 250GB for $349.99 - $20 Coupon Code = $329.99 with free shipping.

Left 4 Dead 2 for $54.99 with $10 Amazon video game credit and free shipping.

Portable Electronics, cameras and Phones

Kodak Zi8 HD 1080p Pocket Camcorder for $179.99 - $30 off = $149.99 with free 4GB SD Memory Card and free shipping

Ultimate Ears MetroFi 170 Noise Isolating Earphones for $45.99 with free $25 Amazon Gift card and free $5 Amazon MP3 download and free shipping.

Cool Stuff

Buy two $25 Borders Gift Cards and get a Bonus FREE $10 Gift Card

Zagg invisibileSHIELD 20% off exclusive Coupon Code for iPhone 3Gs, MacBook, Palm Pre, HTC Hero, Zune HD, Motorola Droid, ipod Touch, Kindle and more

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Asus Unveils First USB 3.0 Motherboard

2009-11-20T11:21:00.001+07:00

Asustek has unveiled the first USB 3.0 motherboard.

Asus Wednesday unveiled the first motherboard to support SuperSpeed USB. SuperSpeed USB, also known as USB 3.0, boasts transfer rates of up to 10 times faster than what users can expect with USB 2.0.

The Asus Xtreme Design P7DP55DE-E Premium packs two USB 3.0 ports and, given that the motherboard uses Intel's P55 Express Chipset, which doesn't even support USB 3.0, it's not surprising to learn some folk were a little confused when they first heard the news. However, Asus has enlisted the help of a third party controller, which makes for a pretty handy workaround.

Aside from the two USB 3.0 ports, the Xtreme Design P7DP55DE-E Premium has 10 USB 2.0 ports, six 3GB per second SATA ports, two 6GB per second SATA ports, two PCIe x16 graphic card slots and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.

All together now, ooooh!

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Intel Pulls Out $1.25B to Settle All AMD Problems

2009-11-20T11:18:00.001+07:00

Intel digs deep into its pocket once again to settle competition with AMD.

In what could be one of the closing chapters in a long-lasting saga, Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices today announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes.

In a joint statement, the two companies commented, "While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development."

Under terms of the agreement:

- AMD and Intel obtain patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement

- Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement

- Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion.

- Intel agrees to abide by a set of business practice provisions.

As a result, AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide. The agreement will be made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

AMD's Dual GPU Radeon HD 5970 is Fastest Ever

2009-11-20T11:01:00.002+07:00

Not bad if you have $600 sitting around.

You may have already noticed on our front page that there's a new king of the graphics card industry tested today.

AMD today announced the ATI Radeon HD 5970, which it calls the fastest card ever created thanks to pairing two HD 5870 GPUs together. After we put it to the test, we're going to agree with this claim (until the next best thing comes along, of course).

The ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card delivers nearly 5 TeraFLOPS of compute power. Grab two of them together in CrossFireX and you're looking at nearly 10 TeraFLOPS.

"With the arrival of the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the fastest graphics card in the world, we’ve cemented AMD as the unquestioned graphics leader," said Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Group. "With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, the new card, coupled with the awesome power of ATI Eyefinity technology, is the ultimate setup for serious gamers."

For the full story, we're going to hand you over to Chris Angelini's full review complete with benchmarks.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Win a 4GB DDR3 Memory Kit From Our Contest!

2009-11-19T21:52:00.001+07:00

Win a 4GB DDR3 kit courtesy of Tom's Hardware and Newegg!

It's time for another contest courtesy of your friends here at Tom's Hardware! This time around we're giving away nine 4GB DDR3 memory kits – perfect if you're building yourself a new rig using Intel's P55 chipset.

Six of those nine kits we're giving away were featured in our Value DDR3 For Intel's P55: Six 4GB Kits Rounded Up article.

Those of you who are citizens of the USA and Canada 18 years and older are eligible to enter. Only one entry per person is permitted. Multiple entries from the same person will all be discarded. The winners of the contest will be determined by random drawings.

This contest begins on today November 12, 2009 and ends on November 19, 2009 12:00 midnight, Pacific Standard Time GMT-8. No entries will be accepted after this date and time.

Click here to enter our contest – and good luck!

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Contest: Win a Corsair Case, SSD, PSU Combo!

2009-11-19T21:49:00.001+07:00

Guess how many candy corns are in this case!

It's the week leading up to Halloween, and Tom's Hardware has teamed up with Corsair to make things extra festive. Obviously, there's nothing spooky about PC hardware (though there have been some unsolved mysteries from troubleshooting), so we're going to play around with candy instead.

The object here is to guess to the best of your ability the number of Halloween candy corns that are inside the Corsair 800D case pictured below. To aid you in your estimates, the dimensions of the case are 24.00" x 9.00" x 24.00", so give it your best shot!

The contest will run starting Monday, October 26, 2009 and will close on Friday, November 6, 2009. The grand prize is as follows:

1. Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Case

2. Corsair HX850 Power Supply

3. Corsair Hydro Series H50 Cooler

4. 128 GB Corsair Extreme Series SSD

There will also be 3 runner up prizes of Corsair 32GB Voyager USB Flash Drives.

The winner is the person who comes closest to the actual number of candy corns in the case maintained by Corsair as pictured above. In the case of if more than one entrant guesses correctly, then a random drawing will determine the winner.

Click here for the contest rules and entry form. Good luck and happy Halloween!

See the filling of the case at YouTube.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

OCZ Colossus is 3.5'' SSD, 1TB, Fast, Expensive

2009-11-19T20:40:00.001+07:00

This thing is big, just like your computer.

Most SSDs are designed to fit within the 2.5-inch form factor, making it suitable for laptops. But sometimes you just need some added capacity for your badass gaming rig. For that, OCZ today released the Colossus 3.5-inch SSD Series, available in up to one terabyte configurations.

"The new Colossus Series is designed to boost desktop and workstation performance and is for high power users that put a premium on speed, reliability and maximum storage capacity." said Eugene Chang, VP of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "The Colossus core-architecture is also available to enterprise clients with locked BOMs (build of materials) and customized firmware to match their unique applications."

The Colossus SSD is available in 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB capacities and is a straight drop in for many existing systems. In addition to ample capacity, the OCZ Colossus delivers excellent performance made possible by an internal RAID 0 architecture.

Sounds good? Sure, but don’t expect it to be gentle on your wallet. 128 GB version costs $438; 256 GB at $820; 512 GB at $1530; and the 1TB big daddy is around $3397, according to Xbitlab's Froogle search.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

Artist Creates Pentium 1.0 Shoes From Old Chips

2009-11-19T20:35:00.002+07:00

But can they play Crisis?*

I wouldn't classify myself as a 'fashionista' but even I know that old school Nike sneakers have been back in style for a while now. They're not exactly like they were back in the day; they're a little bit newer and a little bit more modern, but that's what happens when you take a classic shoe and try to put a modern spin on it. Either that, or you end up with a shoe named the Blazer Pentium 1.0 and made it out of circuit boards.

The incredibly talented Gabriel Dishaw's most recent sculpture doubles as the perfect pair of shoes for any hardcore geek. That is, any hardcore geek with size 9.5 feet, the ability to actually walk around in shoes that weigh 15 pounds and the willingness to endure the pain that would inevitably come from wearing circuit boards on your tootsies.

Check out the pics below and hit up Gabriel's website for more images of this faboo piece of junk art.

*Figured I'd get that out of they way.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

ATI Catalyst 9.11 WHQL Released, GPU Flash

2009-11-19T20:30:00.005+07:00

It makes Flashy things run smoother.

Along with today's unleashing of the Radeon HD 5970, the fastest graphics card we've tested yet, AMD today released version 9.11 of its ATI Catalyst drivers.

Those who want to give their CPUs a break while playing Flash video, and who have the new Adobe 10.1 beta (which supports GPU-accelerated decoding), will want to grab the new Catalyst 9.11.

AMD describes in the release notes:

^{GPU Acceleration of H.264 video content using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta}

^{This release of ATI Catalyst supports the new Hardware Acceleration features of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta for video encoded in the H.264 format. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta introduces hardware-based H.264 video decoding to deliver smooth video playback, reduce system resource utilization, and preserve battery life. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta is expected to be available for download from Adobe Labs (labs.adobe.com) before the end of the year. This feature is supported on the ATI Radeon HD 5800, ATI Radeon HD 5700 and ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products}

^{High Quality downscaling for video transcoding MSE}

^{This release of ATI Catalyst includes an enhancement for the ATI Video converter for users transcoding high quality interlaced content (1920x1080i @60i videos) down to small resolution progressive content (320x240 @30p - iPod videos as an example), by maintaining high visual quality when down-scaling by a significant amount and converting interlaced video content to progressive.}

Click here for the download link for your version of Windows^.

Source: Tom's Hardware US

AMD-powered Jaguar is 'Fastest Supercomputer'

2009-11-19T20:06:00.004+07:00

Cray Inc.'s AMD-powered Jaguar system has snagged the coveted title of fastest computer in the world.

Finally beating out IBM's Roadrunner, the first system in the world to break the petaflops barrier in the summer of last year, it was third time lucky for Jaguar as it finally topped TOP500's 34^th list of supercomputers with 1.759 petaflops.

According to TOP500, the Jaguar’s number of compute cores has been increased from 129600 to 224162, since last list was compiled. The supercomputer has also been equipped with AMD’s new six-core ‘Istanbul’ processors, which have only been available since August, and 2GB of memory per core. Each compute node features two Opterons with 12 cores and 16GB of shared memory. The whole system has 300TB of memory and 10PB of hard disc space.

The upgraded Jaguar at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, now boasts a speed of 1.759 petaflop per second from its 224,162 cores. The Roadrunner runner-up posted processing speeds of 1.04 petaflop per second.