Tech News
-
Lexar Announces a New Family of Gaming DRAM to its Portfolio
San Jose, USA, August 18, 2021 — Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the new HADES product line of Gaming DRAM products. This is our introduction into the gaming DRAM category as Lexar expands its product portfolio. The new Lexar® HADES RGB DDR4 3600/3200 Desktop Memory is for gamers looking for next-level performance and an enhanced gaming experience with customizable RGB lighting. The Lexar® HADES OC DDR4 3600/3200 Desktop Memory is the perfect upgrade for gamers and content creators who want optimized performance and a next-level gaming experience or for intensive workloads.
Key Features:
- Introduces new Lexar® HADES RGB DDR4 3600/3200 Desktop Memory
- Introduces Lexar® HADES OC DDR4 3600/3200 Desktop Memory
- Vibrant RGB colors let you enjoy an interactive gaming experience
- Lexar RGB Sync allows you to synchronize your RGB lighting controls
- Level up your gaming experience with DDR4 overclocked performance
- Sleek aluminum heat spreader to keep your system cool
- Optimized with latest Intel XMP 2.0 and supports AMD Ryzen platform
The HADES RGB DDR4 overclocked memory allows you to level-up your gaming experience without slow-downs. And with its RGB lighting effects, the HADES RGB DDR4 memory enhances your gameplay with vibrant colors of RGB lighting effects. The RGB customization creates a lively atmosphere rendering your gameplay more realistic, and adds a touch of style to your gaming setups. It also features Lexar RGB Sync, a powerful lighting control software which allows you to customize and synchronize your lighting effects by setting color, intensity, and speed while allowing you to save your lighting effects for later use. The Lexar HADES RGB DDR4 3600/3200 is also compatible with ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0, MSI Mystic Light, ASRock Polychrome SYNC.
With the HADES OC DDR4 overclocked memory, you can speed up your gameplay and level up your gaming experience with quicker response time. For content creators, whether you are operating speed-demanding apps, processing massive workloads, or editing videos, HADES OC DDR4 will accelerate your desktop performance with ease.
Both are designed with a sleek aluminum heat spreader to keep your system cool and steady, so you can operate smoothly when you are running your games, software and intensive workloads. The HADES OC DDR4 and HADES RGB DDR4 are compatible with the latest INTEL XMP 2.0 and AMD Ryzen to optimize and improve your overall PC and gaming experience.
HADES DDR4 family line will join the Lexar® DDR4 3200/2666 SODIMM Memory and Lexar® DDR4-2666 UDIMM Memory solutions intended for everyday looking for faster startups, increased responsiveness, quicker application load times, and an overall upgrade to your operating experience so you can multitask with ease.
“Since first introducing DDR4 SODIMM & UDIMM memory last year, Lexar is very excited to announce the new HADES product line of Gaming DRAM solutions to our portfolio. The HADES RGB DDR4 and HADES OC DDR4 provide overclocked memory to speed up your gameplay with quicker response time and accelerate your desktop performance for intensive workloads. Lexar looks to continue advancing our DRAM offerings, with additional high-performance gaming DRAM models planned to launch later this year.” said Joel Boquiren, General Manager of Lexar.
-
Fractal Design Torrent Launch Day
Today Fractal Design is launching a number of new products including the Torrent high-airflow chassis and the Ion+ 2 Platinum PSU.
There are high-airflow cases and there are high-airflow cases. The Torrert from Fractal Design is the latter by offering a case that feels more like an open air test bench due to the lack of airflow restrictions and yet has some elegance like a 30's era automobile.
Web Reviews
Fractal Design Torrent Black RGB TG Light Tint @ TechPowerUp
Fractal Design Torrent Case Review @ ThinkComputersThere are likely more out there but, due to google pressures and censorship many sites no longer share their press releases. Or, they are just being lazy
-
The IBM PC Turns 40 and PCMag was there, both then and now
For those of you following the Hardware Asylum YouTube channel you may have noticed that I have gotten on a "retro kick" lately and started checking out some of the old hardware I have collected over the years, including some new stuff.
Well, even I have my limits. The IBM 5150 is/was an iconic machine that set the tone for what the Personal Computer was and how companies like Apple where going to change that perspective. It was slow, had very little memory and limited usage due to the software packages available.
But, we had to start somewhere!
From PCMag -----------------
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the IBM personal computer introduced in August 1981, PCMag digs into the print archive of PC Magazine to our first print edition interview with Bill Gates to discuss the advent of the IBM PC. He anticipated IBM would be able to move approximately 200,000 units and we verified that IBM did in fact end up selling between 175,000 and 200,000 PCs in 1982.
Read the interview with Bill Gates:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/heres-what-bill-gates-told-pcmag-about-the-ibm-pc-in-1982We also dug into the IBM PC Model 5150—the family name of the first IBM PC. You can see the lovely glamor shots as we marvel at the 40-year old computer in our teardown piece.
Check out our visually beautiful teardown:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/teardown-inside-pc-labs-ibm-pc-model-5150Reporting for PCMag, Michael J. Miller also takes a look at the important steps the IBM PC took to make itself the dominant PC in the market and set the tone for the PC market to evolve.
-
Funky Kit Review - Acer FA100 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD
You wouldn't know it by looking but Acer is a pretty big company and it seems they are also modest in that they don't throw around that they are a big company and prefer their products do the talking.
Or building...
When I visit Taipei Taiwan for Computex the hotel I stay at is just down the street from a tall office building with an Acer sign on top. I have used that building as a beacon when I am out wandering around so I know how to get back "home". Cheezy I know but, it works and seems to be the ONLY way that Acer has impacted my life.
The Acer FA100 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD is an interesting option for the more demanding user who's searching for a decent storage upgrade, or simply after another SSD for gaming. The FA100 is fast yet inexpensive at the same time. For me, this is the most important factor deciding on the product purchase, so I'm sure the Acer FA100 will be a successful product.
Summer 2021 appears to be all about SSD storage, makes you wonder what September and the fall season will bring.
-
ARCTIC MX-5 Thermal Compound Review @ APH Networks
Ok so here is a review that I haven't seen done in a while. Arctic MX-5 thermal compound. This is the stuff you can get EVERYWHERE and is actually halfway decent. As I remember it isn't going to win any thermal performance contests and just about everyone who follows the Angry Millennial on YouTube will physically attack you for considering that bargain thermal compound is any good.
Well, I am rather confident in knowing that without high-precision thermal testing equipment there is no discernable difference between most high-end thermal compounds out there so it really comes down to usability and price.
The ARCTIC MX-5 is a high-performance non-electrically conductive thermal paste that comes at a seriously awesome price.
Gotta love the super short "hooks" to keep you reading. I would skip the quote here and at least read the opening paragraph; it is pretty good.
-
MSI Spatium M480 2 TB @ TechPowerUp
Did you know that MSI sells SSDs?? I knew that Gigabyte had some SSDs in their catalog along with some pretty lack-luster memory modules but, I never figured MSI as the company who would sell SSD drives.
Turns out this drive is rather good, sporting some PCI Express 4.0 goodness, fancy cooler/cover thing and according to TechPowerUp, a Phison E18 controller.
The MSI Spatium M480 is a flagship SSD based on the Phison E18 controller, featuring support for the fast PCI-Express 4.0 interface. Inside the box, you'll find a heatsink that looks fantastic and very sleek to provide cooling for this 7 GB/s monster.
In terms of performance it seems very similar to the Patriot Viper VP4300 I just did a review for, check it out of you are curious.
-
3Dfx Makes its move and it is so bad, it is laughable
Update*
The Twitter account @3dfxofficial has been removed and all content related to the account has been deleted. I suspect that NVIDIA might have stepped in finally and took action (like they should have done in the beginning). Of couse the only thing left is whatever anyone downloaded including the image in this news post.
It was a fun ride but, it was a sham from the beginning and the bored netizens tried to keep the hype train going when they should have just let it go.
------------------------------------------
For those of you who are in the dark on this. Someone claims to have bought the rights to the 3Dfx name and is planning to bring the company back after 20 years of being bankrupt and consumed by NVIDIA.
On the @3dfxofficial twitter they teased that a product roadmap would bew announcement on Aug 5th. Well, they delivered.
According to this list you can see they are planning a bunch of stuff including a phone, video card, TV, bluetooth speaker, tablet and 5.1 surround sound system.
There are a number of things that jump out to indicate that this is simply hype, fake and a total waste of time.
- Voodoo 6 PCI - PCI is what Voodoo2 and Voodoo3 used to add the video accelerator to existing systems. With the advent of PCI Express it has become a dead format so building a card for that interface with that standard would be a waste of money, even to the retro crowd.
- Smartphone - Unless it is a white box rebrand building a new phone from scratch is pointless. and how does a smart phone relate to the "old" 3Dfx??
- Bluetooth speaker - Every BT Speaker on the market is a whitebox rebrand and not a mainstream item anyone would buy.
- 5.1 Surround Sound System - "Maybe" if this was 2008 but these days nobody buys 5.1 channel sound, they buy 7.1.2 and then only install 5.1 speakers. (cause: people are dumb)
- 128GB Tablet - See the smartphone entry
- SmartTV - Again, see the smartphone entry
The last item on the list is that why will show at CEC 2022. This is an attempt to fool people into thinking it is CES as there is no CEC show.
Overall I applaud whoever planned this and given that 3Dfx went under before twitter was a thing means that someone squatted on the twitter handle and is just now thinking it would be fun to troll the Internet. Ultimately shame on NVIDIA for not securing their purchased property and allowing this to happen.
-
AMD Ryzen 5000 G-Series Launch Day
The AMD APU has been a driving force in the PC market allowing users to build an affordable computer and still get enthusiast class graphics performance. In the past the APU was somewhat limited by the "market" and treated as a specialized AIO platform designed to provide out of box performance that may only need DRAM and Storage to be installed. The built in GPU and AMD processor would do the rest.
In my opinion the first several generations of APU systems from AMD were total failures because there was no market and very little demand. These days the APU systems would be replaced by a Raspberry Pi, which in some instances is a better platform so why bring it back?.
It would seem that AMD is rebuilding the APU image by harnessing the power of the Zen 3 architecture and Radeon Graphics to create the Ryzen 5000 G-Series. According to AMD this new processor can offer incredible 100 FPS performance in gaming and high-speed content creation while not leaving any of the other AMD technologies behind such as AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, Radeon Boost, AMD Smart Access Memory and more.
Having such a powerful combination is the key to building an affordable PC and while many enthusiasts will skoff at the notion of gaming on an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) there are many that welcome the opportunity to build their systems in stages with the option to upgrade graphics at a later time.
-
Cooler Master Launches The NR200P In 4 New Colorways
One of the coolest cases I have reviewed was the Cooler Master NR200. It is a simple case supporting Mini ITX motherboards, full sized video cards and SFX PSUs however, the build quality and fittment is off the charts.
The case features thick metal panels, and aside from a few internal components there is no plastic anywhere.
Well, it woudl seem they are now expanding the line to support more colors!
The popularity of the original NR200(P) was made possible only by the community’s support. Having garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews and shifting an industry to make m-ITX builds more accessible, Cooler Master has decided that it is time to celebrate. All 4 colors are debuting during Cooler Master’s Summer Summit 2021:
Flamingo Pink
Caribbean Blue
Sunset Orange
Nightshade PurpleTo be honest, I'll be sticking with the basic white or black as I find that to be a better canvas for custom color based mods. (aka, Painting!) but, for those looking to build a nice custom PC this case should be on your list, now in more colors!!
-
Redragon K552-R Kumara Keyboard @ TechPowerUp
This company name always makes me chuckle, I know it isn't a 1:1 but, I am easily reminded of the "Flaming Dragon" scene in Tropic Thunder and how nobody believes who they are because their group has an unfamilar name.
Names aside, the keyboard looks pretty much like a keyboard with some new lighting effects.
What happens when you combine a minimalist design, gaming keyboard features, TKL form factor, and great price? You end up with the Redragon K552 Kumara, a budget-prioritizing keyboard that aims to replace your OEM keyboard at not much more in cost, but way more in functionality and customization.
I'm not sure I would call a "10-key-less" keyboard a minimalist design but I do like how the keyboard switches are clear offering a new way for the RGB light to leak out around the keycaps. Not a new idea and would likely offer a ton of glare but, it makes the keyboard look pretty good from a distance.
