3D view of MSI X79A-GD45 Intel X79 Express Sandy Bridge-E motherboard

When it comes to AMD CPU vs Intel CPU, fan boys will sure be siding their favourite. In our review of the Gigabyte X79-UD7, we compared the Intel Core i7 3960X against the Core i5 2500K.

In addition, we would like to know how the new 6 core processor Core i7 3960X will fare against the Phenom II X6 1100 which sells for only 1/4 of the price of the 3960X.

Would it be worth paying 4X the price for the processor for just that performance ? Read our review with benchmarks and judge for yourself.

Read review here.

LG confirms today that the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS will be initially available for the following high-end LG smartphones which were introduced this year: the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D and the Optimus LTE. We are also continuing to evaluate the ICS OS to determine whether it is compatible with the functionality, features and performance of other LG smartphones to make the ICS OS available on as many LG smartphones as possible.

In December this year, the forthcoming upgrade schedule and additional specific models for the ICS OS upgrade will be posted on our LG Mobile Global Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LGMobile) and on our local LG websites. Please stay tuned for more updates from LG.

SITEX 2011 begins today. Although it is raining cats and dogs, it didn’t stop us from traveling almost an hour to the eastern Singapore to check out what is new at the show.

This year, the SITEX 2011 day 1 seems to be quite quiet. The event spans 3 halls and we don’t see the usual crowd as compared to last year.

Major brands were there, mostly selling notebooks. DIY components are no where to be seen as usual. In fact, the floods in Thailand has resulted in a shortage of HDD. The usual cut throat price of USB 3.0 portable HDD is no where to be seen.

Tablets were not everywhere. The big brands like Acer, Sony, Samsung, Asus, Viewsonic are all promoting their tablets. The pricing isn’t that cheaper than at the retail stores.

I have a hard time looking for HP cartridges too. There seems to be only one stall in the first hall that carries it. I got my combo pack at a 20% discounted price and a $5 NTUC voucher.

At one corner of the Hall 6 is Palladine, a local LCD TV manufacturer. They are showing off their new TV hub powered by Android. I gave it a try and is surprised to find Android marketplace on it on this Android 2.2 powered device. The remote control is cool too but I find it difficult to use it as a mouse over the air. It sells for S$199.

Next door is Aztech, another Singaporean company that is known these days for it’s powerplugs. They also have a TV box but it is powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It is known as PlayXtreme. The bundle comes with HDMI, component and RCA cable. They have a very interesting remote control. It has a full QWERTY keypad on it for text entry. The launch price is S$179 which is slightly cheaper than the Palladine.

Below is a 3D Video of the tiny device that is hooked to the 50″ LCD TV.

On the next page, we test run the device.

SITEX is back and it will still be held at Singapore Expo. For Floor plan and pricing. please click link below

http://forums.ocworkbench.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82

ASUS, ASRock and MSI Intel X79 board pricing in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is known for it’s cheap and good electronic products. Of course that would include the latest Intel X79 boards and CPUs.

To date, only three brands are available in the market. They are ASRock, ASUS and MSI. The only model that is mATX form factor is from ASRock.  Pricing ranges from HKD 1799 to HKD 3790. Below is a chart that shows the different models and pricing. (1 USD = 7.7915 HKD, 1 SGD = HKD 5.98).

Source

Introduction to Gigabyte X79-UD7
Bluetooth 22 Nov 2011

Last week, Intel launches it’s new series of processors based on the LGA 2011 Socket type. WE have already previewed the performance on launch date last week. Today, we will take at the the Gigabyte X79-UD7 motherboard. This new board features some interesting features that were never seen before on previous generation boards.

The X79-UD7 is based on Intel X79 Express chipset. It supports the Intel® Core™ i7 processors in the LGA2011 package. It has 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory. It employs a 4 channel memory architecture that supports DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules (DDR3-2400 is possible with OC). It supports non-ECC and XMP memory modules.

The board consists of 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2); 2 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1, PCIEX8_2)
* The PCIEX8_2 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_2 slot. When the PCIEX8_2 slot is populated, the PCIEX16_2 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
(All PCI Express x16 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.). There are 3 x PCI Express x1 slots (All PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

The board support 4-Way/3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI technology and the PCIEX16 slots operate at up to x8 mode when 4-Way/3-Way AMD CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI is enabled.

In terms of expandability, the board has 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices; 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2/3/4/5) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices which support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10. In addition, there are 2 x Marvell 88SE9172 chips that supports 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3 6/7/8/9) supporting up to 4 SATA 6Gb/s devices.

The Intel X79 Express chipset also support Up to 14 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 ports on the back panel, 6 ports available through the internal USB headers). There are 2 x Fresco FL1009 chips which supports Up to 4 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header).

The audio on board is based on the Realtek ALC898 codec HDA and supports 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel, Dolby® Home Theater, S/PDIF Out. There is also a Intel GbE LAN (10/100/1000 Mbit) network port on board.

In addition, this new board features GIGABYTE 3D Power (patent pending)

GIGABYTE X79 series motherboards are the first to take advantage of the exclusive GIGABYTE 3D Power, an all new hardware and software-based Digital Power Engine for both the PWM and Memory that delivers unprecedented power delivery control.

All New Digital Power Control for the CPU and Memory
Utilizing a brand new Digital PWM controller, GIGABYTE’s 3D Power features precise Auto Voltage Compensation to deliver a steady flow of power to the CPU and memory no matter the loading. This all new, all digital power system provides enthusiast users with exceptional control over the overclocking potential of their GIGABYTE X79 motherboard.
GIGABYTE is the first in the industry to utilize digital memory controllers for not only the Memory, but VTT and VSA, for real-time monitoring and adjusting. Digital memory control allows users to monitor and record DDR power and current in real-time while gaming, overclocking or at idle. Users can also set OVP (Over Voltage Protection) to safeguard your memory, adjust memory Load-line Calibration to fix memory vdrooping for a quicker response time and adjust memory PWM frequency on-the-fly.

GIGABYTE 3D Power(patent pending) Utility

	Users can now enjoy a fully interactive 3D utility that facilitates adjustment of the 3 dimensions that control the power delivery to your CPU and Memory: Voltage, Phase and Frequency. These parameters are crucial to how the digital PWM supplies power to critical areas of the motherboard and can help users quickly obtain the highest, most stable overclock.
	3D Power: Voltage Control Voltage parameters can be modified within 3D Power, including load line calibration the of CPU. By adjusting load line calibration, Vdrooping can be avoided, maintaining optimal voltages levels despite increasing current levels. OVP (over voltage protection) can also be adjusted to change default protection range of the CPU, memory controller, VTT and system memory.
	3D Power: Phase Control Users can calibrate OCP (Over Current Protection) for the CPU, integrated memory controller and system memory power levels. This allows the Phase control to deliver even more power to the system when needed.
	3D Power: Frequency Control GIGABYTE’s digital PWM allows for adjustable frequency control via the International Rectifier (IR3567) PWM controller. 3D Power frequency control allows users to change the PWM controller frequency so that the CPU VRM can adjust power delivery speeds more quickly. Users can also adjust the PWM spectrum or maximum and minimum overall frequencies.

It also comes bundled with GIGABYTE Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi Card

With 2 kinds data transfer mode, GIGABYTE Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi Card providing spec 300 Mbps transfer rates, 802.11n supports the latest WiFi specifications for better signal coverage, and featuring the newest Bluetooth 4.0, you will not suffer from signal loss like before.

Latest Upgrade Empowers Users with Powerful 3D and Multimedia Options

SEOUL, Nov. 15, 2011 -– The enhanced Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade developed for LG Optimus 3D will include new and improved features such as enhanced network speed, better 3D experience and improved multimedia functions.

Extreme cooling is something that we don’t usually do. Sometimes it is good to know how far one can push the processor. We had the opportunity to witness the latest LGA2011 processor on LN2.

The test was conducted at the Plug Fest event held at ParkRoyal Hotel in KL. The Indo team tested the ES processor from and was able to achieve 5.4GHz using LN2. The CPU vcore voltage was raised to 1.62v for the test. Cinbench 11.5 CPU result 15pts
More details can be seen at the link below :

Link

Gigabyte Plug Fest 2011 (ASEAN)
bluetooth 23 Nov 2011

Last Thursday, 17 Nov 2011, our Singapore overclockers were invited to the first Plug Fest event held in ASEAN. Despite the bad weather, representatives from ASEAN media and overclockers reached Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 17th on time.

The Plug Fest event in ASEAN is first of it’s kind. In the past, Gigabyte has held that in Taipei. Gigabyte invited two separate large groups of media and overclockers from around the world. They test out the boards and give feedback on issues faced during testing and overclocking using extreme methods such as LN2 cooling.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we took a rest before we proceed to a nearby local restaurant for our dinner together with representatives from Gigabyte, media and overclockers from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand.

Registration starts in the morning of 18th November. We were brought to a small ballroom where benches of equipment are laid out for our test. As there are 4 of us, 2 get to share a bench. I am delighted to be in the same “team” as SpyBoy.

Before testing and benchmarking takes place, we were given a presentation of the new X79 series of boards.

The long awaited Internet sharing function is now available on the HTC Trophy 7. An update is available when the phone is connected to Zune.

You can setup the Broadcast Name, Security type (open, WPA2) and a password of 8 minimum characters.

The OS version is 7.10.7720.68 and firmware revision number is 2250.12.51001.707

Our results using speed test shows that it our M1 HSPA network when share is capable to reach this speed of 3.26Mbps downlink and 640Kb/s uplink.

Update yours and comment below on your experience

This morning, we sighted the Intel Core i7 3960X selling at Low Yat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur. There is no bundle (with board) pricing attached. This processor is priced at RM 3550 (~SGD1450, USD1122). The price is USD is definitely more than the suggested listed price of USD 990 by USD 132.

Gigabyte will soon release 3 new iOS apps for their motherboards.

THe first is a Picture Viewer. The 2nd is Cloud OC where you can now
access commonly used OC functions eg. Tuner, System INfo, Hardware Monitor etc.

Cloud BIOS is the third application and you can overclock, select boot disk, check PC status.

These few applications will be available once App Store approve it.

Android versions are on it’s way.

Hardware used:

GIGABYTE X79-UD7
Corsair GTX7 16GB (4x4GB)
Antec HCP1200
Corsair A70 air cooler (socket 1366 mount)
Kingston HyperX 2133 kit 8GB (4x2GB)
Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD & Corsair 90GB
GIGABYTE GTX470SOC GPU

GIGABYTE X79 OC Guide

G.Skill launches its new RipjawsZ!

Extreme Performance Quad-Channel Memory kits certified exclusively for Intel X79 platform.

The world’s fastest 64GB kit: DDR3 2,133MHz 64GB(8GBx8) 1.5V XMP 1.3

The world’s fastest 32GB kit: DDR3 2,400MHz 32GB(8GBx4) 1.65V XMP 1.3

The world’s fastest 16GB kit: DDR3 2,500MHz 16GB(4GBx4) 1.65V XMP 1.3

Taipei-Taiwan, 14st November 2011. G.Skill has announced the development of its brand new RipjawsZ series quad-channel memory modules, designed specifically for Intel LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E processors and X79 systems.

A World First in Super-Sized & Super-Speed

The new RipjawsZ builds on a history of Ripjaws world first performance boundaries and award-winning quality, by including extreme performance kits such as, DDR3 2,500MHz 16GB (4GBx4) 1.65V kit, and super size kits including DDR3 64GB (8GBx8) 2133MHz at only 1.5V, and the fastest ever 8GB DIMMs in the DDR3 2,400MHz 32GB(8GBx4) kit. The following screens show two RipjawsZ 2,400MHz 32GB(8GBx4) kits running together at 2400MHz 64GB and booting at breath-taking 2600MHz 64GB with ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.

*DDR3 2600MHz 64GB *DDR3 2400MHz 64GB Pi 32m 12P

XMP 1.3 Ready

Working closely with Intel and leading motherboard manufacturers, all high-end RipjawsZ memory kits (1866MHz and above) come with the latest Intel XMP 1.3 standard developed for the X79 platform. It provides PC enthusiasts an entirely trouble free overclocking experience to boost their X79 systems to extreme levels of performance, while retaining system stability.

Hand-tested in real-world PC setups

The G.Skill engineering team has closely worked with leading motherboard manufacturers, to qualify compatibility and performance reliability under these extreme conditions. It continues to strive to develop the best quad channel memory kits for Intel X79 platforms. All RipjawsZ memory kits are hand tested in a range of X79 motherboards according to G.Skill’s rigorous qualification procedure to ensure the maximum quality product.

The following is a specifications list for G.Skill RipjawsZ family. Specifications are subject to change without notice. For further details please check the G.Skill website at www.gskill.com.

All G.Skill memory products come with a lifetime warranty and the G.Skill technical team is always ready to provide consumers with complete technical support via online forums, telephone and email.

Intel Core i7-3960X LGA2011 and intel X79 Express chipset
bluetooth 14 Nov 2011

Today, Intel introduces it’s new Intel X79 chipset and Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E processors. This new generation of processors and chipsets takes over the previous generation of Core i5/i7 as the highest end Intel 32nm architecture platform.

One of the most formiddable change on this new architecture is the introduction of quad channel memory support, supporting up to 256bits.

The Intel Core i7-3960X features 6 Cores, 12 therads. It is spotted in a Intel LGA2011 socket which is larger than existing Intel processors. It supports Intel Turbo Boost technology 2.0, Hyper threading, 15MB intel Smart Cache. It also has an integrated memory controller supporting 4 channels of DDR3-1600 (mostly overclockable to DDR3-2400/2500). Intel AVX, AES, SSE 4.1 and SSE 4.2 instructions are supported as well.

The Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme edition has an unlocked multiplier and has a base clock of 3.3GHz with Turbo Cache to 3.9GHz. It has 6 cores 12 threads, with 15MB Cache. TDP is 130W and it is priced at USD 990.

The Intel X79 Express chipset supports 14 hi-speed USB 2.0 ports, dual EHCI, GbE MAC, HDA, 8 PCIe 2.0 express lanes, 6 SATA ports (esata), Intel Rapid storage technology enterprise is optional.

As for the 2nd generation core i7 LGA2011 processor, it supports 40 lanes of PCIe 2.0. It supports different combinations including 2 x 16 + 1 x 8 or 1 x 16 + 3 x 8 or 1 x16 + 2 x 8 + 2 x 4. Although it is still indicated as PCIe 2.0, it actually will support PCIe 3.0 in future.

The X79 chipset does not have native USB 3.0 support. As for overclocking, previous generation calls it BCLK. On the Sandy Bridge-E it is renamed as DMICLK.

IN a few days time, end users will be able to purchase the new Intel Sandy bridge E processors from retail stores to pair them with their Intel X79 mainboards.

While waiting, let’s take a look at what MSI has in store with their MSI X79A-GD45 motherboard with this unboxing video.

Subscription radio goes on Subscription TV

StarHub TV to carry RediGold from 15 November

Singapore, 10 November 2011 – For the first time in Singapore, a subscription radio station will be available on a subscription TV platform! On 15 November, RediGold – Rediffusion’s top radio station, will be launched on StarHub TV Channel 890, in a tie-up by StarHub and Rediffusion to enhance their reach to the increasing senior population in Singapore.

RediGold is a knowledge-based cultural radio station dedicated to bringing seniors quality infotainment in Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka for 18 hours daily, from 6am to 12am. Since the 1940s, RediGold has touched the lives of many Singaporeans with the classic stories as told by the legendary storyteller Lei Dai Sor, Ng Chia Keng and Ong Toh. A considerable group of Singapore consumers will be able to reminisce with the nostalgic songs of the yesteryears. In addition to the iconic radio dramasand one-man story narrations, RediGold also offers‘live’ talkshows, news and weather updates.

“StarHub has always placed much emphasis in innovations in our constant pursuit to delight our customers. We are proud to be the first operator in Singapore tooffer a radio station to pay TV customers, and the selection of RediGold was a natural choice as there is already quality assurance and a loyal following. RediGold will also enable us to better serve the needs of the senior population, which is a growingmarket,” said Iris Wee, StarHub’s Vice President of Home Solutions & Content.

“We are delighted to be on StarHub TV. Rediffusion has been providing infotainment to Singapore’s homes for over 60 years and will continue to serve our seniors for many more years to come. Our partnership with StarHub will allow many more homes to enjoy a unique and distinctive listening pleasure brought to you by Rediffusion,” said Leong Kwok Seng, CEO of Rediffusion.

RediGold is available for subscription on all StarHub TV set-top boxes, including the digital set-top box. Those using any of StarHub’s two-way boxes– HubStation, HubStation HD or HD interactive set-top box, can enjoy an additional “Radio On Demand” feature that will enable them to access selected content anytime. StarHub TV customers can subscribe to RediGold for just $6.42 (including GST) monthly. Those who subscribe to the new channel before 31 December 2011 will enjoy a 50 per cent discount off RediGold for the first three months.

Apple just release it’s iOS 5.0.1 to fix the power drain issue. This firmware can be downloaded automatically over WIFI saving you the trouble of updating it through itunes with USB cable.

It is 38.9MB in size and it does the following :

- it fixes bugs affecting battery life
- Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
- Improves voice recognition for Austrailan users using dictation