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Hardware 24 - A Computex-Free Zone

Posted on 1st Jun 2011 at 15:37 by Podcast with 4 comments

Paul is joined by Harry and Clive to talk about the latest in the world of PC hardware. This was before Paul jetted off to Computex 2011, so we're debating everything from Nvidia’s naming scheme to Intel’s latest chipset.

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Winners and Losers of Computex 2010

Posted on 8th Jun 2010 at 12:41 by Alex Watson with 17 comments

According to the flight map, as I finish this blog post, I’m somewhere west of Ulan Bator, on my home from Computex 2010 in Taipei. It started with me lying awake with jetlag late one night and early one morning, passing the time making a list of the companies I thought had a good show, and who didn’t.

While some people – inevitably – complained that the show wasn’t as busy as in previous years, I think that’s probably because there weren’t many (if any) amazing, ready-to-ship products to catch people’s attention on the show floor. However, thinking about the companies that came out well (and those that faired poorly) from Computex, what struck me this year was that how the list illustrates how rapidly the traditional power structures in the tech industry are changing.

Before I run down the winners and losers, I ought to say I was looking for companies that had either an unexpectedly good or bad show. I’m not going to list those that performed pretty much as expected. I should also say this is very much my personal list; I’ve batted a few emails back and forth with Rich and Harry, and their views are quite different – when they get a free moment, they’ll also post their thoughts.

Test Bench Roundup #1: Intel and MSI

Posted on 27th Jan 2010 at 10:27 by Richard Swinburne with 6 comments

Test rigs are a rarely catered-for niche, since most people prefer a whole case with side panels and stuff. Antec tried and failed with its Skeleton chassis, completely forgetting that a test bench needs to accommodate all sorts of potential setups - including after market coolers, an area which it was not so compatible with. In a sense, it was the glam-rocker of test benches with all show and no metal core.

We've had a couple drop on our doorstep recently and true to form they are raw to the core. We thought we'd write a blog about the test-benches we use regularly for those who like the idea of a freestanding, easy access "case".

They are surprisingly diverse as you'll see below, and in part 2 I'll treat you to possibly the greatest creation of all time: my home-modded one!

Tags big bang, case, intel, msi, pc, test bench, testing

What's really happening with the Lucid Hydra?

Posted on 16th Nov 2009 at 12:22 by Richard Swinburne with 6 comments

The rumour is that Nvidia really really doesn't like Lucid's Hydra chip - you remember, it's load balancing chip which, when present on a motherboard, allows you to mix and match graphics cards in a multi-GPU system.

The reason is obvious: Lucid is making something that could clearly damage Nvidia's SLI business model, so it's within reason that it would be miffed and it's not unlike Nvidia to protect itself with software DriverIDs and whatnot as has been evident from the recent kerfuffle over Batman Arkham Asylum.

Of course there's more than one side to every story, and we've recently spent time trying to find out what's happening with the Hydra chip and whether there's any truth to the rumours that Nvidia is playing a part by causing a stir with motherboard manufacturers.

Would you buy cooler-less graphics card?

Posted on 25th Sep 2009 at 11:15 by Antony Leather with 44 comments

Lets face it, water cooling your PC can be expensive. One of the most wallet-shredding bits is when you get to the graphics card. Full cover copper blocks for some of the larger graphics cards can cost over £100, but I recently had an idea that I thought I'd throw out to you guys to see what you think.

Instead of buying an air cooled card or a hideously expensive pre-water cooled example, what if you could buy just
the PCB?

Let me explain my madness.

MSI: Finally hitting the nail on the head

Posted on 4th Aug 2009 at 12:07 by Richard Swinburne with 11 comments

Where other motherboard manufacturers have fallen by the wayside (DFI, as proved by both the mediocre DK 790FXB-M3H5, and the reader reaction to it), or given up altogether (Abit, Epox), MSI is moving onwards and upwards.

MSI used to consistently languish in a distant third place (compared to Asus and Gigabyte) but this year not only has it really challenged the dominant two, in my opinion, it's successfully achieved a top tier place with many recommendation-worthy products.

For those who know me, writing something so unanimously positive is a difficult objective, being the critical barsteward I am. This reputation seems to have carried more than I've realised, as the conversation below proves after I tweeted that I was writing "a blog about MSI". Thank you for your honesty, my anonymous friend.

Not Doug says (21:50):
Rude blog?
Richard :: bit-tech says (21:51):
Positive
Not Doug says (21:51):
SHOCKMAHORRA!
Richard :: bit-tech says (21:51):
I know
Not Doug says (21:51):
I thought you were meant to be rude to everyone

However the more I write this the more obvious it seems, so, I can be nice when the situation calls for it!

Two weeks with MSI's X-Slim X340

Posted on 11th Jun 2009 at 10:42 by Richard Swinburne with 0 comments

After our review of MSI's X-Slim X340 in May, I nabbed the machine off Tim's desk just before I left for Taiwan.

It's an 'extended test' I told him (and MSI), but really I wanted to try the X-Slim for myself, because having played with it at CeBIT I wanted one. Now, after a couple of weeks use, I'm not so sure.

Do Overclocking Tournaments Work?

Posted on 21st May 2009 at 14:23 by Richard Swinburne with 34 comments

I'm confused.

I admire the people that take part in overclocking tournaments but I fail to understand why so much money is plowed into them by big hardware companies, presumably keen to use the event as a marketing tool.

Gigabyte has its Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championship (GOOC), MSI has MOA, and Asus and DFI have also had a stab at running their own events, and I'm curious to understand if you, the readers, follow them, takes note of what happens and even cares?

Where are all the AMD AM3 motherboard reviews?

Posted on 7th Apr 2009 at 10:22 by Richard Swinburne with 17 comments

We know a lot of our readers want to see AM3 motherboard reviews and we have been trying to accommodate this request since February - honest! Fanboys have been crying bias and that couldn't be any farther from the truth - here's why.

We have been working on no less than three 'new' AMD motherboards since we completed our Socket AM3 processor review at the start of February, but the problems have been continual, and no manufacturer has been left unmarked by the spattering of not quite there yet.

Normally we'd just go ahead with a review since the products are all ready on sale, but with each one we want to get to the bottom of their wierdness before we post a review. Also, we'd usually keep the inevitable debugging process sort of thing between ourselves and the parties involved but as it stands we don't know when we'll be able to get you a full review so we thought at least we'd keep you updated on our already delayed progress.

Tags achi, am3, amd, asus, gigabyte, msi, overclocking, reviews

bit-tech.net

Archive for the ‘msi’ tag

Hardware 24 - A Computex-Free Zone

Winners and Losers of Computex 2010

Test Bench Roundup #1: Intel and MSI

What's really happening with the Lucid Hydra?

Would you buy cooler-less graphics card?

MSI: Finally hitting the nail on the head

Two weeks with MSI's X-Slim X340

Do Overclocking Tournaments Work?

Where are all the AMD AM3 motherboard reviews?

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