Computer Systems News - Page 33

The latest and most important Computer Systems news - Page 33.

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ZOTAC unveils its Broadwell-powered ZBOX mini-PCs

Anthony Garreffa | Apr 8, 2015 9:13 PM CDT

ZOTAC has just unveiled its latest ZBOX mini-PCs which feature Intel's latest Broadwell processors, with two new models in the ZBOX MI522 nano and the ZBOX MI542 nano.

The new ZOTAC MI522 nano features a Broadwell-based Core i3 processor, making it an easy upgrade path for those who are looking for desktop class performance in a small footprint. The MI542 nano bumps the Broadwell goodness up to the Core i5, with both of the new ZBOX mini-PCs being dual-core parts.

Both of the new ZBOX mini-PCs have HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 out with DisplayPort enabling 4K at 60Hz output. We have dual gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac Wi-Fi for network connectivity. Both of the new ZBOX mini-PCs also come with two DIMMs providing dual-channel memory support. Both of the new Broadwell-powered ZBOX mini-PCs include 4GB of memory and 500GB of storage out of the box.

Continue reading: ZOTAC unveils its Broadwell-powered ZBOX mini-PCs (full post)

One interesting marketing video - MSI shows you how to build a PC

Chris Smith | Mar 30, 2015 6:28 AM CDT

For those out there looking to partake in their first PC building project, where exactly should you begin? There's a myriad of technology forums, YouTube channels and Facebook pages alongside specific component Facebook groups to help you on your way.

If you're a fan of the video side of things you may have come across MSI's marketing video titled "How to build a MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING PC". This film features a a scantily-clad technology enthusiast partaking in an educational journey of computer building for the benefit of the audience.

It's sitting at a massive 1.8 million views at the time of writing this article, but the feedback isn't all positive. With 8,687 thumbs down compared to 8,311 thumbs up, the comments section is filled with criticisms of the advice at hand.

Continue reading: One interesting marketing video - MSI shows you how to build a PC (full post)

ZOTAC unveils its 'SN970' Steam Machine at GDC 2015

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 4, 2015 8:32 PM CST

GDC 2015 - ZOTAC was one of the first companies to unveil its Steam Machine at the Game Developers Conference, with its weirdly named, but very powerful 'SN970' making an appearance.

ZOTAC's SN970 gets its named from the GPU powering it, the GeForce GTX 970M, the mobile Maxwell GPU from NVIDIA. We have four HDMI 2.0 ports (yes, four!), an unspecified sixth-generation Intel processor, dual GbE, two USB 2.0 ports (with another two on the front) and two USB 3.0 ports. There's also an HDMI in port, as well as Wi-Fi 802.11ac.

Inside, we have 8GB of DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM, a 64GB M.2-based SSD and a 3.5-inch 1TB mechanical HDD. There's an SD card reader on the front, as well as a microphone and headphone port for audio. We'll see SteamOS preloaded onto the SN970, while the HDMI 2.0 ports can handle a huge 4K at 60Hz for those with the display or TV chops to handle it.

Continue reading: ZOTAC unveils its 'SN970' Steam Machine at GDC 2015 (full post)

MAINGEAR unveils its ultra-compact Steam Machine known as DRIFT

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 4, 2015 7:27 PM CST

GDC 2015 - The Steam Machine flood is here, with MAINGEAR joining the party at GDC 2015 with its new 4K-capable DRIFT. The MAINGEAR DRIFT can be configured with some seriously delicious specifications, including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 or AMD's Radeon R9 290X.

MAINGEAR has crafted the DRIFT in a beautiful Formula 1-like chassis, with a beautiful unibody that is "whisper quiet" thanks to the inclusion of an Epic 120 Liquid Cooling system and "superbly design airflow". MAINGEAR's CEO and founder, Wallace Santos, explains: "The DRIFT packs the muscle and performance of larger gaming desktop systems into a beautiful compact design that fits on your desk or coffee table. Valve's STEAM OS will bring PC quality gaming to any location and the DRIFT is the perfect way to deliver that experience".

Inside of the DRIFT we have up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 2TB of SSDs, and a 6TB mechanical HDD, and fully customized for everything in between. This includes up to Intel's Core i7-4790K CPU, and the latest and greatest in GPUs. The MAINGEAR DRIFT will start at $849, come pre-loaded with SteamOS, with the DRIFT Super Stock Edition arriving in an amazing bodyshell travel case that you can see above.

Continue reading: MAINGEAR unveils its ultra-compact Steam Machine known as DRIFT (full post)

Steam Machines will begin their lounge room takeover in November

Anthony Garreffa | Mar 3, 2015 10:07 PM CST

GDC 2015 - Valve has unleashed the Steam Link, Steam Controller pricing and availability as well as the Source 2 engine at GDC 2015. But the company has also teased that Steam Machines will be made available in November.

Valve said in a press release: "Steam Machines will start at the same price point as game consoles, with higher performance". Valve will also be launching the new Steam Controller at the same time, as well as Steam Link which will extend Steam throughout your house over your current network.

The company is currently showing off over a dozen Steam Machines from partners like Alienware and Falcon Northwest, where they added: "Steam Machines will start at the same price point as game consoles, with higher performance. Customers interested in the best possible gaming experience can choose whichever components meet their needs".

Continue reading: Steam Machines will begin their lounge room takeover in November (full post)

Not a Rubix Cube - much cooler. Waterproof linux-powered cube PC

Chris Smith | Feb 27, 2015 12:02 AM CST

With six 16x16 displays giving you the ability to run various applications, the Cuberox PC project sets out to be the perfect home solution.

When turned off this product looks like just a general cube, but this waterproof casing houses a fully-functional computer within. Running on a Linux operating system, this product allows users to run different applications on each side of the cube, alongside giving developers full reign of application support and development through APR written on JavaScript.

Achieving a full waterproof seal thanks to wireless charging, this Kickstarter project also features some cool things like built-in speakers and a multicolor smart backlight. If you're feeling extra special you can partake in multiplayer games or even apparently install office on your device.

Continue reading: Not a Rubix Cube - much cooler. Waterproof linux-powered cube PC (full post)

Galaxy simulation dataset system runs 7680x4320, or 8K at 60FPS

Anthony Garreffa | Feb 22, 2015 11:59 PM CST

Researchers have used custom built PCs to display a galaxy simulation dataset at 7680x4320, or 8K. This mammoth display set up was pushing out 128 million particles across the 16 displays.

As for the PCs, they were running an Intel Core i7-980X, ASUS P6T motherboard, 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT 2000MHz DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 video cards, and 1 and 10GbE network connectivity. The team used 55-inch digital signage (1080p displays) with 7mm combined bezel. When it comes to software, the researchers use cgIX that "synchronizes the user input and drawing loop across all of the machines. On top of that is a custom application I developed that does out-of-core particle and volume rendering". Multiple computers are driving the 16 displays, where at any given time there were 4, 8 or 16 computers driving the displays.

What was the insane 8K set up of displays used for? The researcher explained on Reddit: "To support high-resolution visualization of large-scale particle datasets. Specifically, enabling the human visualization system to continue be used as an interrogation tool as the size of simulation datasets grows. Without these types of high resolution displays, it would become impractical to actually look at datasets that grow beyond the giga-scale because you simply couldn't get anything rendered on a single display screen that captures both detail and scale".

Continue reading: Galaxy simulation dataset system runs 7680x4320, or 8K at 60FPS (full post)

Hewlett-Packard enjoying Lenovo's current Superfish PR disaster

Michael Hatamoto | Feb 21, 2015 11:47 PM CST

Lenovo is withstanding a public relations nightmare after being caught installing the Superfish software on systems - much to the entertainment of rivals. It's just a great time to poke fun at the No. 1 PC and laptop manufacturer in the world, as the company has seen tremendous growth in the consumer and business markets in recent years.

Hewlett-Packard offered the following tweet:

HP also linked to a blog post in which it said it "does not pre-install software to enhance customer experience, but there is a key difference between most preinstalled software and Superfish."

Continue reading: Hewlett-Packard enjoying Lenovo's current Superfish PR disaster (full post)

Old tech comes back in fashion - Commodore 65 sold for 22k

Chris Smith | Feb 16, 2015 12:58 AM CST

Also known as the Commodore 64DX, Hackaday has spotted this piece of technological history for sale on eBay - eventually going for the cool price of $22,862.01 via the method of auction.

Including a whopping 128kB of RAM (expandable to 8MB) and a 1280x400 resolution displaying 4096 colors, this model was Commodore's last project in the early 1990's before the company was liquidated completely.

The C65's on hand were sold to members of the public after this closure and it's likely that the PC's which have been occasionally popping up on eBay are these exact ones. In regards to the high price, it's certainly not unusual - the last system spotted on eBay sold for $20,100 and even featured some missing parts.

Continue reading: Old tech comes back in fashion - Commodore 65 sold for 22k (full post)

Raspberry Pi 2 reacts badly to Xenon flashes, freezing and crashing

Chris Smith | Feb 15, 2015 4:32 AM CST

Every tech site has been signing the praises of the brand new Raspberry Pi 2. Featuring double the RAM of its predecessor, a quad-core processor and more, you can basically build a fully-functional general-use machine running on the new Windows 10 platform for a tiny investment.

You've purchased a Pi 2 for yourself, set it up and pulled out your camera to take a few pictures and share them on your favorite forums - big mistake! According to recent findings, any camera containing a Xenon flash will cause the system (whilst in operation) to freeze or turn off.

No - we're not joking. There hasn't been an official statement yet from the manufacturers, but plenty of users have reported the same fault upon testing their own units. Apparently due to shielding issues, if you've got a Raspberry Pi 2 and a Xenon-flash equipped camera, we'd love you to share your results with us.

Continue reading: Raspberry Pi 2 reacts badly to Xenon flashes, freezing and crashing (full post)