Qualcomm, the world’s largest supplier of mobile application processors, has introduced its new lineup of mobile system-on-chips for mainstream smartphones, tablets and other devices. The new Snapdragon 600-series application processors feature ARM’s latest Cortex-A72 cores, support 4K video capture and playback, advanced storage technologies, a number of other high-end features …
Read More »50% of Samsung’s DRAM will be made using 20nm process in 2015 – report
Samsung Electronics will lead the market of dynamic random access memory with transition to 20nm fabrication process, a media report citing sources with knowledge of the matter claims. Over half of the company’s DRAM this year will be made using 20nm manufacturing technology. Demand for higher-performance and higher-density computer memory …
Read More »Nvidia to bring back overclocking of GeForce GTX 900M graphics adapters
Nvidia Corp. said on Thursday that it will bring back support of GeForce GTX 900M overclocking in its forthcoming drivers. The company did so after owners of notebooks featuring the aforementioned graphics adapters for mobile PCs got very upset about the lack of overclocking support in the latest drivers. Last …
Read More »ARM Cortex-A57 and Intel Silvermont – most efficient mobile cores, says study
At present there are about half of a dozen different general-purpose processing cores for various low-power system-on-chip solutions. There are high-performance, low-power, big and small cores. But when all of these metrics are taken into account, ARM and Intel have the edge over their rivals. Massive popularization of mobile and …
Read More »Plextor M6e Black Edition PCIe 256GB Review
Today we look at the Plextor M6e Black Edition. This SSD product supports PCI Express Gen 2 x 2 and potentially delivers more performance than a simple SATA 3 capable Solid State Drive. Rated sequential speeds of the Plextor M6e Black Edition are said to hit 770MB/s. It uses the …
Read More »Samsung’s eMMC 5.1 chips boost performance of mobile storage
Samsung Electronics this week introduced the world’s first NAND flash storage chips that comply with the eMMC 5.1 specification. The new solutions will significantly improve performance of embedded storage inside mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The eMMC 5.1 storage devices from Samsung are offered in 16GB, 32GB and …
Read More »OCZ Challenge update: 2nd ARC 100 drive dies at 352TB
Regular readers will know of the challenge submitted to KitGuru by OCZ – to kill 5 of their ARC 100 Solid State Drives. If you need a recap, then head back to this original page posted on December 10th. The drives all passed the warranty figure of 300TB on 3rd …
Read More »Intel could delay ‘Skylake-S’ processors to October – document
Intel Corp. has set a very broad product introduction window for its code-named “Skylake-S” microprocessors that it allows the chipmaker to release its new microprocessors as late as in October, which means rather limited availability of such desktop chips this calendar year. An excerpt presumably from an Intel’s document for …
Read More »Asus USB 3.1 Hands-on Preview
The widespread introduction of USB 3.1-capable components is already under way. That roll-out is currently centred around motherboards providing support for the 10Gbps ports, but further devices will make use of the higher speed connector in coming months. We get an early hands-on look at one of Asus' upcoming USB …
Read More »Asrock to add USB 3.1 to mainboards using add-in-cards
Asrock has announced two mainboards with USB 3.1 interconnection technologies. The motherboards will support Intel Corp.’s processors and will add USB 3.1 connectors using add-in-cards. It is unclear whether the boards will be sold separately to add USB 3.1 support to older systems. The family of Asrock’s mainboards with USB …
Read More »Samsung kicks off production of 14nm Exynos system-on-chips
Samsung Electronics has announced that it had begun mass production of a new Exynos 7 system-on-chip for mobile and multimedia devices using 14nm FinFET process technology. The news Exynos 7 Octa processor will likely power the company’s upcoming mobile devices, including flagship smartphones. Samsung started to mass produce chips using …
Read More »Kaspersky claims NSA hid spyware in HDD firmware
Hot off of the heels of breaking news on the biggest digital bank heist run in history, Kaspersky labs, the anti-malware firm, has released a new batch of information that indirectly paints the NSA and the US government as having inserted malware into the firmware of commercial hard drives. While …
Read More »WD, HGST expect helium-filled HDDs to get more popular this year
HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital, first announced its helium-filled hard disk drives in 2013 and started their shipments in 2014. Such drives have a number of advantages compared to traditional HDDs, but they still have not gained popularity because both WD and Seagate produce hard drives with …
Read More »SuperFlower Leadex Platinum ‘8 Pack Edition’ 2000W Review
‘Holy Moly'. This is the PG version of the first words I said when we were offered the new 2000 watt Superflower power supply for analysis. Renowned and highly respected UK overclocker Ian ‘8Pack' Parry partnered up with SuperFlower for the creation of this new monster unit. The ‘8 Pack …
Read More »AMD to launch A8-7650K ‘Kaveri’ APU this week
Advanced Micro Devices plans to release a new accelerated processing unit (APU) based on the code-named “Kaveri” design. The new chip will be a relatively affordable solution with unlocked multiplier that is designed for overclockers in budget. The new AMD A8-7650K accelerated processing units has four “Steamroller” cores (two dual-core …
Read More »Asustek unveils small GeForce GTX 960 for ITX builds
Asustek Computer has introduced its new GeForce GTX 960 graphics card that is designed for small form-factor desktop personal computers. The Asus GeForce GTX 960 Mini graphics board combines rather high performance, small dimensions and relatively affordable price. The Asus GeForce GTX 960 Mini (GTX960-MOC-2GD5) sports 1253MHz GPU clock-rate, 2GB of …
Read More »MSI offers cashback with purchase of mainboards and graphics cards
In a bid to strengthen its positions on the market of mainboards and graphics cards, MicroStar International initiated a new cashback promo campaign. Those, who purchase a combination of MSI mainboards with graphics cards will be eligible to get part of their money back from the manufacturer. From now on …
Read More »Intel to unveil Skylake processors for desktops in August – report
As reported, Intel Corp. will delay its code-named “Skylake” microprocessors for desktops and the new chips will not hit the market in mid-2015, as planned. According to a new media report, the “Skylake-S” chips will hit the market only in August. DigiTimes reports that Intel intends to release its new …
Read More »Some GTX 970 buyers getting partial refunds from Amazon
We've had a couple of KitGuru readers get in touch to let us know that Amazon US and Amazon UK both appear to be willing to follow in Newegg's footsteps and issue 20 per cent refunds to buyers of the GTX 970 graphics card following the recent VRAM fiasco. Two …
Read More »DeepCool products now available on Amazon
Following on from our recent review of the DeepCool Steam Castle, many of you asked us where the best place to pick up some of the company's products was. At the time, we didn't have a particularly great answer for you, but now you can pick them up at the …
Read More »NZXT Doko Review
NZXT Doko is a gaming device that extends the range of your gaming PC so you can sit back in comfort and play games on your TV. The idea is that your gaming PC is over there, probably near your router, while your TV is some distance away, probably in …
Read More »Samsung to integrate baseband capabilities into its Exynos mobile APs
In an attempt to lower its dependence on Qualcomm, the world’s largest developer of application processors for mobile devices, Samsung plans to integrate baseband capabilities into its advanced Exynos system-on-chips. Such SoCs will emerge next year and will power devices the company will release in 2016. For years flagship smartphones …
Read More »Kingston increases investments in SSD controller developer
Kingston Technology, a leading manufacturer of memory modules, solid-state drives and other memory products, recently increased its stake in Phison, an independent designer of NAND flash controllers. The investment will help Phison to fund development of SSD controllers better suited for Kingston. Kingston will acquire 10.4 million shares of Phison …
Read More »Asustek to release mainboards with USB 3.1 later this month
Although the USB 3.1 standard with a new reversible plug, higher performance and other improvements have been around for about a year now, no commercial PCs so far have adopted it. However, things are going to change soon, when Asustek Computer launches its motherboards with the new interconnection technology. The …
Read More »Deus Ex Universe to be shown at GDC next month
The Game Developers Conference is set to go ahead in March, which will be our first look at the future of games in 2015. At the event, Eidos Montreal will be showing off its new game, Deus Ex Universe, featuring AMD Tress FX 3.0 technology. The description for the Eidos …
Read More »Palit GTX960 Super JetStream Review
Nvidia released their new Maxwell cards last month and on launch day we focused on the Asus and Gigabyte GTX960. Today we supplement our initial findings by looking at the new Palit GTX960 Super JetStream. This card is supplied in a highly overclocked state, with a bright red custom cooler. …
Read More »Intel to sell its stake in Imagination, set to use only in-house GPUs
Just several years ago many rumours suggested that Apple and Intel Corp. were interested in taking over Imagination Technologies, a leading developer of graphics processing technologies for mobile devices as both companies needed high-performance low-power graphics cores. Apparently, Intel is now very confident of its in-house GPU developers as it …
Read More »Nvidia disables overclocking of GeForce GTX 900M graphics adapters
Gaming notebooks have been gaining popularity for years and nowadays desktop replacement laptops feature performance that is similar to that of full-size PCs. But while makers of mobile PCs want them to have as few constraints as possible, it looks like Nvidia Corp. has just reintroduced one: from now on …
Read More »Seagate and Micron ink strategic SSD pact
Micron Technology and Seagate Technology have signed a strategic partnership agreement. Under the terms of the pact, Seagate will build solid-state drives based on NAND flash memory produced by Micron, whereas the latter will be able to use the former’s enterprise storage IP, which will be beneficial for both companies. …
Read More »Intel reaffirms plans to release Core M ‘Skylake’ chips this year
Intel Corp. reiterated plans to release a new generation of Core M microprocessors based on the code-named “Skylake” micro-architecture this year. The new chips will have improved performance and lower power consumption than existing Core M central processing units, which should enable more competitive designs. “As we move into the …
Read More »