PC Hardware Buyer's Guide, January 2011

As you can probably tell from the format of this article, we won?t be publishing our usual buyer's guide for the month of January. This is largely because there's a heck of a lot of cool stuff around the corner, and if we put something up this week it will be out of date by next week anyway.

At the top of this list is a not-so-secret graphics card launch that we?re expecting early next week, which promises to make most cards in the £150 to £220 price bracket seem utterly archaic. Add to this the pile of new LGA1155 motherboards that are currently taking over our labs, and it's clearly premature to recommend anything concrete right now.

That said, we don?t want to leave you totally in the dark, so below is the system we would build right now if you put a gun to our collective head. The core of the PC consists of the mind bendingly overclockable Intel Core i5 2500K seated in the excellent Asus P8P67 motherboard. This combination will keep just about everyone happy, but if you simply have to get a dual-GPU setup, then you should opt for the Pro version of the P8P67 or the MSI P67A-GD65, both of which support SLI and Crossfire.

We?ve also answered the question of graphics with the GeForce GTX 460 1GB. These cards can be had for just a smidgen over £130 at the moment, which is a steal for a card that can play most modern games at up to 1,920 x 1,200. However, if you?re desperate for more gaming grunt, then swapping this out for a GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB will do you proud.

Meanwhile, we?ve used a Gelid Tranquillo cooler to tame our 2500K CPU. Of course, you could opt for something a little flashier, but LGA1155 CPUs put out relatively little heat, so it?s not absolutely necessary. The case we?ve chosen is the Xigmatek Utgard, as it has great build-quality and a and a well-rounded feature set for an affordable price. However, if you?d like something a little more distinctive or specialised, perhaps for a large water-cooling system, then there are plenty of other options to consider. Other good cases on offer include the Silverstone FT02 and RV02, the Fractal Design Define R3 and the Cooler Master HAF 912.

As for the rest of the kit, we?ve added a healthy 1TB of storage to the build, along with 4GB of branded 1,600MHz DDR3 and a standard SATA DVD-RW optical drive. You could, of course, also complement the 1TB disk with an SSD if you?ve got the budget for it. If so, we recommend the C300 range of drives from Crucial.

PC Hardware Buyer's Guide, January 2011 PC Hardware Buyers Guide, January 2010

We hope you'll agree that getting a fully-fledged Sandy Bridge system for a shade under £700 is pretty reasonable, especially when you consider that the build will offer performance near to an LGA1366-based system.

We'll be back to our normal monthly buyer's guide at the start of February, so check back then or ask in the forums if the above build doesn't quite match your needs.

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MSI intros AMD Fusion-powered HTPC motherboard

If you've been itching to building a Fusion-based HTPC, the wait is nearly over. First shown during CES, MSI officially greeted its AMD Brazos-powered E350IA-E45 Mini-ITX motherboard with a press release earlier this week. The board will come with AMD's E-350 "Zacate" APU pre-installed, which has two 1.6GHz Bobcat processor cores paired and an integrated Radeon HD 6130 with a total TDP of only 18W.

Despite that low thermal envelope, MSI has opted to install a small fan along with the heatsink instead of relying strictly on passive cooling like Asus' E35M1-I Deluxe A50M. The company doesn't mention noise levels, but we'd expect the fan to be nearly inaudible given the board's intended purpose.


The E350IA-E45 has two unoccupied DIMM slots with support for up to 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, and it has a single PCIe x16 slot (limited to x4 speeds) in case you want to install a discrete graphics card. I/O includes gigabit Ethernet, four SATA 6Gb/s, 10 USB 2.0 (four via headers), two USB 3.0, PS/2, 7.1-channel audio with S/PDIF-out, as well as D-Sub and HDMI 1.4a outputs that are wired to the IGP.

We haven't seen any pricing information for MSI's board, but Asus' competing product is expected to be 153 (roughly equivalent to $210). That seems expensive, but it's a reasonable premium over the slower Atom/Ion HTPC boards. Shipments should begin by the end of January or early February.

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MSI intros AMD Fusion-powered HTPC motherboard

If you've been itching to building a Fusion-based HTPC, the wait is nearly over. First shown during CES, MSI officially greeted its AMD Brazos-powered E350IA-E45 Mini-ITX motherboard with a press release earlier this week. The board will come with AMD's E-350 "Zacate" APU pre-installed, which has two 1.6GHz Bobcat processor cores paired and an integrated Radeon HD 6130 with a total TDP of only 18W.

Despite that low thermal envelope, MSI has opted to install a small fan along with the heatsink instead of relying strictly on passive cooling like Asus' E35M1-I Deluxe A50M. The company doesn't mention noise levels, but we'd expect the fan to be nearly inaudible given the board's intended purpose.


The E350IA-E45 has two unoccupied DIMM slots with support for up to 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, and it has a single PCIe x16 slot (limited to x4 speeds) in case you want to install a discrete graphics card. I/O includes gigabit Ethernet, four SATA 6Gb/s, 10 USB 2.0 (four via headers), two USB 3.0, PS/2, 7.1-channel audio with S/PDIF-out, as well as D-Sub and HDMI 1.4a outputs that are wired to the IGP.

We haven't seen any pricing information for MSI's board, but Asus' competing product is expected to be 153 (roughly equivalent to $210). That seems expensive, but it's a reasonable premium over the slower Atom/Ion HTPC boards. Shipments should begin by the end of January or early February.

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Nokia collaborates with China?s Internet service providers to bring location services using Ovi Maps

Nokia collaborates with China?s Internet service providers to bring location services using Ovi Maps

Nokia, in an effort to establish its market position in China, joins forces with SINA and Tencent, two of China?s leading Internet service providers, to bring location based services through Ovi Maps in China

Both SINA and Tencent services will be seamlessly integrated with Nokia?s Ovi Maps in China, enabling millions of people to enjoy and share location services to friends and communities using Ovi Maps. Using SINA?s micro-blog and Tencent?s online community, the members will be able to share their location, check-in places, and upload content and recommendations using their Nokia mobile devices.

?More than 250 million people are using a Nokia device in China and with this partnership, we can help people share their location with their friends and communities through Ovi Maps on their favorite social network,? said Phil Kemp, Vice President, Services, Nokia.

SINA Corporation is a leading online media company and mobile value-added service provider for China and for the global Chinese communities while Tencent is one of China?s largest Internet services portal offering Internet, mobile and telecommunications value-added services and online advertising.

SINA and Tencent customers will be able to enjoy China?s first location based services through Ovi Maps during the first quarter of 2011.

About the Author

Francis Tan is the Asia editor of TNW. He is an aspiring entrepreneur who's into indie rock music, mecha, Star Wars, and all sorts of geekery. You can find him on Twitter.

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Hardware 17 - Ramobo: First Blood

Hardware 17 - Ramobo: First Blood

Posted on 20th Jan 2011 at 07:32 by Podcast with 25 comments

In this week?s hardware podcast Paul, Harry, Antony and Clive sit down to discuss the latest happenings in the world of computer hardware.

First on the list of topics, much to Clive's disappointment, is the launch of Intel's new Sandy Bridge based LGA1155 CPUs. We cover the basics of what makes the new processors so ace, while discussing who should actually be upgrading to these ridiculously overclockable chips.

Harry also gives us the low-down on his experiences at CES, and lets us know what impressed and what disappointed at the show. Unfortunately, this year was mostly dominated by concepts and roadmaps, rather than actual retail-ready products, but there were still some interesting nuggets to discuss.

We then briefly touch on gaming laptops, and whether we think they're worth the cash, before going on to announce the winner of the last hardware podcast competition. We also announce this episode?s competition - if you think you know which piece of hardware we?re describing in the podcast, send your answers along to podcast@custompc.co.uk.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the forums.

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Making Old Computers Feel Brand New

Each time a new version of Windows is released, many computer users find that their hardware is suddenly outdated. For cash-strapped schools, upgrading to the latest hardware with each major software release is simply impossible. A New York startup called NeverWare is offering a possible solution?a server that lets even decade-old PCs upgrade to the latest Windows 7 operating system.

Once NeverWare's server, called the JuiceBox a100, is added to a school's existing computer network , it does the hard work of running the latest operating systems for numerous aging computers on the same network. To users of those old computers, it will feel as if the PCs are running the latest version of Windows, when in fact they are accessing it over the network. Their typing and mouse commands are sent to the software on the server, and the imagery for their display is sent back.

Once connected to a JuiceBox, a PC doesn't even need a hard drive, or any local software at all. NeverWare's founder, Jonathan Hefter, says a 10-year-old desktop computer running Windows 98 would work just fine. He's targeting the U.S. education market and institutions in the developing world with the technology. "Schools can't afford to upgrade PCs, and developing countries can't afford PCs, so if we can use the power of the cloud, we can move to a more efficient model of computing," Hefter says. His company's JuiceBox servers are being used to power networks of desktops in two New Jersey schools.

Another company, NComputing, also uses servers to offer "virtual desktops" to multiple users, and supplies its technology to some schools around the world. However, NComputing's approach requires a new device that links a user's keyboard, mouse, and monitor to a distant server over the Web. One NeverWare JuiceBox is larger than an NComputing device, but then it only takes one JuiceBox to "upgrade" a network of tens of computers, says Hefter.

Joyojeet Pal, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, thinks NeverWare's approach has potential. "What this project seems to offer is an alternative to an online operating system like Google's Chrome OS," Pal says. Google's approach requires users to use Web versions of software packages, rather than providing access to traditional software. However, Pal says, the cost of maintaining an outdated machine could still be considerable due to the need for repairs and labor, for example.

NeverWare is not unlike the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, says Mark Foster, a former VP of engineering with OLPC. "Working there was like doing a year in the Peace Corps, from a computer perspective," he says. "You see what a difference it makes when kids get the tools that enable them to learn, and you never forget it. In the same way, NeverWare is a terrific idea."

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Fanity: a Google Reader for the music obsessed

Fanity: a Google Reader for the music obsessed

If you?re the kind of person who obsessively follows news about your favourite bands or gets excited by a new photo of Britney Spears stumbling out of a nightclub at 3am, Fanity could be for you.

Essentially, this new site ? launched by a Dutch team ? is an alternative take on the RSS reader that allows you to follow music acts rather then news sources. So, If you?re interested in Kanye West, Jay-Z and Eminem (for example) you can mark yourself as a ?fan? and then news, multimedia content and social media activity about your chosen celebrities is pushed into your Fanity stream.

The feed can be filtered to just include official postings by your chosen artists and by media types, such as blog, photos and videos. There?s also a ?Celebrity dialogs?filter, letting you know what the famous people you?re interested in are saying about each other on Twitter.

While generally working exactly as advertised, I found that the filtering could do with a little refining. Searching for ?Beck? (one of my all-time favourite artists), brought back information about guitarist Jeff Beck instead. In most cases this won?t be a problem After all, Beck isn?t a very SEO friendly name and it works perfectly well in most cases,

The media filters aren?t yet 100% accurate either. Sometimes, say, a post in the photos stream won?t actually contain any images. An easy way to jump into the dedicated feed for each celebrity from the filter controls would be good as well. At present it?s possible ? just not easy.

Publishers may take issue with the service displaying full articles in the feed. Although these are pulled in from news sources? RSS feeds and include a link back in each post, we could see this being a potential problem if Fanity becomes a commercial success.

In the future, Schapp and Kiksen plan to add social features to let fans interact with each other on the site and do deals with celebrities to provide unique content for the service. They tell me that the reaction from music industry figures was positive when the service was demoed last week.

You can sign up to Fanity here.

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Sony unveils next-gen PlayStation Portable, Android store

Sony had quite a few announcements to make at a media event yesterday in Japan. Although the recently unearthed Xperia Play was not part of the show (it's expected to be introduced at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona), attendees were still treated to a first look at the long-rumored PSP successor, which is codenamed Next Generation Portable or NGP. It looks very much like the original PSP handheld at first glance, but it's a whole 'nother beast inside.

Sony promises a PS3-level experience with a much faster, quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a multi-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics chip four times faster than before. The NPG will come with a 5" OLED screen, two micro-analog sticks to simulate the Dual Shock experience, front and rear facing cameras, and two-finger multi-touch pad on the back of the machine that might open the door for new ideas in game control. A Sixaxis equivalent with a gyroscope and accelerometer is also available to let players control games by moving and tilting the system itself.


In terms of connectivity you can expect built-in 3G in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR -- though it's unclear if users will need a separate for-pay service to use the 3G options. GPS is onboard as well, and a new app dubbed "Near" will let users see what other gamers nearby are currently playing and add them as friends.

Continue reading...

Sony promised to have a full range of high-profile game titles from the start, including Little Big Planet, Resistance, Wipeout and Uncharted. These games will come on "a small flash memory based card," according to Sony, although downloadable PSP titles will still be supported. The company also noted that Activision's Call of Duty series would eventually reach the platform while Konami touted Metal Gear Solid 4 and Epic Games showed an Unreal Engine demo.


The company also unveiled a cross-platform software framework called PlayStation Suite, which will run on Android phones and tablets in addition to the NGP. Sony's starting with an emulator for existing PSOne titles and is promising an Android game store later on for PlayStation-certified titles from small and top-tier developers.

Unfortunately no pricing or availability details were announced, besides "end of the year 2011" in Japan for the NGP. In other words, it's still a long way off but Sony is hoping to build some hype ahead of the Nintendo 3DS launch. Hopefully we'll get a few more details at the Game Developers Conference next month and E3 in June.

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Fat Cells for Broken Hearts

Too much fat around the waist may be bad for your health, but the stem cells it contains might one day save your life. Starting this month, a new European trial aims to determine whether stem cells harvested from a person's own fat, delivered shortly after a heart attack, could prevent some of the cardiac muscle damage that results from blocked arteries.

During a heart attack, blood vessels that deliver blood to the heart muscle are blocked, and the lack of oxygen slowly kills the tissue. San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics has developed a treatment that aims to prevent much of that muscle damage before it starts. It works by injecting a concentrated slurry of stem cells and other regenerative cells isolated from the patient's body directly into the heart's main artery within 24 hours after an attack. "Time is muscle. The quicker you get in, the better," says Christopher Calhoun, Cytori's chief executive officer. "You can't do anything about dead tissue, but tissue that's bruised and damaged?that's revitalizable. If you can get new blood flow in there, that tissue comes back to life."

Adult stem cells, which exist in small populations throughout the body, can differentiate to form specific tissue types and are responsible for repairing injuries and replacing dying cells. The prospect of using them to heal damaged heart muscle has tantalized biomedical researchers for more than two decades. If the stem cells come from a patient's own body, there is no risk of rejection. A number of clinical trials in recent years have focused on using stem cells collected from bone marrow, since this potent population can differentiate into both cardiac muscle cells and blood vessel cells, among other types. But marrow stem cells are difficult to collect and somewhat scarce; they must be isolated and then grown in culture before they're injected back into an injured heart. The process can take weeks.

Over the last decade, however, researchers have discovered that fat tissue has its own population of stem cells that are more easily accessible and far more abundant than the ones in bone marrow. A typical sample of bone marrow yields about 5,000 stem cells; a sample of fat, gathered quickly through liposuction, can provide up to 200 times that amount. Fat also contains other cells that may aid the healing process. "My belief is that you need that mixed population of cells in order for this therapy to be effective," says Stuart Williams, director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, who is not affiliated with Cytori. "Everybody who is now seeing success with the use of these cells?almost all of them?are using a mixed population."

Cytori has created a portable machine that, in less than an hour, can reduce a sample of fat "about the size of a can of Coke," Calhoun says, to less than a teaspoon of concentrated slurry that Cytori believes contains its most vital elements: stem cells, smooth muscle cells, cells that line blood vessels, and a number of other regenerative cells that can promote growth healing.

"Fat tissue has been used for years by very astute surgeons, who just pulled pieces of fat into areas that weren't healing well," Williams says. "All the data so far has shown that these cells are safe, but beyond that, what are these cells doing? We just don't know."

One benefit of Cytori's therapy is that unlike stem cells derived from bone marrow, it can be used immediately after a heart attack, before much tissue damage has occurred. The regenerative cells from fat appear to release growth factors and other chemicals that prevent cell death, Calhoun says, "by sending out signals that say, 'Don't commit suicide?the cavalry's coming.'" He believes that it's the mixture of different cells, rather than just the stem cells, that are important for repair: "I think it's a group of cells that are reacting to the local environment, signaling back and forth, that help stimulate new blood vessels."

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Making Old Computers Feel Brand New

Each time a new version of Windows is released, many computer users find that their hardware is suddenly outdated. For cash-strapped schools, upgrading to the latest hardware with each major software release is simply impossible. A New York startup called NeverWare is offering a possible solution?a server that lets even decade-old PCs upgrade to the latest Windows 7 operating system.

Once NeverWare's server, called the JuiceBox a100, is added to a school's existing computer network , it does the hard work of running the latest operating systems for numerous aging computers on the same network. To users of those old computers, it will feel as if the PCs are running the latest version of Windows, when in fact they are accessing it over the network. Their typing and mouse commands are sent to the software on the server, and the imagery for their display is sent back.

Once connected to a JuiceBox, a PC doesn't even need a hard drive, or any local software at all. NeverWare's founder, Jonathan Hefter, says a 10-year-old desktop computer running Windows 98, would work just fine. He's targeting the U.S. education market and institutions in the developing world with the technology. "Schools can't afford to upgrade PCs, and developing countries can't afford PCs, so if we can use the power of the cloud, we can move to a more efficient model of computing," Hefter says. His company's JuiceBox servers are being used to power networks of desktops in two New Jersey schools.

Another company, NComputing, also uses servers to offer "virtual desktops" to multiple users, and supplies its technology to some schools around the world. However, NComputing's approach requires a new device that links a user's keyboard, mouse, and monitor to a distant server over the Web. One NeverWare JuiceBox is larger than an NComputing device, but then it only takes one JuiceBox to "upgrade" a network of tens of computers, says Hefter.

Joyojeet Pal, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, thinks NeverWare's approach has potential. "What this project seems to offer is an alternative to an online operating system like Google's Chrome OS," Pal says. Google's approach requires users to use Web versions of software packages, rather than providing access to traditional software. However, Pal says, the cost of maintaining an outdated machine could still be considerable due to the need for repairs and labor, for example.

NeverWare is not unlike the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, says Mark Foster, a former VP of engineering with OLPC. "Working there was like doing a year in the Peace Corps, from a computer perspective," he says. "You see what a difference it makes when kids get the tools that enable them to learn, and you never forget it. In the same way, NeverWare is a terrific idea."

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