Tech News
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Crucial Announces MX500 Solid State Drive
Published: Tuesday, January 9, 2018 | By: DennisThe next-generation drive is built on quality, speed, and security
Tech Specs:
- Micron® 2nd Generation 64-layer 3D TLC NAND
- Sequential reads/writes up to 560/510 MB/s
- Random reads/writes up to 95K/90K IOPS
- Capacities up to 2TB
- 2.5-inch and M.2 Type 2280 form factors
- 5-year limited warranty
Key Highlights:
- Great price/performance ratio and superior reliability
- 45 times more energy efficient than a typical hard drive
- Dynamic Write Acceleration delivers faster saves and file transfers
- Integrated Power Loss Immunity preserves saved work in the event of an unexpected power loss
- AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption keeps data safe and secure from hackers and thieves
- Exclusive Data Defense guards against data corruption
- Adaptive Thermal Protection limits temperatures within the drive
- Compatible with the Crucial® Storage Executive tool for easy drive maintenance
- Easy installation with a step-by-step guide at crucial.com/ssd-install
- Free Acronis® True Image™ HD software included for easy data migration
Boise, ID – JANUARY 9, 2018 - Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of the Crucial® MX500 SSD. The new drive features second generation Micron® 3D NAND technology and is 45 times more energy efficient than a typical hard drive. Available in capacities up to 2TB in the 2.5-inch form factor and up to 1TB in the M.2 form factor, the MX500 has sequential reads/writes up to 560/510 MB/s and random reads/writes up to 95K/90K IOPS.
“This next generation MX500 SSD features a stackable 64-layer, 256-gigabit component. Micron’s floating gate NAND is designed with CMOS Under the Array (CUA), which allows us to minimize the footprint of the die. At 59 square millimeters, it’s among the world’s smallest 256-gigabit die,” said Jon Tanguy, Crucial Senior SSD Product Engineer. “Our engineering team has incorporated this leading-edge NAND technology in an SSD that includes all the advanced features Crucial customers have come to expect to keep their data safe.”
Crucial also directly addresses two of the scariest issues for first-time SSD buyers: moving files and installation. Upgrading from a traditional hard drive is easy with the MX500 thanks to the data migration and cloning software included with each drive. And the Crucial SSD Install Guide helps new installers with directions for every step of the process.
“We’re excited about our next generation of SSD drives and the near-instant performance and lasting reliability that comes with them,” said Jonathan Weech, Crucial Senior SSD Product Manager. “Users can rest assured that their data, family videos, travel photos, music, and other important documents are stored safely on the MX500.”
The MX500 advanced features include:
- Dynamic Write Acceleration for faster saves and file transfers.
- Hardware-based encryption tokeep personal files and confidential data secure.
- Integrated Power Loss Immunity to avoid unintended data loss when the power unexpectedly goes out.
- Exclusive Data Defense to prevent files from becoming corrupted and unusable.
- Redundant Array of Independent NAND to protect data at the component level.
Crucial SSDs have been established, proven, and tested for over seven generations of drives. The MX500 is backed by a five-year limited warranty3 and supported by the Crucial® Storage Executive software tool for easy drive maintenance. The 2.5-inch version of the MX500 is available for immediate purchase at Crucial.com or through our global channel partners, while the MX500 M.2 version will be available in Q1’18. For more information about the whole Crucial SSD portfolio, visit crucial.com/ssd.
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Mining XMR Monero With AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Cards @ Legit Reviews
Published: Wednesday, January 3, 2018 | By: DennisFunny how GPU mining has spread, even hardware review sites are getting onboard and a quick look at the Disqus comments proves that zealots in the crypto world are taking notice. Sadly, only to poke holes in whatever is being reported by quoting and sending people to "other" websites.
For instance, consider this interaction (not a direct quote)
Some Reader: "Oh hey, ya saw your review of the EVGA DG-77, how is the cooling?"
My Reply: "Good man, I didn't see any reason to be concerned"
Some Reader: "Well, this video I watched on YouTube says the cooling sucks so you have to be wrong because everything on YouTube is correct"
Me: *shakes head*First of all. Why bother asking me how the cooling is when you are already convinced that it is bad because of a YouTube video. On top of that the video in question is more of an opinion piece than a review where they have NOTHING good to say about the product. In that environment, yes the author will do whatever they can to make it look bad.
Second, the case has a F*uk1n glass plate over the fans!! What do you expect? Open air cooling performance?? Pfft use your brain people.
Oh.. getting back to the article at Legit Reviews. Seems good. You (s|c)ould check it out. In fact here is a super confusing quote to help seal the deal.
AMD Radeon RX Vega graphics cards do very well on the CryptoNight proof-of-work algorithm and miners are using them to mine Monero, Electroneum, Sumokoin, Bytecoin and Karbo. This is because the profitability is better on those coins than Ethereum that uses the Ethash proof-of-work algorithm. It’s tough to find an AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics card due to this. That is why we turned to the readily available AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition to do some manual labor in the mines.
Whoa, talk about keywords.
At one point I considered adding CryptoMining to my video card benchmarks however the numbers change based on the difficutly making it pretty inaccurate. 2k Hashes (or whatever) might be realistic at the time of the review but, a week later that might drop due to difficulity increases. Heck framebutter size can impact performance where the miner will simply stop if the hash gets too big. #TWSS
#notmymoney
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The Criminal Underworld Is Dropping Bitcoin
Published: Tuesday, January 2, 2018 | By: DennisThe beginning of the end? Seems that way.
In monero’s case, criminals are snapping it up because bitcoin’s underlying technology can work against them. Called blockchain, the digital ledger meticulously records which addresses send and receive transactions, including the exact time and amount -- great data to use as evidence. Match an address to a crime and then watch the bitcoin universe carefully, and you can see the funds disappear and reappear in other locations.
Sleuths have developed databases and techniques for digesting that information to eventually nab wrongdoers. Say, for example, a coffee shop in Berkeley is known to have a certain bitcoin address, and a wallet used by an extortionist transfers the same amount there every morning at 9 a.m. Police can stop by and make an arrest.
It was only a matter of time before smart people figured out a way to track the blockchain. Sure it doesn't point to a single user but, the wallet does. That is a lot of data to sift through but with the right software it isn't difficult.
In researching this story I went to check out Monero and as you would expect it is setup much like Bitcoin with dedicated software and websites setup to create wallets and distribute software. There is even a developer network who charge for the mining software.
I have said this many times. Digital currency is the ultimate multi-level marketing and it is bound to come crashing down. Of course the folks at the top will be cashing in and all the poor suckers buying into the hype will end up losing everything.
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TechPowerUp's Best of 2017
Published: Thursday, December 28, 2017 | By: DennisI should do one of these. Anyone dare me to look back on 2017 and tell you what was great about it?
#didntthinkso
Before we say farewell and adieu to 2017, join the editors of TechPowerUp on a trip down the memory lane as we look back at each of our specific review categories. The first annual TechPowerUp Best of article aims to recognize products that held up to the hype, and in some cases even managed to surprise and over-deliver.
If you have been paying attention this year it should be pretty easy to figure out what was great and what really didn't live up to expectation. I'm really surprised to see Core i7 8700K on the list despite the lack of availability and motherboard options.
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EwinRacing Flash Series Ergonomic Office Chair Review @ Bigbruin
Published: Thursday, December 28, 2017 | By: DennisGaming chairs are one of those items that you are always curious about but never brave enough to try. Many reviews are deeply seeded with opinion that it is difficult to know if the chair is good or if the review is bad.
Well, it would seem that Bigbruin feels the same way.
I have never reviewed a chair before, but I have sat in plenty of them, so I would say I am fairly qualified to share my opinion. The EwinRacing Flash Series chair is definitely very comfortable, and overall has a very high build quality. There is plenty of adjustability to it, and the inclusion of both a lumbar and a neck pillow are welcome touches. I also appreciate that it can accommodate such a range of user heights / weights, as I am quite often left with chairs maxed out and still wishing for a little more room! Not with this chair, as it can go so high that my feet are left dangling.
I'm actually quite impressed with the EwinRacing chairs. They seem to pull in all of the stuff that makes a great gaming chair and then stacks on crazy build quality to push things over the top. Do you need an alloy caster base and reinforced chair frame? Not really but, by gum, if I can get a chair with that stuff it will become a decision point for sure.
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Caselabs Bullet BH8 Unboxing Video @ Modders-Inc
Published: Wednesday, December 27, 2017 | By: DennisVideo and Hardware Reviews have been a thing since the days of "Another Kickass Review", I never felt they were all that effective but were fun to watch. For those that remember the Kickass time you might get a chuckle. If not you might as well go back to your YouTube and support the unsustainable marketing engine.
Modders-Inc has posted a video review of the CaseLabs Bullet BH8. This is a standard sized computer case that looks more like a test bench than traditional tower. there isn't anything wrong with that and given the absense of external drives we might see more designs like this. Of course if you really want a tower case, then you might as well go back to watching your YouTube videos cause this bit if news is not for you.
Have you ever wanted a case that is custom made and created by someone that understands the issues you have when updating your system? Caselabs to the rescue with the Bullet BH8! Created in the USA and by a small private company that knows what it is like to not be able to put a system together just the way
Caselabs has been one of the go to vendors for the many of the show builds you see on YouTube (again for those who don't bother reading anymore). Caselabs chassis are quite large and assemble using screws over the traditional rivets you see in just about every computer case in the world. Personally I find this werid but then again they have never trusted us enough to send over a sample.
Be sure to check out the video over at Modders-Inc.
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ASRock Z370 Taichi Build Makes 5Ghz OC Simple – Intel Optane Adds Instant Startup
Published: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 | By: DennisDare I say... Optane
We also have to consider that 5Ghz overclock AND Optane are in the same paragraph and if that is Fake News.
I think not and ASRock gives us a reason why.
Our combination of the ASRock Z370 Taichi, 8th Gen Intel chip and Intel optane provided for the fastest and most powerfull build to date! Not only do we demonstrate how to hit and use a solid 5GHz in two easy steps, but also, our video demonstration validates the fastest system startup and shut down we have seen yet in a PC. It also validates our 5GHz clock speed.
There is a ripple in the PC world where folks seem to think faster is better. Thing is, they are not wrong but I have to wonder if shutdown speed is really something people are concerned with and if they are maybe they should consider closing their apps before shutting down the PC.
#justsayin
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Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 240 TT Premium Edition Review @ Vortez
Published: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 | By: DennisAIO or All in One cooling solutions combine the maintenance free operation of air cooling with the capacity of water. Granted there isn't much water in these coolers but every little bit counts. Of course, the one thing people often forget is that while you do get better thermals with an AIO the real benefit is your ability to direct the exhaust heat where ever you want.
The latest all-in-one CPU cooler that we’re looking at today is the Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 240 TT Premium Edition. The name is quite a mouthful, granted, but it explains everything you need to know about the product in one fowl swoop. The RGB CPU cooler arrives in 3 different flavours, depending on the size of the radiator that you choose; 240mm (2x 120mm), 280mm (2x 140mm) or 360mm (3x 120mm).
Thermaltake has fully embraced RGB lighting and has gone to great lengths to include it into everything they sell, including AIO coolers made by asetek and branded with their own RGB LED lighting effects and Riing fans.
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PowerColor Red Devil Vega 56 8GB review
Published: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 | By: DennisOne of the reoccurring themes on the Hardware Asylum Podcast is the PowerColor Red Devil. It may not be one of the fastest cards on the market but it does have one of the best back stories of any high-end graphics card brand. I got to review one of the RX cards this last year and despite being light on mainstream features it had the performance you would expect.
Finally, the first custom Vega boards have hit the market. In this review, we take a devilish PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 with 8GB graphics memory for a spin. The 56 is a more affordable graphics card in the Vega range, and might actually be the better proposition value for money wise.
Vega is a GPU that I haven't paid much attention to, in fact it isn't something many other sites were able to review either which makes me wonder if it really is all "that" or just more AMD hype to sell more cards.
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AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Overview @ TechPowerUp
Published: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 | By: DennisRegular driver updates are important to ensure smooth gameplay and that the latest features are supported. Very rarely will drivers increase performance but I have seen instances where the driver devs reorder some stuff to give you a few more FPS in certain instances.
AMD has recently released a driver update called "The Adrenalin Edition" which brings with it some pretty cool stuff. That is assuming you are on Team Red.
The next version of AMD's Radeon Software Graphics Drivers, Adrenalin Edition, has been released today, and it aims to more than just a customizable overlay. One of the many exciting new features is AMD Link, an iOS/Android app that makes the most of a second screen experience. This is a driver release that merits the time to go through in detail.
I do like how you can link it to your smart device and I suspect more of that will be happening in the future.
