Samsung EcoGreen F3: 2 TB! MSI 5770 HAWK Samsung also 1st on Flash NAND Corsair launches new SSDs An anti-ghosting keyboard from Microsoft Fermi = GeForce GTX 470 and 480

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Samsung EcoGreen F3: 2 TB!   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 21:33 by Benoit - source: TechConnect

	A little more than a year after the EcoGreen F2s, Samsung has launched the EcoGreen F3s. While they have the same 500 GB density per platter, the design has been revisited to allow Samsung to put 4 platters together for a total capacity of 2 TB, in addition to a 1.5 TB version that already existed in the previous range. The F3EGs run at 5400 rpm and have 16 or 32 MB of cache memory. More than sufficient as storage drives, 5400 rpm drives have the advantage of being more energy efficient, heating up less and being less noisy than 7200 rpms. The EcoGreen F3s are already available in 2 TB versions for around €150.

MSI 5770 HAWK   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 14:39 by Benoit

	MSI is well known in the world of graphics cards for its overclocked versions. It has also been getting attention with their Lighting range, made up of very high-end cards with greatly modified PCBs, components and cooling systems. MSI are also now following up with the HAWK series, which are mid-range Lightnings. The first GPU in the range is the 5770. With 1024 MB of GDDR5, this card has an imposing cooling system including three heatpipes and two temperature-regulated fans. MSI are announcing a gain of more than 10° on the original system. There are 8 power phase caps up from 3 and MSI says that they have used military class components. This is a card that has obviously been designed for overclocking! While MSI hasn’t given any official information on it, the GPU clock is likely to be up 25 MHz to 875 MHz. As the card will come with the Afterburner utility (co-developed with Rivaturner), buyers will no doubt be quick to increase the clock further.

Samsung also 1st on Flash NAND   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 12:19 by Benoit - source: Dramexchange

	Yesterday we reported on market share in the DRAM sector. Dramaexchange has compiled the same data, but this time for the Flash NAND market and the results are again quite telling. Once again Samsung is top of the class of 2009, with 37.9% of market share, closely followed by Toshiba with 34.2%. This means that, like for DRAM, the Flash NAND market is dominated by a small number of big players. Samsung and Toshiba together control more than 70% of the market and their production levels obviously have a strong impact on the price of Flash. Micron and Hynix follow with less than 10% of market share (9.4% and 9.1% respectively) and then come Intel and Numonyx with 6.9% and 2.5% respectively. So as you can see, Samsung dominates both the DRAM and Flash NAND markets, confirming its position as no.1 for memory.

Corsair launches new SSDs   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 11:50 by Benoit

	SSDs are coming out at quite a rate right now and today it’s Corsair’s turn to announce its new models. The Nova and Reactor series are already starting to be listed and should both soon be available for sale. The Nova comes in two versions, 64 GB and 128 GB. Both have 64 MB of cache and are based on the now famous Indilinx Barefoot controller. Respective read/write speeds of 215/130 MB/s and 215/195 MB/s have been anounced. The Reactor exists in 60 GB and 120 GB versions. While Corsair hasn’t given any details on the controller used, we do nevertheless know that these SSDs have 128 MB of cache and read/write speeds of 250/110 MB/s and 250/170 MB/s. Read performances, then, are better than on the Nova but the controller used on the Reactor would seem to be slower for writes. Another difference is that the Reactors have a USB 2.0 socket (which hints at the controller being a JMicron JMF612) as well as the SATA, which makes them easier to use as an external storage device. Both the Novas and Reactors come with 2.5" to 3.5" adaptors, which is far from being systematic among the competition.

An anti-ghosting keyboard from Microsoft   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 10:10 by Benoit

	Razer was one of the first to bring out anti-ghosting keyboards and Microsoft is now joining this relatively closed club with its new SideWinder X4. To recap, the phenomenon of ghosting comes about when the keyboard can't register too high a number of commands simultaneously. Gamers are obviously particularly affected as they line up a large number of commands in a reduced lapse of time. This keyboard can handle up to 26 keys simultaneously, which should be enough for all imaginable combinations across existing titles! Macros and profile switching are supported. This backlit keyboard will be available as of March at an RRP of €59.

Fermi = GeForce GTX 470 and 480   Posted on 02/02/2010 at 09:41 by Benoit

	As there’s no official name yet, cards based on Fermi have long since been referred to as GTX 360 and 380, with cues being taken from certain rumours that were circulating. NVIDIA has now lifted the veil on the name of its first cards based on its 1st DirectX 11 GPU, the GF100: these will be the GeForce GTX 470 and 480. So NVIDIA is jumping from its GTX 2xx series to the GTX 4xxs, leaving the GTX 3xx section free for renaming the 2xx series as 3xxs so as to give them a marketing edge in the mobile and OEM sectors. NVIDIA continues to create its buzz around the GF100 then, before the official release still expected for March, even though no date has been given by NVIDIA itself.