Sean Kalinich, Author at VR World

Hardware, Reviews

Review: Sandy Bridge Core 2011 processors from Intel

It is a New Year and time for a new CPU. We have been hearing about this one from Intel for quite a while now and it is time for us to see exactly what it has to offer in terms of performance and power. Of course the CPU we are talking about it Sandy Bridge. This is a new CPU design along with a new Socket (1155 so you lose a pin). These CPUs are geared towards what they have identified as mega trends. These are the same trends that we have told you about in the past, heavy video editing, transcoding, photo manipulation

Graphics, Hardware, Reviews

Review: Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 – An Affordable, Future-Proof Graphics Card That Runs Latest Games

Now that the GF110 is out in the form of the GTX580 (what Fermi was meant to be), we are beginning to wonder what nVidia?s strategy will be. Will they start the long slow process of replacing the 4 series? Will they do something like AMD and allow them to coexist? Well, the wait for that answer is over. Now we have the latest of the GTX 5xx series GPUs out in the wild and we know what nVidia is looking to do. After the semi-botched job of the GTX480 nVidia was able to pull things together with the GTX470. Believe it or not, this

Entertainment, Graphics, Software Programs

Inspire Futuremark and Win Big with 3DMark11

People get inspiration from the most unlikely places. When I was finishing up my time in the military I was inspired by a ruined building to indulge in architecture photography. This sent me on something of a quest that culminated in a run-in with the police at a near-by airport [unknown to me I was on their property shooting an old abandoned school]. Hopefully you will not have any issues like this as you are inspired by the High Temple scene in 3DMark 11. Why would you be inspired by 3DMark 11?s High Temple scene? Well to get a chance to be the winning design

Entertainment, Graphics, Hardware

DX what? Does the Market Really Care about DX11?

nVidia just launched the GTX580 upping the ante in the high-stakes game for your DX11 love. But the question you have to wonder is; does the average [or even high level] gamer really care? Let?s take a look at the top selling games recently. According to most internet sources [and Steam] the following PC games are listed as top sellers as of this writing.From Steam you have;1 ? Call of Duty Black Ops [DX9]2 ? Risen [DX9.1]3 ? F1 2010 [DX9] [a patch was released on the 4th of November to add some DX11 functionality]4 ? Football Manager 2001 [DX9]5 ? Fallout New Vegas [DX9]6

Hardware

The Gigabyte X58A-UD9 Muscles its Way Into Our Lab

The Gigabyte X58A-UD9 is arguably one of the most sought after motherboards on the market right now. Although much easier to find outside the US [right now it is only available on NewEgg.com in the US] it is still very expensive and not always in stock. The reasons for this are many but most focus on the fact that Gigabyte has built this board as the benchmarker?s dream system. Let?s face it; the board can handle four top end GPUs – or eight, if you put four AMD Radeon HD 5970 or the upcoming HD 6970 X2 boards. as well as Intel?s 32nm flagship CPUs.

Graphics

New 3DMark 11 trailer is all DX11 all HD at 1080p

Futuremark has dropped a new 3DMark11 trailer on us today. This time the trailer is done all in DX11 and at full 1080p resolution. It is called ?High Temple? and according to 3DMark represents the future performance that can be expected from DirectX 11. "The High Temple tech demo showcases the amazing real-time graphics that are possible today using readily available DirectX 11 hardware," said Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO, "With 3DMark 11 releasing later this year and an ever increasing number of games using DirectX 11 there is a lot to look forward to for PC gamers." Some of the DX11 features to be shown

Entertainment, Hardware

ASUS ION based AT3IONT-I Deluxe Stops by the Lab and Decides to Stick Around

Unless you have been under a rock you know that there has been a big boom in the HTPC market. This has been compounded by companies making simple yet affordable digital media players. The increase in interest comes from the popularity of services like Netflix, Hulu and many other online stream media sites. To use these you typically need a PC connected to your TV [although some new TVs can also use these services]. This has set the stage for small form factor very complete systems that are inexpensive yet functional. Today we are taking a look at one of these from ASUSTeK; the AT3IONT-I

Hardware, Reviews

Choiix Cruiser Mouse Reviewed; Has Some Comfort Issues

Cooler Master is not a new company to our lab. We have had multiple items in from them almost all of them have been great products. Today we take a look at Choiix [Pronounced Choice], a sub division of Cooler Master. Choiix appear to be much more peripheral and style oriented than Cooler Master [not that CM does not have style]. They also seem to be aimed at the College crowd and also have a leaning toward female computer owners and users. I am sure that many of our female readers will be happy to finally be able to get computer peripherals that not only

Entertainment, Hardware, Software Programs

The GlideTV Navigator Drops by the Lab

Not that long ago we told you about GlideTV and how it aims to bring the PC to the TV in a much better way that you can currently enjoy. Well shortly after that we were able to get our hands on the GlidTV Navigator and the new Software complete with the "What?s On" browser. This kit goes a long way to bringing extended functionality, easier navigation and more consolidated HTPC Experience. We Put one of these in play in our lab and then in our own personal Home Theater room to see just what GlideTV does the PC on the TV experience. The Box

Business, Entertainment, Hardware

XPPhone Disassembled and Photographed, Looks Like it is Finally a Real Phone

The following break down was sent to us by the people at ITG [In Technology Group] and is not the work of BSN* or any of its staff. They are showing us a break down of the new xpPhone, a phone that we have been thinking could be nothing more than Vaporware. Now it could be that the xpPhone is nearing its final launch date. We do hope this is the case and that this is a real break down and not a mock up… only time will tell us the answer to that though. So for now let’s just look at what is inside

Business, Entertainment, Hardware

Can xpPhone become the Constitutor for the 4th Generation Of Mobile Phones?

With the advancement of technology and the development of human civilization, more and more consumers feel a sense of load for carrying too many equipment and hope to extricate themselves from heavy burden. How to reduce the burden for the consumers? At the xpPhone partners? meeting held recently, ITG demonstrated the 4th generation of mobile phone, that is, xpPhone, which meets the customers? overall demand for mobile Internet applications and runs the Windows XP operating system, you can install various Internet software on it for unlimited Internet applications. According to the research, there are four development stages of Mobile communication: Analog: Voice communication Digital: SMS,

Business, Entertainment, Hardware

xpPhone as UC Terminal Will Become the Main Trend in the "3 Into 1" Era

At the partners? meeting of xpPhone ["the global first mobile internet communication terminal integrating mobile phone, GPS and laptop, 3 into 1"] held recently, ITG puts forward the application of unified communications [UC for short], emphasizing the interconnection of telecommunications, IT and Internet. The core content of unified communications is the FREE communication, which allows people to obtain data, images and sound anytime anywhere through any device and any network. In other words, the unified communications system integrates all types of information into one, including phone, fax, email, mobile text messages, multimedia, data, etc, so as to achieve free selection and improve efficiency for the

Entertainment, Hardware

Building an HTPC with Zalman and Acoustic PC

Have you wanted to setup an HD HTPC? Have you felt like you can get a lot more from your $1,000+ investment in your 50+ Inch HD TV? We know that we have and we think we have found some of the best pieces and parts to build one. With the help of Acoustic PC and Zalman we have put together an Intel Core i5 661, AMD HD 5380, Asus Xonar DX, based system inside a Zalman HD503 HTPC case. On top of this Acoustic PC has sent us some great extras to keep things cool and quiet while stuffed into our TV stand. So

Business, Entertainment, Hardware

GlideTV Provides a Smooth and Clean Compliment to the HTPC Experience

As the world gets more and more inundated by digital content we see the technology market rush to present items to easily access and view this content. As such we have witnessed an increase in products like the HD digital media player, Dual purpose TV tuners, and even components tailor made for the Home Theater PC market [HTPC]. This in turn has led to a very large jump in HTPC and PC to TV interest. In fact it is estimated that every month over 400,000 search queries are made for the key words "PC to TV". What has led to this increase in interest? Well

Audio/Video, Business, Hardware

Marseille Networks brings a new business model to the chipmaking world

In the world of consumer electronics one of your major costs is development. When developing a new chip you have to jump through a few hoops. Each one of these can cost you time and money. Let?s take a GPU for example; most of the time a GPU is designed on paper then it is taped out, set into test silicone and tested thoroughly. 9 times out of 10 the first runs will need to be tweaked [AMD’s Juniper i.e. Radeon HD 5700 was that 1 out of 10]. If it’s something minor you can reuse the same basic design and save a few bucks,

Hardware

GOOC 2010 All Wrapped up, Here Are the Winners

Well after a completely hectic weekend of overclocking and play we are finally back at home and able to get up the information about the winners of this year?s North American Finals for the Gigabyte Open Overclocking Competition. There were some pretty big ups and downs. At one point the rule even had to be amended as Fugger pointed out an available tweak for the Maxmem benchmark. It seems that in CPUTweaker there is an option to optimize for Maxmem. Using this can give you some amazing results, but they are not accurate at all. In the end HiCookie announced that using that was out

Hardware

Gigabyte Open Overclocking Competition underway in City of Industry

With the GOOC underway things are heating up and cooling down with lots of LN flowing into the many CPU pots that are on the floor. Each contestant picked a random bench where they were giving everything but the cooling [which each person brought in with them]. The running live score is on the GOOC2010 page The contestants are some of the leading overclockers in the world all competing to earn a ticket to the finals in Taipei later this year. We are here keeping an eye on thing as they unfold and will be offering a wrap up at the end of the day.

Entertainment, Software Programs

Bioshock 2 gets tested, leaves us undecided

If you are a gamer then you are sure to know the Bioshock title. This game was the product of the remnants of Looking Glass Studios. Looking Glass Studios created such games as System Shock [and System Shock 2] as well as the popular Thief series. Bioshock took you under the ocean on a journey through a utopia gone wrong, called Rapture. As you moved through the game you are given choices that not only shape your character but also shape the actual direction of the game. You also had an antagonist that was able to provide you with constant taunting [in the beginning of

Hardware, Software Programs

Tech on the Go Meets USB 3.0 Performance Kit for Seagate BlackArmor PS-110

Seagate is a name that most people know. They are recognized as one of the industry leaders in storage technology. After the acquisition of Maxtor, Seagate began branching out into the world of portable storage in a much more aggressive way. Their FreeAgent and BlackArmor line of external drives are very well put together and cover very wide range of user types. We have had more than a few Seagate products in the Bright Lab and have always been impressed with what they can do. Today we take a look and an update to one of their existing products. This is the USB 3.0 Flavor

Entertainment, Hardware

Tech on the Go meets the ASUS SBC-04D1S-U USB 2.0 Blu-ray drive

Do you own a Blu-ray DVD player at home? Have you ever thought about being able to watch Blu-ray movies while traveling but do not want to spend a ton of money for a new laptop? I know that I have more than one laptop that cannot watch Blu-ray movies because at the time that I purchased them there was simply no option for it. Now to get that functionality I would have to spend quite a bit or get a bulky external drive and lug that around [and still spend a ton of money]. Well at least that is what I would have had