Tech News
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The Unpatchable Malware That Infects USBs Is Now on the Loose @ Wired
So, a new, nasty little piece of malware was released out into the world recently. While more exposure to the problem at hand can help create a potential fix faster, I'm torn on the method used. It's like some researchers from the CDC releasing bird flu out into the world just to show everyone how devastating it could be, in order to accelerate a cure. Agree or disagree, it's loose... so make sure you're using protection when plugging into unknown ports.
Like Nohl, Caudill and Wilson reverse engineered the firmware of USB microcontrollers sold by the Taiwanese firm Phison, one of the world’s top USB makers.
"People look at these things and see them as nothing more than storage devices,” says Caudill. “They don’t realize there’s a reprogrammable computer in their hands.
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Asylum Review Block: CPU Coolers
With all the big excitement still around the X99 E-Haswell launch, our focus once again turns to the best ways to keep those chips cool. Large vacuum flasks full of industrial grade refrigerants aside, we'll shine the spotlight on some of the newest tower and radiator coolers on the market for everyday use.
Liquid:
- Enermax Liqtech 240 @ techPowerUp
- Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate Water Cooling System Review @ ThinkComputers.orgAir:
- Coolermaster Hyper D92 Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech
- Cooler Master Hyper 612 V2 Cooler @ Technic3D
- CRYORIG H5 Universal Review @ Vortez
- Noctua NH-D15 Heatpipe Tower CPU Cooler Review @ Bigbruin.com
- Silverstone AR06 Cooler Review @ Hardware Heaven
- Lepa LV12 CPU Cooler Review @HiTech LegionHonorable Mention:
- NZXT Kraken G10 Liquid GPU Cooling Bracket Review @ Kitguru -
More PSU Torture Tuning with the Thermaltake DPS App
Last month I did a little experiment to see just how much power certain systems were pulling. To do this you could use a device like a kill-a-watt or the power consumption log on a high-end UPS but those register current draw to the PSU and don’t take into account efficiently ratings of the PSU. The only “true” way to know exactly how much power is being used is from the source and the Digital Toughpower DPS from Thermaltake can do just that.
When sizing a PSU your goal is to buy a PSU that is large enough to power your gear with enough headroom to operate in the most efficient manner. Given that most PSUs are 80Plus certified that means you need to take your estimated power draw and add 20%. I have already determined that you can Core i7 5960X @ 4Ghz and two GTX 780Ti video cards in SLI with an 850w PSU. The question now is, can you also run two AMD Radeon 7970’s in Crossfire on the same Core i7 5960X and stay below 80% of 850w??
Lets find out.
The System as it was Tested
The system is an EVGA X99 Classified running a Core i7 5960X @ 4.0Ghz with 16GB of DDR4 ram. 128GB Micron SSD and HP DVD Burner. The processor is being cooled by a dual fan AIO watercooler and I have Two Radeon 7970 graphics cards running in Crossfire. One is a reference design while the other is the famed MSI R7970 Lighting Boost Edition. My power supply is the Thermaltake Toughpower DSP G 850w.
After playing Borderlands 2 at 2560x1600 with high settings I discovered the following.
Yes you are reading that correctly, the whole system was pulling a little over 600w?!? Efficiency during this run was around 90% and PSU temp topped out at 42c using the silent fan profile. If you followed my post from last month and compare the results you will notice that the 7970’s in Crossfire pulled, on average, 100w more power than the GTX 780Ti which translated into more heat at the PSU. This did impact efficiency but, not enough to really notice. I’m still rather impressed since we are still operating just below 80% of 850w.
Stay tuned for more torture tuning using the Thermaltake DPS App
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ASUS Strix Edition GeForce GTX 970 Graphics Card Review @ Techgage
It is good to finally see some custom PCB work on the latest 9 Series cards from nVidia. I know there is more but ASUS is usually at the forefront when it comes to releasing custom versions early.
With the help of Maxwell, NVIDIA has hit a definite home run with its GeForce GTX 900 GPUs. In our look at the GTX 980 last week, we were left thoroughly impressed, but little did we realize at the time, the GTX 970 – and ASUS’ Strix edition in particular – was about to impress us even more. Simply put, you need to check this card out.
Of course the important thing to note is that there are different degrees of "custom pcb". Some cards feature improved VRM circuits and require a different board while others tweak the board layouts to match a cooler design.
By the looks of it the Strix isn't so much custom for overclocking but rather visual appearance and compatibility.
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Palit GTX 970 JetStream 4 GB @ techPowerUp
I suspect there will be 9 Series card reviews coming out for the next couple months and we will see just about everything from heavily modified monsters designed for LN2 power usage down to reference cards with custom coolers.
By the looks of it this design from Palit is reference based but comes with two large fans to help with the cooling efforts.
Palit's GTX 970 JetStream is one of the highest clocked, custom design GTX 970s out there. It features a triple slot, dual fan cooler that will completely stop the fans in idle and light gaming. Palit's card is also the most affordable custom design, with just a $15 price premium.
It will be interesting to see how the new 970 and 980 stack up to the competition and if the performance gains and power efficiency will be enough to get GTX 780 owners to trade up. Sure benchmarks say a lot but it comes down to scale and right now these guys are damn spendy.
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PSU Torture Tuning with the Thermaltake DPS App
I was doing some testing for a review the other night and decided to test a theory. The theory is that you need a 1000w PSU to run dual GTX 780Ti cards in SLI. If you ask anyone in the industry they will say the PSU requirements for running a single GTX 780 Ti is 600w and that the card will pull around 250w. Adding a second card would put the total around 850w..
When sizing for a PSU (and there are some "bad" calculators out there to help you with this) your goal is to find your power target (max power) and then take 80% of that. The result is used to find a PSU in that range with the idea that by staying below 80% of the total power draw you will get the most efficient PSU operation (The basis for 80Plus Certification)
As some of you know Thermaltake offers a fully digital PSU, the Toughpower DPS. These are 90Plus Gold rated power supplies and range in wattages between 650 and 1200w. I was testing the 850w version and decided to mess around with the Smart DPS App Software and see if I could overload the PSU.
The System as it was Tested
The system is an EVGA X99 Classified running a Core i7 5960X @ 4.0Ghz with 16GB of DDR4 ram. 128GB Micron SSD and HP DVD Burner. The processor is being cooled by a dual fan AIO watercooler and I have Two GTX 780Ti graphics cards running in SLI. One is a reference design while the other is the famed GTX 780 Ti Classified. My power supply is the Thermaltake Toughpower DSP G 850w.
After playing Borderlands 2 at 2560x1600 with high settings I discovered the following.
Yes you are reading that correctly, the whole system was only pulling 600w?!? Efficiency during this run was 91% and the PSU topped out at 39c using the silent fan profile. Needless to say I’m rather impressed since 600w is just below 80% of 850w.
Stay tuned for more torture tuning using the Thermaltake DPS App
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Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming Review @ PureOverclock
Per the usual the "step down" version in the GTX lineup is usually the sweet spot when it comes to price and performance. By the looks of it the GTX 970 is no exception.
With the launch of Nvidia’s newest generation of graphics cards, the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming is the specific model we’re looking at today. It’s latest in the company’s popular model series, coming with an updated version of its namesake cooler. We’ve been impressed in the past with Windforce graphics cards, and we suspect this new one will be no different. It’s not an entirely fresh look, constructed in metal rather than plastic, but does come with an aggressive factory overclock and a few new surprises in store.
The triple fan Windforce cooler Gigabyte uses has always been a little "weird" but it gets the job done and I really like the new backplate.
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BIOSTAR Launches Newest Z97 Hi-Fi Mainboard, the Hi-Fi Z97Z7
Some interesting news out of the Biostar camp.
September 22nd , 2014 Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR has launched the first development of what might become a possible series of high-end gaming boards, the Hi-Fi Z97Z7 motherboard, a board with cutting-edge features and innovative durability enhancements. The Hi-Fi Z97Z7, based on the Intel Z97 chipset, comes with key features such as a PCI Express 3.0x16 slot, PCIe M.2 support, and BIOSTAR exclusive Super Hi-Fi Audio technology.
The Hi-Fi Z97Z7 is an ATX form factor board that features Intel socket 1150 support. It has 4 memory slots for up to 32GB of 2800(OC) RAM. The on-board HDMI supports 4K and 2K resolutions. There is also the introduction of the SATA Express Connector which supports both SATA and PCIe storage solutions giving maximum data transfer speed of up to 10Gb/s.
BIOSTAR’s in-house technology is evident here with featuressuch as Super Hi-Fi Audio and power regulation upgrades like Hi-Fi Power and Hi-Fi AMP. The video outputs include HDMI with HDCP which allows full video & Hi-Fi 7.1ch Blu-Ray audio support via standard DVI output. All the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards are equipped with special components to ensure the best possible audio quality consistency.
The Hi-Fi Z97Z7 will feature new BIOSTAR innovations that improve durability and stability even further. One of those features is Super Durable Solid Caps. These are the best quality solid state capacitors with ultra low ESR design, which doubles the lifespan. Another feature is 8-phase power design which gives unparalleled overclocking ability and the lowest temperature to reach maximum performance levels. There is also Super Hi-Fi Audio Connectors which are 30uF “Golden” plated audio connectors providing superb signal conductivity, less oxidation, and the best possible studio-grade headgear.
The Hi-Fi Z97Z7 will feature the new Super Durable Ferrite Choke which brings the benefits of higher current capacity, lower energy loss and better power stability to the electric current running on the board. In addition to that is the Super Conductive Heatsink Design which is a massive heatsink which provides super fast heat dissipation, high stability and reliability for extreme performance.
The Hi-Fi Z97Z7 will come with super durable box headers providing solid, secure and durable connections between the motherboard and peripheral cables. When running such high-end machinery sometime such tight tolerances call for some expert debugging of overclocked or highly stressed systems.
For that, there will be Super Rapid Debug 3 which gives out critical POST code information on a vivid digital LED display. This greatly helps trouble shooting of a system.
The MSRP is estimated USD $119.
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EVGA Greets GeForce GTX 980 & 970 Launch With Brand-new ACX 2.0 Cooler @ HotHardware
So in the last review block, we looked at the new Nvidia 900-series video cards, specifically, the new 970 and 980. In recent news, EVGA has just laid their cards on the table (pun not intended), revealing an update to their Active Cooling Xtreme system that we spoke highly about on a EVGA GTX 770 reviewed last year. EVGA has said their new ACX 2.0 cooling system boasts temperatures that are 26% lower, 36% quieter, with a reduction in power draw of 250% over the reference cooler.
The company is really touting this as being something special, and giving a friendly jab to the competition at the same time. "Most graphics card manufacturers only focus on one aspect when designing their cooling solution and neglect all other aspects of the fan design and heatsink."
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Asylum: Review Block - Video Card Bundle
Seems that the motherboards aren't the only things getting a facelift these days. Hot on the heels of the X99 re3lease, and built on the new Maxwell architecture, Nvidia has launched a new pair of reference cards. Dubbed the 900 series, they have currently released the 970, and the 980, and there are already a few companies that have added their own variants to the mix.
The GeForce GTX 970's:
- MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G GPU Review @ Modders-Inc
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming review @ Guru3D
- ASUS Strix GTX 970 OC 4 GB @ techPowerUpThe GeForce GTX 980:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Maxwell Video Card Review @ Vortez
- GeForce GTX 980 Review at HardwareHeaven
And, as an added bonus - a review of the 980 set up in a multi-GPU configuration and tested as well.
- The Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 SLI / 3-way SLI / 4-way SLI review @ Hardware.Info
