Intel Core i7-980X Extreme (Six-Core Computing)

If the processor market was a game of King of the Hill…no, that’s too easy.

core-i7-980x

The fact of the matter is that Intel currently sells the fastest CPUs. Its quad-core Core i5 and Core i7s are unmatched in the desktop space—and that’s precisely the reason you pay more for them than the dual-core, Clarkdale-based Core i3 and Core i5 processors (not to mention AMD’s entire Phenom II lineup, including its flagship X4 965 Black Edition).

Of course, “being the fastest” assumes that you’re looking at the right benchmarks. Intel’s dominance is most evident in video encoding apps, threaded compression/decompression workloads, and content creation tools like 3ds Max. If you’re gaming, AMD is perfectly capable of standing right up to Intel.

Now, sure, you’ll see those folks who run their benchmarks at 640×480 in an effort to demonstrate the differences between one processor and another. Truth be told, even as high as 1920×1200, there are measurable performance gaps between CPUs. But at the end of the day, your graphics card, and Computer Memory more than anything, determines how well your games run.

Why the rambling sidebar on gaming? Because Intel sees its brand new Core i7-980X Extreme Edition—previously referred to as Gulftown—as a sweet gaming processor. And it will become the fastest processor you can buy (it’s technically not available yet), so it’d naturally be great in a gaming box. However, at $1,000, you’re spending an extra $800 or so that’d be better invested into a pair of Radeon HD 5870s. As a result, before we show you any benchmarks, I’ll say that this probably isn’t the processor you need for a solid gaming experience. A Phenom II X4 or Core i7-920 is still plenty potent there. With that said, if money is no object and you want a six-core CPU and a pair of high-end graphics cards, you certainly can’t go wrong.

Core i7-980X: Hello, Six-Core Computing

Six Cores Of Fury

The real reason to give Core i7-980X a long, hard look is that it’s a beast in the applications truly able to lean on its scaled-up architecture—and there are many. It leverages technologies first introduced on the Bloomfield generation of Core i7-900-series chips, like Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading. But a recent shift to 32nm manufacturing results in transistors with decreased oxide thickness, reduced gate length, and, ultimately, less leakage current.

Consequently, Intel was able to increase complexity without pushing its design over the 130W TDP established by Bloomfield, giving us a six-core CPU featuring 12MB of shared L3 cache and capable of dropping into the same LGA 1366 interface you already know. The real question is whether the Core i7-980X is as Extreme as its price.

Garmin Nuvi 205W Widescreen Review

One of the more popular models from Garmin is the Nuvi 205 / 205w. It is a compact and reasonably priced GPS navigation system. It hit the market in mid 2008 and has been an incredible success for Garmin. The 205 / 205W offers a built in MSN Direct receiver for on the go traffic updates.

Features:

The 205 series GPS is quite compact – boasting an LCD crystal clear display in a housing that is less than an inch in thickness. As with most Garmin GPS navigation units it offers fast satellite acquisition and performs with fast and accurate real time navigation without the sluggish “Lag”. This is due, in most part, to the integrated flash memory and the swift speed of the built in microprocessor. Most all Garmin users never have a reason to complain about the performance of their GPS unit’s performance, and we don’t expect anyone to do so with the 205 series either.

The Garmin Nuvi 205 series comes with Garmin’s City Navigator map database which offers specialed detailed map data for the area in which you live. Available in the US, the Garmin 205 series will also be offered for sale in most European countries such as UK, France, Ireland, and more. The navigation map display offers users the choice of 2D or 3D perspective and includes turn by turn voice prompts to get you to your destination safely. The Nuvi 205 series does not offer text to speech, but is easy to use and works as effectively as higher end units.

The Nuvi 205 does offer an MSN direct receiver that gives it’s user the ability to gather relevant real time data such as weather, movie times, and even gas prices. The MSN Direct service is free. It also has information on nearby emergency services such as fire, hospitals, and police. As with all new Garmin products, users can download their own map symbols and avatars for use on the navigation screen. This, of course, isn’t a requirement, but it adds an element of fun to your navigation experience.

The Garmin Nuvi 205 Series does not offer music or video playback, but it does have a picture viewer feature.

If you’re looking for a compact navigation unit that you can rely on then this is one to consider. It weighs a modest 5 ounces and has a powerful lithium ion battery that can last up to four hours. Software/firmware updates are a piece of cake with it’s built in USB port. As with Garmin’s other units it automatically adjusts screen colors/brightness for day/night use and adjustable volume levels. Some other useful tools found in the menu are currency converter, clock, and a mathematical calculator. Above all this is the ability to receive FM-based traffic information which can really come in handy on your morning commute.

Getting the Right IT Support Company in London

When you occur to be sleeping in the UK and are getting troubles with your computing device systems, you perhaps affected to search IT support serves from a master support firm. To assist your job to achieve, it’s suggested to get a serve supplier that may apprise on repaired arrangements and operations, applying the recent technologies. This will ascertain that your job works as purely as potential and has approach to the technologies that will assist you centre on your core job activities anyplace in the global.

It’s crucial to get an authentic and trusty firm for your support as they’ll be searching after your vital information, applications and hardware. It would definitely also assist when your decided IT support firm gets agencies in the top cities of the UK, like London, and also a existence in the littler towns as good would be well considered.

Getting an authentic reference for your IT support London would assist you center on your job, guarantee in the cognition that some troubles would be managed by a committed group containing of support analysts, engineers as good as advisors that will search after your info technology requires. It definitely assists to get London IT support that’s tailored to your particular requires and you must search out a support firm that particularizes in the establishing as good as sustenance of IT bases, techQuarters.

Panasonic Viera X1 Series Tc L26X1 26-Inch Lcd Hdtv Review

When you’re looking for a 26 inch LCD television
, the Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC L26X1 26-Inch 720p LCD HDTV might be the way to go. The ability to get a good deal because of all the low-cost sites on the internet is one selling feature.

Some units can’t be found at prices much lower than the list price. Panasonic has always been close to the quality of Sony or Samsung, two of the best in the field. It’s a nice small size if you’re buying it for a kitchen, or a small living room.

Here are some more of the Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC L26X1 pros:

1. If you’re not familiar with either HD, or the new LCD televisions, the instruction manual will be quite informative. What with all the changes to HD, people who don’t understand the difference might still be confounded, I know my father is.

2. It’s iPod doc lets you plug right in, allowing you to display movies and videos that might be in the ipod, greatly expanding the quality and size of the unit. The amazing sound quality blasts from the unit with force, as if you’re right there.

3. The HD picture is excellent for it being such a small screen. It has 780p capability, which is handy and it has a very simple setup.

I wish that these units started coming with universal remotes instead of these annoying ‘Everybody has seventeen remotes’ units. That way you could thank them for removing the need to have that many remotes. Wouldn’t that be nice if they did that? But, it has buttons that are well-arranged and the menus are easy to understand and maneuver through. Because there’s a digital tuner, that lets you select the channels quickly and the automatic search works well.

If you have photos on an SD card, it will create a slideshow of the images, which is a kind of nice feature.

In all honesty, the Panasonic VIERA TC L26X1 model does some cons:

1. As with other LCD TVs, the angle of view sometimes isn’t as wide as you’d like it to be. Once you’ve gone past a certain point, the image loses quality and then disappears. There’s no way of attaching headphones, so if you’re using it in the bedroom, you’re going to keep up the other person unnecessarily.

2. It would have been nice if they had installed the speakers on the front of the TV as the sound would have been better. To have the sound bounce off the back wall is annoying, and gives a muffled sound to the result.

3. The front face of the TV is gloss, which means that any lights or windows will be reflected. Also, just like with some netbooks, that kind of surface attracts fingerprints.

All-in-all, the Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC L26X1 26-Inch 720p LCD HDTV is a good quality 26″ LCD TV, that will look attractive in your room without taking up much space. It could easily be placed on a night stand, or next to you as you’re working at your computer desk so you wouldn’t miss your favorite shows when you’re working on the computer. You’ll be surprised at the quality the audio affords, and it has a pleasing sleek design.

Nokia N8 Electrifies the Mobile Community

Nokia-N8

Nokia-N8

At an announced price of €370 SIM-free, the new Nokia N8 has the word “great value” written all over it. Forget about its sleek anodized aluminum body will come in a choice of white, blue, green, orange, silver and dark grey body colors. It’s what inside that counts a lot. You can already find the best N8 offers from online websites like Moby1.

Imaging and Video at their Best

The Nokia N8 enters the elite club of 12-megapixel camera phones with one that also has true HD video recording resolution at 1280 x 720 at 25fps and with continuous LED video light. The camera comes with the usual Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and enjoys Xenon flash, face/smile detection and geo-tagging from its GPS receiver. You can read more Nokia N8 reviews online.

You can display your gorgeous video and stills on its brilliant and energy-efficient 3.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with multitouch. It even has a scratch resistant screen with the expected accelerometer for auto rotate and a proximity sensor for touchscreen auto-off when in a call.
But display in their fullest glory only happens with a 42-inch LCD HD TV or larger and Nokia obliges with a TV out.

Upscale Phone Features

• The Nokia N8 is a 3G smartphone on a five-band UMTS (850/ 900/ 1700/ 1900/ 2100) with data connectivity on HSDPA at 10.2 Mbps and HSUPA at 2 Mbps. It’s quad band GSM (850/ 900/ 1800/1900) radio gets class 33 GPRS/EDGE data speeds Local connectivity comes with WiFi 802.11b/g, microUSB 2.0 and is among the few smartphones entering the markets using the latest WiFi-based Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP.

• It is powered by a 680 MHz ARM11 processor aided with a 3D graphics accelerator supported by a 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM. Onboard user memory doesn’t stop with an already ample 16 GB but it get another 48 GB external memory from its microSD slot.

• It also offers one of the longest battery life in the market using a standard 1200 mAh li-ion battery. You get up to 12.5 hours of talk time on 2G network and 50 hours of standby by on a single charge. Moby1 is the best place to look for the latest phone deals for the N8 and many other phones.

Freesat from SKY provides a brilliant digital TV option

Are you a Freeview type like me or a Virgin Media lots of channels of digital TV viewer? It seems that there are not a large number of TV waychers that are in the space in between. My best option is Freesat. I have a satellite dish that was left by the previous owners of my house and a Freesat set top box. With this equipment I watch as much digital TV as I like. There are a few more free basic channels than I used to get with Freeview from my old cable TV providers. I defintely enjoy the exceptional quality pictures beamed to me from the sky. In fact SKY TV is my Freesat provider. I paid only the cost of the set top box. If I do decide in the future to take on more channels all I have to do is to avail myself of one of the low cost SKY TV packages. Something you need to be aware of is that because of the nature of satellite reception this is a one way process. Your satellite dish can not allow you to upload so if you want to combine other services such as home phone and broadband you will need a ground based connection as well.

Bad BitDefender Update Clobbers Windows PCs

Users of the BitDefender antivirus software started flooding the company’s support forums Saturday, apparently after a faulty antivirus update caused 64-bit Windows machines to stop working.

The company acknowledged the issue in a note explaining the problem, posted Saturday. “Due to a recent update it is possible that BitDefender detects several Windows and BitDefender files as infected with Trojan.FakeAlert.5,” the company said.

The acknowledgement came after BitDefender users had logged hundreds of posts on the topic. Some complained of being unable to reboot their systems.

“EVERY file that is trying to run is getting quarantined,” one user, identified as lhmathys, reported. “Windows Explorer and even Bitdefender update itself is being quarantined. Someone really screwed this one up.”

“We are in a really terrible position now,” wrote another user, identified as ufitec. “We have 150 business clients and most of the pcs [on] which BitDefender thinks everything is virus does not boot any more!!!!”

In its note on the issue, posted around 4 pm Pacific Time, the company said it had issued a fix for the problem and offered instructions on how to repair the damage, saying that customers should remove files from quarantine and reboot.

Users who can’t do that need to either use Windows’ Last Known Good Configuration restore or System Restore options.

Earlier in the day, the company had advised users to disable the BitDefender antivirus module and wait for a new definition update, which is supposed to correct the problem.

Review Of The Pioneer Avic-Z110Bt

The Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT is a feature-packed receiver that includes GPS navigation, multimedia and DVD playback, and hands-free Bluetooth calling. Recently receiving one of CNET’s editor’s choice awards, the Pioneer also features voice control of most major functions, MSN Direct upgradability, as well as auto importing of contacts.

One of the best features of the Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT is its GPS navigation system. It provides turn-by-turn directions with text-to-speech technology. The system can be paired with an optional MSN Direct receiver to obtain traffic and incident data, which can be displayed on a map and incorporated into the route directions. The driver can also add custom points-of-interest to the navigation.

Another good feature is multimedia playback. The Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT supports DVD video, DivX-encoded DVDs, MP3 and Red Book audio CDs, as well as MP3, WMA, AAC, WMV, MP4, and H.264 files provided on USB devices or SD cards. The driver can connect portable storage devices such as iPods, iPhones, or MP3 players using the analog auxiliary inputs as well as USB connections. Once scanned into the system, the files can be played using voice commands.

In addition, the Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT also features Bluetooth connectivity. If the driver has a Bluetooth-enabled phone, then he or she can access the hands-free calling and audio streaming options. Voice commands allow the driver to make calls when the vehicle is stopped. The system can also automatically download and index the driver’s phone book.

Overall, the Pioneer AVC-Z110BT is a great all-in-one solution for drivers who are looking to incorporate the latest technologies into their vehicles.

Apple Ipad Technical Review – Buy The Best

When you scan the page covering the Apple iPad Technical Review, the technical details will always please you in more than one ways. Before I enlist the features that are inbuilt in the iPad I will provide the dimensions that are important in your regular transportation with the instrument. It is 9.56″ X 7.47″ weighing only i.5 lbs. the slim feel of the almost absent thickness gives it a different look in comparison to all its competitors.

There may be countless reasons for you hating the iPad. In fact if they are related with money I don’t think that even the best iPad reviews can help you with that unless the Apple iPad come to you via a sponsor. But if you catch the view of all the features on the Apple iPad Technical Review page then it will be hard for you to resist only looking at it.

Here are some of the outstanding features, which are in built with the apple iPad.

• 9.7″ LED display with a fingerprint resistant coating. Supports different dialects and is embedded with the latest IPS technology. You can see all the 1024X768 pixels in at a resolution of 132 pixels psi.

• The battery is 25 hour rechargeable with connectivity to the USB and computer.

• The memory capacity is 16GB or even double. The choice is yours.

• One of the main interests of the apple iPad is the processor. It is a1Ghz one made by the home company itself.

• Inbuilt sensors with accelerators do light up the Apple iPad Technical Review section immensely.

• There is input output feedback with the facility of audio/video streaming.

• It also caters to the different mail supports that are needed in your daily life. That means all the applications on windows office like excel, power point and PDF are easily read and interpreted.

• It comes in with an inbuilt dictionary and keyboard support for different languages like French, German, Spanish etc.

These are just some of the many features that you will get with your new iPad. However it is better that have a good iPad review before you finally choose one. It is certainly a good purchase, as I do also possess one.

Even having all of them the iPad does come in for some kind of criticism. This is from those who buy the apple iPad for fun and then go on to tarnish its god image in the society. But I must also mention that they are deliberately not mentioned in the Apple iPad Technical Review as the makers did think of the best needed items that one could do with.

LG-BD390 Wireless Blu-ray Player Review

With the LG-BD390, you will no longer get hit with late fees for returning your movies a day or two late. Are you tired of mailing back movies to Netflix? Forget that with LG-BD390’s CinemaNow and Netflix features! Renting movies with the BD390 is as easy as connecting to the Internet. Have you ever tried to search for a good movie with your local cable or satellite television company? Talk about frustration! All you ever get are movies that have been out for years. Have you seen the price? $3.95 or more per movie! With Netflix and the BD390, you pay a low monthly subscription fee. Try Netflix on a free trial. If you like to pay a lot for a movie, LG has made available CinemaNow’s pay-per-view HD movie content. But why pay so much when you can low cost movies through Netflix or free movies on Youtube??

With built in Wi-Fi, the BD390 actually thinks it’s a computer! The LG BD390 network Blu-ray disk player is wireless, making lines between what is your home computer and home entertainment system very thin. Actually, it’s just an extension of your computer computer! The BD390 allows you to stream movies to your HD TV through an wireless Ethernet connection. You can now stream YouTube and Netflix into your living room. How cool is that? With the tens of thousands of movies available through Netflix and other vendors, why would anyone want to rent a movie any more down at the local video store.

Do you have a huge movie collection on DVDs? Wondering what to do with them? Now you can take your old movies and DVDs and watch them on your new LG BD390. The quality will actually improve!

LG claims “Standard DVD Up-Scaling: Exceptional image quality from standard DVDs with 1080p up-scaling via HDMI output.” This is a dream come true for old movie buffs like us.

I can still remember watching VHS movies and then switching over to DVDs. The difference was unbelievable! Fast forward 20 years- the difference is so dramatic that you cannot even think of going back to traditional DVDs on an LCD HD TV. If you really want to get the best possible picture, you may want to upgrade to an HD TV if you have not already done so. I know that many people enjoy being retro and still watch movies on an old CRT television.

The LG-BD390 ranks in the top 10 of all best selling blu-ray disc players. The BD390 is the only Blu-ray player in it’s class that has wireless and the built in Netflix benefits.