Storage

Neoseeker has posted an article about Intel Matrix RAID storage technology. Intel has introduced a number of features with its i915P and i925X core-logic sets, one of the new capabilities is Intel’s Matrix Storage Technology. Traditionally, RAID requires entire disks to be dedicated to a single purpose on a pair of hard drives, a typical RAID configuration forces the user to choose RAID0 and/or RAID1. Intel’s Matrix Storage allows users to specify both a RAID0 and a RAID1 partition on the same pair of hard disks much like the way that regular partitioning works, but with significant money saving.

Graphics cards

The Tech Report has reviewed a number of middle-range PCI Express graphics cards. This article contains a comparison of five products such as ABIT RX700 Pro-128PCIE, Albatron Trinity PC6600, Chaintech SE6600G, Gigabyte GV-RX70P256V and XFX PVT43GNDD7 graphics cards. All of the competitors are based on the latest VPUs from either ATI or NVIDIA. The author compares those latest offerings in terms of price and performance criteria.

SFF Systems

Motherboards.org has reviewed FIC Condor barebone. Condor is designed to house mPGA478 Intel Pentium 4 processors and uses Intel’s i865P chipset. This is a ample solution that offers a total of six USB 2.0 ports, six-channel audio with SPDIF Optical out, keyboard/mouse PS2 ports, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet connection, integrated graphics engine as well as 200W power supply unit. This case design allows you to use graphics cards that take up two slots with their cooling solutions. The contrasting gray/black color as well as its ultra-compact size are unlikely to spoil your work place.

Modding

Hexus.net has reviewed 480W PSUs from Hiper, trying to figure out, whether this PSU can deliver enough power for contemporary high-end setup. The reviewers brings extensive amount of details as well as peculiarities of the product.

PimpRing.com web-site has had a chance to look at a water-cooled case from Koolance. The PC3-720 is Koolance’s latest water-cooled case aimed at hardcore overclockers and enthusiasts. It is capable of dissipating 750W of heat and provides with very efficient and silent cooling as well as flexible tweaking options.

Mobile devices

Hardwarezoom.com has taken a look at TapWave Zodiac 2 mobile entertainment console. The TapWave Zodiac 2 has dimensions of 5.6” x 3.1” x .55”. You may watch full color movies on the Tapwave on the unit’s 3.8” 480x320 screen. The unit comes with Kinoma Producer software giving you the ability to load and convert many types of files including MPEG1, MPEG4, QuickTime and AVI videos. The unit provides superb sound with the included Yamaha Audio Component and built in stereo speakers.

TrustedReviews had a chance to look at Elonex Soliton Safari notebook. The Safari is a Centrino branded notebook with Intel Pentium M processor clocked at 1.60GHz. This 15” notebook has native resolution of 1024x768, other specs are pretty natural - 512MB of memory, 80GB HDD, MOBILITY RADEON 9700 graphics with 128MB of memory, etc. Most importantly, the Safari’s specification has passed Military Standard (MIL-STD) 810E certification which includes a test where each face, edge and corner of the laptop is dropped a total of 26 times from a height of 36 inches.

IBM Researchers Discover Servo Control Method for Optics

IBM Corp. researchers from the company’s server division and Thomas J. Watson Research Center have collaborated on an unusual project to bring the advantages of phase-locked loops to wavelength domains. Though the most evident set of applications is in optical components, the generic capability of a “wavelength-locked loop” (WLL) as a servo control active-feedback loop applies to any wavelength in an electromagnetic domain. For more details on the project read the full story at CommsDesign web-site.