Computer Systems News - Page 37

iBUYPOWER introduces its newest 'ultra-simplified' entertainment center: SBX Entertainment System. The team designed this new unit to make it reflect the aesthetics and physical characteristics of a game console, but with the raw power that only high-end desktop systems can provide.

The unit is designed keeping living room computing in mind, and iBUYPOWER assures that its new system can provide 60FPS gameplay at high definition resolutions. As you'd imagine, just like any game console or any properly configured and optimized desktop rigs, this is made to provide the best out-of-the-box PC gaming and entertainment experience.

"What we really wanted to do was make an impact in the living room. We wanted to really show the world that the power of desktop gaming machine can be experienced in the living room in a totally seamless way, " said Darren Su, Co-founder and VP of iBUYPOWER. "All preconceptions of what entertainment in the living room should and can be, are out the door."

Worldwide PC shipments during Q3 did better than expected, dropping just 1.7 percent instead of the previously estimated 4.1 percent drop, according to the IDC research group.

Lenovo now has 20 percent of the global PC market, ahead of Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Apple - as each company look to revitalize the struggling market. Companies are struggling to try to adapt to an increasingly mobile market - and while PC hardware continues to evolve - many consumers and businesses don't need to upgrade current PCs at the same rate they did just a few years ago.

"Reaching the 20% mark in global PC share is a great milestone for Lenovo - and we got there even faster than expected," said Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo CEO, in a statement. "While others have been looking for a game plan that works, we have been executing ours and the results speak for themselves. Not only have we reached another record high and solidified our PC leadership position for the 6th straight quarter, but we have diversified our business at the same time."

We all know that upgrading your PC can be hard, but one of the key decisions of upgrading any PC is the processor. Most people will go Intel, and rightly so, the company has the best performing CPUs on the market.

The advertisement shows a frustrated user who is sitting at his brand new PC, and it crashes. Time slows down, and then goes in reverse, where he regrets his decision of buying the competition, walking back to his PC store and changing his mind. Intel puts this down to 6 simple steps when buying a new PC.

This includes the Processor Speed, RAM, HDD, Graphics Card, Software and Extras. Intel processors run faster, use less power, and if you have the money to spend, can scale up to incredible speeds that make your desktop PC closer to a supercomputer from just a decade or so ago with up to 16 threads on the latest Core i7-5960X.

IDF 2014 - Supermicro Releases X10 Server Solutions Featuring New Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600/1600 v3, DDR4 and NVMe at IDF 2014.

Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro said "Supermicro's X10 Green Computing solutions offer the most optimized DP/UP server and storage platforms on the market supporting advanced technologies and new Intel Xeon E5-2600/1600 v3 processors. Leading the wave is our new 1U/2U Ultra SuperServers which integrate hot-swap NVMe SSDs and SAS3 storage with high bandwidth 10G/40G networking in a new thermal optimized architecture that minimizes fan count and fan power consumption to provide exactly the best platform for enterprise-class virtualization and hyper-scale computing applications. Combined with our new X10 TwinPro, MicroBlade and FatTwin systems as well as the industry's widest range of server building blocks with Titanium level high efficiency power supplies, Supermicro is delivering total solutions to address the critical power, space and cost challenges facing today's data driven businesses."

Supermicro has many new products to offer up with this new release of X10 servers. At IDF 2014, we happened to catch up with Supermicro to check out the new products they have to offer.

Alienware has just unveiled its new Area 51 gaming PC, something that is making a comeback. The original design rewinds back to 2006, but there's now a new design, and it looks quite slick.

From top to bottom, the new Area 51 chassis has been redesigned, featuring a unique body which Alienware calls its "triad case." It's not just for good looks, but it's designed to better vent warm air upwards, and out of the case, when it's backed right up against a wall. When the Area 51 system is sitting flat, the sloped front bezel makes getting to the USB ports much easier.

There's also some LEDs to help you find the rear panel in the dark, which is good to see from Alienware - an actual useful reason for having LEDs instead of just vanity. There are built-in handles on each corner that make taking the Area 51 gaming PC a great case for lugging around to LANs, especially with its 45 pounds of heft to tote around - and while that's heavy, handles will at least make it easier. What about specs? We have Intel's latest Haswell-E CPUs, DDR4 support, 1500W PSU, and much more.

Acer today announced its Chromebox CXI line of PCs for low-budget consumers, designed for education, small to medium businesses and budget-conscious users.

The system is powered by an Intel Celeron 2957U dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, 16GB solid state drive, 2GB or 4GB RAM, and should boot in just 8 seconds. Chromebox CXI also includes 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.0, one HDMI port, combination audio jack for microphones and headsets.

"The Acer Chromebook CXI is an excellent fit for schools and any other institution or business where conserving costs and space are high priorities," said Simon Hwang, Acer President of Stationary Computing and Display Business Group, in a press statement. "Due to the ease of management, the Chromebox can significantly reduce technical support and consequently lower the total cost of ownership."

Lenovo has just taken the wraps off of its new ThinkStation P Series, P500, P700 and P900 workstations at SIGGRAPH 2014. Completely redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up to offer more flexibility and ease of use with a new look. Features include enhanced thermal management, tool-less upgrades and Lenovo's new FLEX module technology.

"After a period of intensive research, development and testing, we're excited to introduce our next generation workstations to the market, as we truly believe this is the best designed workstation ever," said Victor Rios, Vice President and General Manager, Workstation, Lenovo. "We built on the advancements delivered in our 30 Series workstations and engineered the P Series with new levels of innovation based on extensive customer feedback. The result for users is optimum performance, outstanding reliability and unparalleled usability that is unlike anything they have experienced."

Rios continued: "Performance Boosting productivity starts with incomparable computing and graphics performance. With the Lenovo ThinkStation P Series, users can run their mission-critical applications to their limits - from advanced rendering and simulation to analysis of vast data sets." The following can be found in the new ThinkStation P Series of workstations:

The Chromebook may not be putting a massive dent in the consumer market when it comes to outselling OS X and Windows machines to the public, but in the business and education market Chromebooks are growing massively. In the three weeks that ended on June 7, Chromebooks were a solid 40% of all computers sold in the commercial realm.

Commercial sales include sales to businesses, schools, governments, and other organizations. Beating out Mac and Windows machines in the education environment is a big deal as that is a very coveted market for all manufacturers. The reason so much weight is placed on educational sales is that when you get users when they are young, they are more likely to stick with a platform forever.

"Chrome's unit strength ahead of this year's education buying season shows how it has become a legitimate third platform alongside Windows and Mac OS X and iOS," Stephen Baker, NPD vice president of industry analysis, says. "The next test for Chrome will clearly be the most difficult, as both Apple and Microsoft get more aggressive in pricing and deal making over the next few months", Baker says. "By the end of the third quarter we will have a much clearer picture of the long-term impact Chromebooks will have in the commercial channel".

Computex 2014 - Last year we got a chance to see ASRock team up with BMW Designworks USA to create a new barebone system. The M8 was born and we found ourselves instantly in love with what was being offered by the company. Jump forward a year and ASRock have taken the cover off an updated version of the great looking M8 system.

While the chassis looks the same; inside we've got a few new key components to bring it into 2014. First we've seen the ITX motherboard get updated to the latest Intel Z97 chipset bringing support for the latest crop of processors. The other big upgrade is the power supply which now sees an SFX 600 Watt unit. This gives us the chance to install a higher-end video card without a problem continuing to show us that you can pack some serious punch into a nice slim system.

As for the rest of the system you can see not too much has changed. We've still got the A-Command OLED button that gives us the ability to see a bunch of different settings. Other features include USB 3.0, 4-in-1 Card Reader and Gigabit LAN alongside Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac support.

Computex 2014 - Hanging out with Zotac this afternoon we got a chance to check out what the company was doing with the latest batch of ZBOX systems. While gaming might not be the first thing that comes to mind when looking at these small systems; that's indeed set to change with the launch of the new EN760.

Sporting the speedy NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M the ZBOX EN760 which can be bought as a bare bone or pre built will no doubt grab the attention of gamers who are looking for something both competitively priced and small. Carrying the Dual Core i5 4200U Intel Processor alongside 8GB of DDR3 and a 1TB Hard Drive you'll find yourself having a great time with this tiny system.

Buying the barebone version, though, you'll be able to jam 16GB of DDR3 in to the system via the two SO-DIMM slots along with a nice fast SATA III SSD or SATA III mSATA drive. Along with support for that, we find Dual Gigabit LAN, DVI-I and HDMI video outputs along with Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac networking.