Posts Tagged ‘memory’
Chkdsk And NTFS Health Get A Big Boost In Windows 8
Changes are a-coming to chkdsk and NTFS health in Windows 8, and unlike the controversial Metro interface, these tweaks should make everyone happy. As hard drives get bigger, the Windows 7 chkdsk times get longer (and longer, and longer…) when hard disk errors occur, as infrequent as they are. In a worse-case scenario, attempting to boot a corrupt drive can take hours. The new system changes all that.
The Windows 8 improvements will let NTFS try to identify corruptions on-the-fly and make an instant fix in the background, no usage interruptions required. If that doesn’t work, Windows 8 will conduct a “spot verification scan” to determine if the corruption is genuine or just a brief memory glitch.
Genuine errors will be reported to the user and the OS will start scan the system during idle CPU/storage times and log the location of the problems. When the scan is done, Windows 8 will prompt the user to reboot the PC at his convenience. Chkdsk will then use the information NTFS logged about the errors to fix the corruptions quickly.
“The restart is quick (adding just a few additional seconds) and the PC is returned to a healthy state,” core manager Kim Bangalore writes on the Building Windows 8 blog. Hopefully it really is that quick and simple! For all the nitty gritty details and a helpful FAQ, hit the link.
Asus Introduces Two New Zenbook Ultrabooks with Ivy Bridge
Asus used a relatively low-key press event in Taipei to introduce the world to a pair of new Zenbook models built around Intel’s recently launched Ivy Bridge platform. The first of the two Ultrabooks is the Zenbook UX32A , an $800 machine with integrated graphics. For $300 more, the UX32Vd ups the pixel pushing ante with a GeForce GT 620M GPU with 1GB of onboard memory.
According to Netbooknews.com, which attended the event and snapped a handful of photos, both the $800 UX32A and $1,100 UX32Vd are 13.3-inch Ultrabooks with a handful of premium upgrade options, such as a Full HD 1080p IPS (In-Plane Switching) display, Intel WiDi technology, and dedicated SSD options rather than the stock 500GB hard drive + 24GB SSD cache.
Both models come equipped with either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. According to DigiTimes, the UX32Vd rocks an Intel Core i5 3317U processor, which likely serves as the foundation of the UX32A as well.
Image Credit: Asus
HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo and IceQ X Turbo X Review
Today we are looking at two of the latest graphics cards from HIS, the confusingly named HD7870 IceQ Turbo and the IceQ X Turbo X. Both of these cards feature custom cooling solutions and are supplied in a pre-overclocked state. We have been impressed with the IceQ coolers in the past, especially in regards to low noise levels, so we have hopes that these cards will prove a tempting solution for the discerning enthusiast gamer.
HIS have some of the most dramatically designed coolers on the market. While companies such as XFX and MSI opt for distinguished metallic coolers, HIS have designed their ICE-Q coolers in the past with bright plastic aqua blue and transparent colour schemes. The appearance will certainly split opinion, however technically they are actually in the top 10% of cooling solutions on the market.
Above, the HIS HD7870 ICEQ Turbo and ICEQ X Turbo X. No longer have they bright blue semi see-through coolers. Good move, we say.
| Product | AMD HD7970 | AMD HD7950 | HIS HD7870 IceQ X Turbo X |
HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo |
| Core Clock speed | 925mhz | 800mhz | 1000mhz (1100mhz) | 1000mhz (1100mhz) |
| Transistors | 4.31 billion | 4.31 billion | 2.8 billion | 2.8 billion |
| Stream Processors | 2,048 | 1,792 | 1,280 | 1,280 |
| Compute Performance | 3.79 TFLOPS | 2.87 TFLOPS | 2.56 TFLOPS | 2.56 TFLOPS |
| Texture Units | 128 | 112 | 80 | 80 |
| Texture Fillrate | 118.4 GT/s | 89.6 GT/s | 80 GT/s | 80 GT/s |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Pixel Fillrate | 29.6 GP/s | 25.6 GP/s | 32.0 GP/s | 32.0 GP/s |
| Z/Stencil | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| Memory Type | 3GB GDDR5 | 3GB GDDR5 | 2GB GDDR5 | 2GB GDDR5 |
| Memory Clock | 1,375mhz | 1,250mhz | 1,200mhz (1,250mhz) | 1,200mhz |
| Memory Data Rate | 5.5 GBps | 5.0 Gbps | 4.8Gbps (5.0Gbps) |
4.8 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 264 GB/s | 240 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s |
The HIS HD7870 ICEQ Turbo and ICEQ X Turbo X are both shipped with a 100mhz core clock increase from 1,000mhz to 1,100mhz. The ICEQ X GDDR5 memory also receives a boost, from 1,200mhz (4.8Gbps) to 1,250mhz (5.0Gbps).
Apple iOS 5.1.1 available, but do you want it?
It’s all well and good giving a shout out to a new software update that will touch the lives of millions, but how certain can we be that our lives will actually improve after the time-consuming effort of updating an iPad or sumsuch? Tecnobitsoptimistically plugs an iPad 3 into a USB 3 port, hoping that things might go quicker.
While the iPad 2 seemed as solid as a rock from the day it arrived, we have to say that there have been times with the iPad 3 when ‘your window just disappears’. You’re doing something one second and the next, it’s gone.
Microsoft users roll with these punches – it takes more than randomly ending browser windows before we get psyched. That said, once you do lock yourself into the locked down world of the Apple-ites, you sort of expect things to work.
Cue Apple iOS 5.1.1
According to Apple’s own site, users have been suffering from a number of afflictions, including (but not limited to) the following (with solutions):-
- Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut
- Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks
- Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances
- Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List
- Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase
The update takes a while, so it’s nice to get the ‘things seem OK’ message at the end.
The main security issues fixed with Safari/WebKit are described as follows:-
Safari
Available for: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iPad, iPad 2
Impact: A maliciously crafted website may be able to spoof the address in the location bar
Description: A URL spoofing issue existed in Safari. This could be used in a malicious web site to direct the user to a spoofed site that visually appeared to be a legitimate domain. This issue is addressed through improved URL handling. This issue does not affect OS X systems.
WebKit
Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to a cross-site scripting attack
Description: Multiple cross-site scripting issues existed in WebKit.
Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in WebKit.
Being protected from all of these evils is certainly a good thing. What’s less good is the speed with which ‘issues’ with iOS 5.1.1. are posted – almost as soon as anyone has had a chance to install the update.
One quick glance through Google and the most common seem to centre on things like synchronisation and battery life.
You'd need to research the issues for yourself to assess their veracity, but the idea of Apple being 100% stable is just not true – so we would recommend that you do a little research and a lot of backing up before you press 'go'
Comment below or in the Tecnobitsforums.
HTC Desire C leaked to counter Galaxy 3S
When Tecnobitsreported the analysts’ feelings about HTC at the start of April, it was very much a ‘doom and gloom’ picture. Sales were down 35% while profits plummeted a massive 70%. In general, the feeling from places like Morgan Stanley was that HTC had ‘nothing useful coming to fight this drop’. In the wake of the monster launch of the Samsung Galaxy 3S, HTC has decided to leak the Desire C to try and stem the tide of fleeing Android lovers. Will they be successful?
The first leaked shots of the new phone seem to have come from the desk draw of an Orange store owner in Romania.
Vodafone’s new catalogue for Portugal seems to include the first official photo.
In the unlikely event that you wish to purchase the new HTC handset without a contract, it seems likely that your local store will demand around €200/£170/$250 for the pleasure of ownership.
This is what your pocket full of shekels will be buying:-
Anyone wanna borrow Blackberry's designs?
Comment below or in the Tecnobitsforums.