Updating Galaxy S2 to Ice Cream Sandwich

This was my experience... So far...

I successfully updated my Galaxy S2 to Android 4.0.3 via Kies. The Process went very smoothly and took about 20 minutes under a connection of 2 Mbps.

After the update package was downloaded the phone entered the download status and started the OS installation. After this all the apps I had already installed were updated to function under the new OS. The phone booted twice and the upgrading process was over.

Firsts impressions:

. Desktop: All the widgets and shortcuts were reset, it booted with the stock configuration. I had to reestablish all the way I had it.

. Folders: Folders on apps list were deleted, you will have to create them again and reorganize.

. Connection: No problems regarding phone carrier, data packages or WiFi settings. My Carrier is Movistar, Venezuela. Basic phone stuff OK.

. Data: Good news, no backup needed, Happily all my data (phone call logs, sms, mms, whatsapp conversations, emails, email settings, accounts, etc.) were intact.

Camera: BAD BAD BAD. It freezes, stops working, takes to much time to go from camera to gallery as well as going from camera to video recording... Something's wrong with that, I´ll post later about this if I find out whats going on. Oh! another thing: NO CAMERA SHORTCUT WHEN UNLOCKING! I hope it's just a missing setting but so far, I haven't found it.

I´ll post more impressions after more tests... Hope this helps!

New inputs:

Browser: faster, bookmarks were saved and browser options to. The bad: NO FLASH support... so far

Nueva Línea Blackberry

La canadiense RIM empezó a promover sus nuevos dispositivos Blackberry, todos con nuevo hardware incluyendo un poderoso procesador de 1,2 Ghz. y Sistema Operativo v6.1.

Aquí les dejo dos video de promoción para el Blackberry Touch 9860 (Monza) el que sería sucesor del antiguo Storm , y el Blackberry Bold Touch 9900 (Dakota) la nueva cara de los conocidos Bold y Bold 2, ahora mucho más potente y con pantalla táctil.

Video del Monza

Video del Dakota

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Review

Last year was an interesting time to be watching the graphics card market. There was a sudden flurry of activity leading up to NVIDIA’s Fermi launch followed by long pause as everyone took a deep breath in preparation for the cat fight that broke out in the lead up to Christmas. Over the course of a mere 30 days, AMD introduced the HD 6800 series along with Cayman XT and Cayman Pro while NVIDIA responded with a broadside of their own in the forms of the GTX 580 and GTX 570. It was a hell of a way to end 2010 and 2011 is about to start off with a bag as the GeForce lineup is getting a brand new member. Presently the GTX 580 and GTX 570 hold the upper range of the market with the HD 6970 and HD 6950 offering up some heated competition. Unfortunately, below NVIDIA’s $350 product stood a significant gap which has only been partially filled by overclocked GTX 460 cards retailing for around $200. The result was AMD lapping up a good portion of sales in a number of highly lucrative price points with the HD 6950 and to a greater extent the HD 6870. We are now being introduced to NVIDIA’s reply and the GTX 460’s spiritual successor: the GTX 560 Ti. The GTX 560 Ti utilizes a revised GF104 core which is dubbed the GF114 and incorporates all of the refinements NVIDIA built into the GF110. This has given NVIDIA the ability to open up the architecture to its fullest allotment of CUDA cores, increase clock speeds and make some general improvements to overall efficiency as well. NVIDIA’s hope is these refinements will lead to the GTX 560 Ti becoming the go-to card for a huge cross section of the market. With most HD 6870s suddenly selling for around $230 and the HD 6950 2GB starting at $289, the GTX 560 Ti’s price of $250 threads a very fine needle indeed. AMD is also launching a 1GB version of the HD 6950 which will likely retail for between $259 and $269. However, NVIDIA has made it a point to highlight their new product's performance against the HD 6870; a card that has had a lengthy time to soak up driver optimizations and work its way into the psyche of consumers. While the exact reasoning behind the resurrection of NVIDIA’s “Ti” moniker wasn’t discussed, we can only assume non-TI branded cards will be on their way in relatively short order. Regardless of the name, we are about to see how well this new $250 card stacks up against the competition.

To read the complete review click here

AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 Review

The mad, headlong rush towards Christmas is normally punctuated with plenty of new products and this year has been no different. Most of the news has come from NVIDIA’s camp as they have successfully introduced a pair of refreshed Fermi cards called the GTX 580 and GTX 570. Naturally, AMD wants in on the fun and is now finally releasing two retaliatory products: the HD 6970 and HD 6950.

To say this code named “Cayman” GPU has been the topic of some heated debates in past week would be a massive understatement. Ever since the first rumors began circulating, people began thinking of Cayman as AMD’s broadside in the DX11 war and considering the broad scope of architectural changes, it seems more than equal to that task. As a replacement for the highly popular Cypress core, this new series of products has some understandably high expectations riding on its shoulders.

For the time being, AMD’s enthusiast lineup will consist of two SKUs: Cayman XT and Cayman Pro, otherwise known as the HD 6970 and HD 6950. The higher end HD 6970 doesn’t target the GTX 580 like many hoped it would but rather aims directly for NVIDIA’s GTX 570. As evidenced by a starting price of $369 USD, it is definitely priced to move.

Presently, there is a void at the $299 price point that was once occupied by the GTX 470, before cuts lowered its suggested retail price to under $270. Since AMD is anxious to tap this lucrative market this is precisely where the HD 6950 will be sitting. Considering the budgets of many gamers, we’re sure AMD will win many over with their pricing structure on both of these cards.

The hype surrounding this launch has reached considerable proportions, and the delays have pushed Cayman’s release precariously close to Christmas, but today we’re about to find out what the HD 6970 and HD 6950 are all about.

To check out the complete review click here

ASUS P67 'Sandy Bridge' Motherboards Preview

As should come as no surprise to our always well-informed readership, a new generation of Intel processors is on the way. Codenamed Sandy Bridge, these new CPUs have been an increasingly hot topic of discussion on various enthusiast forums for the last few months, if only due to the sporadic and dubious rumors about the capabilities of the new platform. We aren't free to clear up any of the confusion, nor tell you any titillating new information about Sandy Bridge, but all will be revealed sooner rather than later. Thankfully though, Intel have mercifully given motherboard manufacturers the green light to show off their new motherboards based on the upcoming 6-series chipsets. Specifically, manufacturers have been permitted to reveal models based on the performance-oriented P67 chipset, which is the one that enthusiasts will really be interested in. So without further ado, let's take a sneak peak at a few of ASUS' upcoming P8P67 series, Republic of Gamers (RoG), and The Ultimate Force (TUF) motherboard models.

To read the full preview click here

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Review

Even before NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture made it into the hands of enthusiasts, it was being criticized on a number of fronts. From power consumption to supposed profit margins to how many chips could effectively be produced; speculation ran wild and for the most part NVIDIA proved their detractors wrong in the months following launch. Through all of this success, there were was still one small problem: the flagship GTX 480 didn’t really fit into the new realities of a market that was highly focused upon efficiency. It was a class-leading product in terms of overall performance but it fell behind in the performance per watt category against AMD’s HD 5800 and HD 5900 series. High temperatures and noise weren’t to everyone’s liking either and with AMD’s refreshed cards drawing ever closer, NVIDIA needed to dig deep and offer up a response. They have and it’s called the GTX 580. The GTX 580 is what you would call the tip of Fermi’s “mid-life kicker” iceberg and is meant to keep the title of the world’s fastest DX11 GPU firmly within NVIDIA’s grasp. To do this, their engineers took the GF100 architecture and basically optimized it for better overall performance, lower power consumption and greater efficiency throughout the rendering pipeline. The result is a revised GF 100 core named the GF110 which has rendering power where it counts and should compete well against AMD’s upcoming high end offerings. At it is most basic, the GTX 580 uses a full-enabled GF100 core with additional rendering and efficiency features walking hand in hand with some transistor rationalization on a microarchitectural level. Considering the outgoing GTX 480’s raw and unadulterated horsepower along with the possibilities of the GF110, not many will likely complain about these improvements necessitating a change in product family names. Especially when you consider the GTX 580 is only the beginning of NVIDIA’s top to bottom refresh. When the GTX 480 was launched, one of the main topics of conversation was how late NVIDIA was to the DX11 party. As a result AMD had months of free sailing and massive sales figures. Now, a little more than seven months later both companies are launching their mid-life refreshes within a few weeks of one another. This really begs the question of whether NVIDIA has officially erased most of the lead AMD enjoyed over the last year or so. We have a feeling the answer will only arrive once actual availability of the GTX 580 hits the channels but word on the street is this will be a hard launch. So what we are looking at is a potential market-leading card from NVIDIA that should be available soon after you read this. But will it maintain a sizable enough lead over the GTX 480 to justify its price of $499?

To read the complete review click here

AMD Radeon HD 6870 & HD 6850 Review

Back on September 23rd 2009 the world was introduced to the HD 5870 and HD 5850; ATI’s first entries into what would quickly become a very lucrative DX11 marketplace. These graphics cards (code named Cypress) belonged to the Evergreen family and have enjoyed a huge amount of success. Naturally, part of that success was due to NVIDIA’s oft-delayed Fermi products but even with the GTX 400 series making some headway, ATI’s own DX11 parts are still selling like hotcakes. Even though forward movement of in-game graphics technology seems to have nearly ground to a halt due to the extended life cycles of current consoles, AMD is now refreshing their mid and high-end lineups with a whole new range of GPUs. Code named Northern Islands, this family of graphics cards is a simple evolutionary step for the HD 5000 series, and should set a new benchmark for the price you pay for performance. This evolution can be likened to Intel’s tick / tock mentality where new chip designs are released every other cycle while refinements are rolled out in a minor “refresh” at the mid way point of an architecture’s lifespan. AMD has rolled a number of efficiency, tessellation and other improvements into their HD 5000-series in order to bring the HD 6000 series to market. They also happen to be the first products which ditch the “ATI” moniker. The first Northern Islands products out of the gate will be the HD 6870 and HD 6850 – code named Barts XT and Barts Pro. Instead of going with the usual high-end first mentality, AMD is gearing the 6800 series towards the $199 to $250 market. According to our contacts at board partners and retailers, we should see the HD 6850 hit shelves for between $179 and $199 while the HD 6870 will go for $239 to $249 USD. These prices should make it quite obvious that Barts aims to attack the GTX 460 768MB and 1GB products head on. The result could be a quick marginalization of two products which NVIDIA has been banking on for the last few months. The HD 5000 cards have proven their staying power as evidenced by AMD’s refusal to issue any meaningful price cuts even with mounting NVIDIA pressure. Nonetheless, we’re about to see if AMD has been able to regain their lead against NVIDIA’s latest and greatest.

To read the complete review click here

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Review

The Intel x58 chipset has been out for a while now and the market has been well served with motherboard choices carrying this chipset. Currently, designs are shifting towards improving upon the old and becoming more trendy. Basically, they're attempting to offer more than their prior counterparts. Some aim to lower power consumption through more efficient designs while others try to provide improved reliability or deliver lower operating temperatures. Another common ploy is adding SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 to make the boards more future proof. Promises of overclocking capabilities, longer life spans and more efficient operation are all strong reasons to choose a product. With that in mind, we are here to announce that ASUS has returned with their TUF line to bring forth the Sabertooth X58! The Sabertooth claims to do all of these and more with stringent quality testing and a five-year warranty. The color scheme looks similar to army camouflage colors. The green heat sinks are all coated in some sort of ceramic coating that appears related to the automobile industry and which supposedly helps temperatures (although the automotive coat usually holds in heat as in high temperature exhaust systems). The TUF line seems to have a strong following and this board looks good next to the Noctua fans and heat sink!

To read the complete review click here

Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7 AM3 Motherboard Review

Earlier this year, in coordination with the launch of the new Phenom II X6 six-core processors, AMD unveiled the enthusiast-oriented 890FX chipset. This chipset's claim to fame is the fact that it has 32 PCI-E lanes dedicated to solely to graphics use, which is a healthy boost over the mainstream 890GX's 16 PCI-E lanes. What this allows for on is proper x16/x16 dual graphics card configurations, x16/x8/x8 triple graphics card configurations, and even x8/x8/x8/x8 quad graphics card configurations on properly equipped motherboards. The motherboard that we are reviewing today is one such motherboard. The GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD7 comes packed with six mechanical PCI-E x16 slots, and it's not just for show, this motherboard is one of the few to support 4-way CrossFireX. Because of all these expansion slots, GIGABYTE have had to lengthen the PCB by 0.8 inches past the 12 inch ATX specification. As result, this model is deemed to have a non-standard XL-ATX form factor. What this means is that the 890FXA-UD7 is not compatible with many of the popular ATX cases on the market right now. It is not all bad news though. With that extra space, GIGABYTE have outfitted this model with six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two SATA 3Gb/s ports, six SATA 6Gb/s ports, two eSATA ports, two FireWire ports, and dual GbE LAN ports. They even found room for legacy IDE and floppy ports. Speaking of unusual additions, this motherboard has been outfitted with a small removable water block, and thankfully GIGABYTE have redesigned the heatsink upon which this water block rests, so we are hoping to see some improved cooling performance. For air cooling enthusiasts, the new and improved Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2 module has been included in the bundle. This is a supplementary large fin array that can be attached to the northbridge cooler in order to maximize air cooling. The GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD7 is by definition an enthusiast-oriented motherboard, and before the recent arrival of the eye-watering ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme, it was the most expensive AM3 motherboard on the market. Can it justify its $250 CDN price tag? Let's find out!

To read the complete review click here

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750W Power Supply Review

Thermaltake, founded in 1999, are now a major global supplier of computer accessories with offices worldwide. Their product line is now extensive and includes PC enclosures, desktop and server power supplies, CPU coolers, HDD enclosures and docking stations, cables, DC cooling fans and gaming accessories.

Their power supply range is extensive from the Litepower and EVO Blue series to the Toughpower, Toughpower XT and Toughpower Grand series.

The Toughpower Grand series of power supplies is designed to meet the requirements of the extreme PC enthusiast and includes a modular cabling system, 80 Plus Gold certification and a rated operating temperature of 50°C making it “the Toughest power supply on the block”. The Thermaltake Toughpower Grand is available in only two varieties, a 650W and 750W model and this time around OCC will be having a look at the

To read the complete review click here

Event Report: GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship 2010 Worldwide Final

It's that time of year again, Hardware Canucks is proud to bring you the only North American coverage of the third annual and always entertaining GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship, 2010 Edition. During numerous local competitions and five regional finals, the latest of which was the North American final on August 7th, overclockers from 33 countries around the world competed to earn a spot at the GIGABYTE Open Overclocking 2010 Worldwide Final event on September 25th. Once the dust settled, 15 competitors distinguished themselves from the rest and were deemed worthy of an official invite to Taiwan and an opportunity to walk away as this year's GO OC world champion. Bragging rights aside, the competitors had an chance to enrich themselves to the tune of almost $8000 USD if they came in first, so there was certainly no lack of motivation to give it their all.

To check out the complete event report click here

Cooler Master V6 GT CPU Cooler Review

It certainly has been awhile since we have turned out attention to Cooler Master’s CPU cooling solutions. Indeed, the last one we looked at was their huge V8 which was released more than a year ago. Well that is about to change as today we are looking at their latest beefy creation: the V6 GT. The V6 GT is actually an impressive looking heatsink to say the least and we are not talking about the fact that it looks like a V6 engine block either. It follows in the footsteps of its larger siblings –the V8 and the gargantuan V12- but this time it looks to us like a lot of sensible engineering went into this product. Instead of relying on a brute force approach like the other V-series heatsinks, makes use of a sensible fin design and fan layout to deliver optimal cooling performance. To us what makes this cooler so interesting is also the fact that is it looks a heck of a lot like a certain Thermalright Frio we reviewed a while back. This resemblance may only in fact be skin deep or it may hint at a certain amount of “creative borrowing” at the OEM level. In either case, we have high expectations for V6 as it promises to not only look kick ass with its all new FDB-based fans, and integrated LEDs, but it should also be a monster in the performance category as well. While the V6 GT is considered a limited edition, it is actually fairly easy to find at e-tailers in North America for about 57 USD. This is certainly is a nice chunk of change to drop down for a cooler, but by the standards of the enthusiast marketplace it is actually a fairly decent asking price. Seeing how it will stack up against the competition is another matter altogether though.

To read the complete review click here

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 890FX Motherboard Review

It has been a few months since we first previewed the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula motherboard. Since then, we have thoroughly examined other ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) offerings, including the Rampage III Extreme LGA1366, the Maximus III Extreme LGA1156, and a ROG-branded video card. However, for some reason or another, the Crosshair never got the attention that it deserved – until now. For our beloved readers who are anxiously waiting for our review, please sit tight because this will be a very long read since ASUS packed this board full of features. Today, we finally take an in-depth look at the Crosshair IV Formula. It is currently ASUS’ most expensive motherboard for the AMD platform, and it is marketed towards the high-end enthusiast. It sports an 890FX/SB850 chipset combo, and is priced at a costly $260 CDN which is actually not that bad for an enthusiast-level product. To put things into perspective, the Phenom II X6 1090T processor, AMD’s top-of-the-line consumer CPU, only retails for $330 CDN. So why would someone spend so much money on a motherboard which is arguably negligible in determining a system’s computing power and performance? The answer to that question lies in the legacy and the reputation of the ROG brand. The ROG lineup of products caters to diehard gamers and enthusiasts who want to push their hardware to the absolute limit. In other words, every conceivable feature that allows for easier and higher overclocks is featured on this motherboard. By using the Crosshair IV, you should be able to tweak your CPU and RAM to speeds not achievable through any other motherboard. What is the end result? Setting new world records for 3DMark Vantage and ultimately fragging your online buddies through the use of unprecedented frame rates. For this review, we will focus heavily on the capabilities of this to push our AMD Phenom II X6 1090T to the absolute limit. Furthermore, we will take an in-depth look at the long, long list of features ASUS equipped this board with. Based on an 890FX/SB850 chipset combo, it naturally offers its users CrossfireX and SATA 6.0Gbps support also items such as TurboVEvo, ProbeIt!, MemOK, RoGConnect, and many more. Without further delay, let’s take a look at the best AMD-based motherboard that ASUS has to offer.

To read the complete review click here

GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship 2010 North America Regional Final

On August 7th, Gigabyte hosted the North American leg of the Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championship 2010 (GO OC 2010), the very last of all the regional overclocking competitions that have been held all over the world starting back in June. This is the third year in a row that GIGABYTE has organized this well regarded worldwide overclocking tournament. In total, for this year's event, 54 overclockers have already competed in 4 regions around the world, with 13 having been selected to go to the global final. Now this last regional competition is going to determine which two North Americans competitors are going to be making the trip to Taiwan to try and win the WorldWide Final trophy, a big cash prize, and hopefully the respect of their peers...

To enter the complete report click here

ASUS Rampage III Extreme Review

Well the cat is out of the bag. Intel's Gulftown processors are out, and they are beastly. Not only in the power sense, but in the monetary sense as well. Clocking in at around $1000, these chips are at the typical entry price for the Extreme series processors. If you have the cash to drop on one of these chips, then the chances are you have the cash to invest in some worthy parts to accompany it. When you spend that much money on something, you want to get every ounce of value out of that item, and in the case of the i7 980X, ASUS wants people to know that buying their newest addition to their Republic of Gamers series, the Rampage III Extreme, is the first step to doing just that. Whether or not the board holds up to that hope, I can't yet say. But with ASUS's excellent history with their ROG line of components, and features like RC Bluetooth, and ROG Connect, they might very well have an excellent contender here.

To read the complete review click here

ASUS RoG ARES 4GB Review

Not that long ago, ASUS released a card which was named after the Roman God of War: Mars. It took the idea of the high performance GTX 295 to the next level by decking it out with a pair of GTX 285 cores in order to make what was simply the fastest graphics card on the planet. Unfortunately, at the time NVIDIA’s SLI drivers left much to be desired and considering its limited run of only 1000 units, the Mars never ended up being a talked-about card. Well, times have changed and multi card scaling has drastically improved so ASUS is once again trying their hand at a limited edition, extreme performance graphics card but this time using ATI cores as their inspiration. Continuing in the god of war tradition, ASUS is now releasing a graphics card within their Republic of Gamers series they are calling the ARES; a true beast which holds a pair of HD 5870 reference-clocked cores and 4GB of GDDR5 memory. This is actually quite a step up from a standard HD 5970 that uses highly underclocked Cypress cores and “only” 2GB worth of memory. Unlike when the MARS was released, the ARES actually has some competition in the form of XFX’s HD 5970 Eyefinity Black Edition and Sapphire’s HD 5970 4GB Toxic. All three cards will likely only appeal to the elite few who can afford the unbelievably high price of admission. Considering the ARES will supposedly only have a production run of about 1000 cards, ASUS spared no expense when designing and outfitting it. The heatsink is designed with 99.9% pure copper but at the same time it is completely removable in only a few steps. ASUS has also gone to great lengths to talk about this über card’s overclocking potential and has even given users the ability to adjust its voltages to their heart’s content. There are also additional features backed into the ARES’ frame but we will get to those throughout the course of this review. We can talk all we want about the potential of ASUS’ new flagship but when push comes to shove, consumers will likely ask one single question: how much does this all cost? Well folks, hold onto your hats because it’s time for a bit of sticker shock. When the butcher’s bill is tallied, you’ll be out $1,200 USD for a single ARES. That’s about $200 more than a pair of GTX 480 cards or equal to the price of three…yes THREE regular HD 5870 cards. Nonetheless, most of the larger retailers should have limited supplies of the ARES next week. As they say: exclusivity usually has a high price. But is this card indeed worth 1200 bones? Let’s find out.

To read the complete review click here

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC Edition Review

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you should have some knowledge that NVIDIA finally released their GTX 400-series lineup in order to compete against a surging ATI. If you remember our original reviews of each card, there was a serious sense of anticipation about what the future would bring for the Fermi architecture. You’ll also recall that while it was quite obvious that the GTX 480 was simply the fastest single GPU card available, we were most impressed by the GTX 470. The reasoning behind this was that card’s ability to strike a balance with its price, performance and power consumption that in our opinion made it more appealing than the no-hold-barred GTX 480. Since those first reviews were published, several of NVIDIA’s board partners have tried their hand at improving upon the reference design with some interesting results. Most recently we reviewed the EVGA GTX 470 Superclocked+ which incorporated a unique cooling design that not only lowered temperatures but also retained the reference heatsink so as not to substantially increase its price. Gigabyte will soon be bringing over the Super Overclock namesake into the GTX 400-series world which should hopefully bring about some impressive performance increases. Until that series is brought over, Gigabyte is looking to whet people’s appetites with a lineup of moderately overclocked cards beginning with the card being featured in this review: the GTX 470 OC Edition. Much like EVGA’s own Superclocked card, Gigabyte’s OC Edition doesn’t feature any massive clock speed increases but rather it is being released as a value-added proposition of those of you who simply don’t want a stock card. Naturally, this bump in performance goes hand in hand with a corresponding increase in price but this doesn’t seemed to have happened with this particular card. From the first day the GTX 470 was released, Gigabyte’s pricing has been extremely aggressive. So even though the OC Edition does retail for about $15 more than Gigabyte’s reference version, this still puts it in-line with the prices most other AIBs are asking for their stock-clocked cards. While Gigabyte may not have a lengthy warranty like EVGA, their 3 years of coverage is still more than adequate for the vast majority of consumers out there. As such, the proposition of owning even a slightly overclocked card from a reputable manufacturer for the price of most other reference versions should appeal to most people out there. So, let’s check on how this card does and see if there are any issues which may stop it from becoming an instant classic.

To view the complete review click here

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB & GTX 460 768MB Review

Can you believe that after more than a year of rumors, debate and supposition, it has already been over four months after NVIDIA’s GTX 400-series launched? The GTX 480 and GTX 470 are for all intents and purposes are still extremely popular and have shown us their gaming capabilities again and again. Only a few weeks ago these two high end cards were joined by the GTX 465 which was met with a decidedly lukewarm reception from us as well as most other publications. In an effort to move on quickly from that bump in the road, NVIDIA is following up with yet another mid-range card: the GTX 460. Now we’re sure that some of you may be rolling your eyes towards the ceiling and thinking “not another power hungry, hot and expensive NVIDIA 400-series card”. Believe it or not, we’ll go on record right now by saying that this is one graphics card you'll want to pay attention to because the GTX 460 actually bucks several preconceptions many have had about the GTX 400-series cards. If we don’t yet have your attention, read on and I am sure you’ll start getting excited. Based off of a GF104 core, the GTX 460 doesn’t sport a 3 billion transistor GF100 with a bunch of disabled cores like the GTX 465 did. Rather, it uses a slimmed down 1.95 billion transistor die which is supposed to offer a much leaner power consumption envelope while being less expensive to produce and extremely compact. The result is beneficial for consumers on a number of fronts, especially considering NVIDIA will be releasing two versions of the GTX 460 right off the bat. There will be a 1GB, 256-bit SKU that will retail for around $230 while a slightly lower-end 768MB, 192-bit product should hit the magical $199 price point. Both are compatible with all of NVIDIA’s “Graphics Plus” technologies including CUDA and 3D Vision Surround which we talked about at length here. With the current price points as they are, the GTX 460 768MB is directly targeting the HD 5830’s performance envelope but its price is the same as or slightly below that of most HD 5830 cards on the market. Meanwhile, the $230 GTX 460 1GB is aiming to bridge the sometimes-miniscule gap between the HD 5830 and the higher-end HD 5850s. This also bodes well for those of you who held off buying the $270 GTX 465 since as you will see on the next pages, there are several areas in which this new card has the 465 beat clean in the specs department. Just be aware that in preparation for the GTX 460 landing on store shelves, several of NVIDIA’s board partners have effectively cut the price of their GTX 465s to around $255. On a final note it is important to note that while we are reviewing both the 768 MB and 1GB cards in this article, it is quite likely that only the 768MB cards will be widely available come launch time. The 1GB cards will slowly trickle in throughout this week with wide availability on the week of July 19th. All in all, the GTX 460 looks like a worthy successor its predecessors but the biggest question is whether it can actually surpass the higher end cards when it comes to capturing the attention of a market that has been waiting a long time for a proper sub-$250 GPU.

To view the complete review click here

MSI Big Bang XPOWER Review

The Core i7 Nehalem architecture was introduced almost two years ago. Socket 1366 motherboards to support this new architecture from Intel were available en masse at launch and provided a great performance platform for the new processors. After close to two years, the platform needed a little updating as newer technologies, such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s, and higher end graphics solutions became available. At launch we looked at the Eclipse SLI and, shortly thereafter, the X58 Platinum SLI from MSI. Each had their strengths and weaknesses, but delivered solid performance. Lately, MSI has ratcheted up its product line up both on the video card and motherboard segments with the Big Bang series and latest video cards including the HD 5870 Lightning. The use of Military Class components including Hi-c Capacitors, Super Ferrite Chokes and solid capacitors mean you get a product that lasts longer, runs more efficiently, and operates at lower temperatures. Add in value added tools like the OC Genie and you get a high performing board at a reasonable cost. On paper the Xpower looks like a winner. Let's see if the Xpower can gain some credential as an overclocking board for the gamer and enthusiast, all the while delivering rock solid performance at baseline levels. If the performance characteristics of the Eclipse SLI translate to an expectation of performance, the Xpower should do well.

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GIGABYTE 870A-UD3 AM3 Motherboard Review

AMD has somewhat revolutionized the current PC market by offering extremely affordable and versatile multi core solutions to the low-end, mid-range, and high-end market sectors. With its most basic Athlon II processors starting at under $80 CDN and its top-of-the-line six-core Phenom II X6 1090T processor costing only $300 CDN, this pricing strategy will certainly appeal to most budget-conscious computer enthusiasts. AMD’s chipset offerings are also geared towards the affordable end of the spectrum. The most basic 870-based motherboards are approximately retail for about $99, and the top-of-the-line 890FX-based motherboards cost substantially less than competing products based on the Intel platform. Today, we are going to take a look at a motherboard which is targeted at the low-end market share. Let’s all be honest; average computer users do not want to spend $300 on a motherboard, nor would they ever use half of the features those motherboards tend to offer. With a price of under $110, the GIGABYTE 870A-UD3 fits the bill perfectly for someone who wants stability and some features normally associated with enthusiast-grade products. While this motherboard features AMD’s most basic 870 chipset, you should not be too quick to judge as it packs a formidable punch. Its support for all AM3 CPUs and PCI-E 2.0 X16 graphics cards definitely makes it an attractive option for budget-conscious gamers or enthusiasts who want core unlocking, USB3.0 and SATA 6Gbps capabilities - all new technologies commonly found in the 870A-UD3’s more expensive brethren. Since its inception in 1986, GIGABYTE has been known for making high-quality products. The company stands heavily behind everything that they make by providing a 3 year warranty on all motherboards currently sold in the US and Canada regardless of price. In other words, GIGABYTE is equally as confident with their low-end budget products as they are with the high-end enthusiast components. The GIGABYTE 870A-UD3 featured in this review sports an AMD 870 northbridge and a SB850 southbridge chipset combo and is designed to replace the AMD 770X and SB750 chipsets that were originally introduced in 2007. While the 870 and the 770X offer identical features, the evolution to the SB850 is what provides the 870A-UD3 its list of new technologies. All in all, this product could be the perfect fit for a massive number of consumers.

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Corsair Obsidian 700D Full Tower Case Video Review

Less than a year ago, if you would have told us that Corsair was thinking about launching a case, we would have had some serious questions about your sanity. Much like when this memory company launched their first two power supplies, Corsair did the unexpected and proved their skeptics wrong by introducing a full tower case that featured almost everything people had been asking for. The legend of the 800D was born literally overnight and it was received to a standing ovation here at Hardware Canucks. Flush off the retail success that has made the 800D an extremely popular option for novices and enthusiasts alike, Corsair has now introduced a new case called the Obsidian 700D. To be honest with you, this isn’t a new product at all but is rather a slightly cut-down version of its bigger brother. The cuts Corsair has performed are all quite sensible and include the removal of the hot-swappable hard drive bays as well as the windowed side panel. The result isn’t a substantial cost saving –the 700D is a mere $30 less expensive that it’s bigger brother- but there are many people out there who are more than happy to do without these two items and any price reduction is welcome. Other than those two small changes, the 700D is literally an 800D with a different name. It still carries the same affinity for water cooling setups, has an absolutely cavernous interior, uses high flow 140mm fans and comes in a single colour: imposing black. Naturally, almost everything we liked about the 800D is back again for an encore presentation but are the differences really enough to warrant a new product name? Let’s find out.

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Corsair Flash Voyager GTR 32GB Flash Drive Review

With the storage market expanding at a breakneck pace and solid state drives taking center space, people’s focus has very much been on internal storage solutions. There has been very little news regarding one of the mainstays of many users’ daily file transfer needs: the ubiquitous flash drive. The inclusion of USB 3.0 on many motherboards has somewhat restored some interest in these drives simply because of its promise of break-neck file transfer speeds. Unfortunately, at this point the implementation of current hot-running USB 3.0 controllers into small flash drives doesn’t appeal to many companies so they have stuck with USB 2.0. Corsair on the other hand has gone to the next level by releasing their GTR series which supposedly pushes the limits of USB 2.0 technology. In this review we will be taking a closer look at the newly released Flash Voyager GTR 32GB which actually looks like a class-leading product at this point. Corsair has a long history with all things based on flash memory and has released successive generations of flash drives of which some have a unique focus. Products in their Survivor series are considered to be some of the most rugged drives around and the Padlock series sports data protection through a unique onboard keypad. The Voyager series on the other hand can be considered a jack of all trades with high speeds, near-invincible construction and even a Mini version for those of you who hate bulky thumb drives. While nearly everyone and his mother may own at least one of these little marvels, this is not to say that all flash drives are created equal. In fact many only have one thing going for them: low price since their capacity, speed and durability are usually sorely lacking. This is where the Voyager GTR 32GB enters the equation since it can not only carry a huge 32GB of data, but has also been designed from the ground up to be as fast as you can realistically get when using the USB 2.0 interface. Besides the shear profusion of products Corsair offers, the other main thing they are known for is their commitment to customer service and customer satisfaction. In the case of their Voyager line of flash drives this means an amazing (and industry leading) 10 year warranty Even though this is a relatively new product, it should be fairly easy to find at both retailers and e-tailers alike throughout North America. However, even though it will not be overly hard to find it still a large performance-orientated flash drive so it does come with a bit of a price premium. As of the time of this review it can be found for about $110 CAD / $90 USD, which is not all that terrible. Just remember that if you want larger capacities, you’re going to be paying about $220 Canadian for the 64GB version and an eye-watering $325 for a massive 128GB of storage space. Speed, size and durability are the main claims to fame this unit has going for it and we intend to find out whether or not this drive deserves these bragging rights.

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GIGABYTE 890GPA-UD3H 890GX AM3 Motherboard Review

AMD has had an excellent handle on the budget and mid-range PC markets of late, and the success of their integrated graphics platforms has played a key role in this. When we first took a look at AMD’s new 890GX platform back in March, we were impressed by it’s rich feature set and very attractive price tag. Although the integrated graphics in the 890GX is nothing more than a simple evolution of the 790GX, the new SB850 southbridge brought some key next-generation functionality to the table. Today, we’re going to be taking a look at one of the industry’s first 890GX boards to hit the shelves – the GIGABYTE 890GPA-UD3H. Pricing in as low as $120 CDN, the UD3H is targeted directly at the low to midrange market share and has a healthy set of features, including USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps. But just because this is an integrated graphics platform doesn’t mean the UD3H is in the cold as far as AMD’s higher end crowd. With a large passive cooling solution, support for CrossFire-X in a dual 8X PCI-E 2.0 configuration and enough juice for 140W CPUS – new X6 processors included – the 890GPA-UD3H and 890GX in general cater to a wide variety of buyers. A board of this caliber could be found in a basic machine with a low cost Athlon II dual core running integrated graphics, or in a budget conscious performance rig running an X6 1090T and a pair of Radeon HD 5850s. Let’s face it – not everyone needs or wants to spend $300 on a motherboard, nor do they need half of the features that high end boards offer. Lately, Gigabyte has done a good job in shying away from the complicated naming schemes many other manufacturers use for their boards. Basically, the 890G denotes the chipset, the “A” shows us that there is USB 3.0 installed and the UD3 is the Ultra Durable namesake followed by the product category. Without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look at the GIGABYTE 890GPA-UD3H.

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Gigabyte HD 5870 1GB Super Overclock Review

With competition in the graphics card market as fierce as it currently is, both ATI’s and NVIDIA’s board partners are constantly looking for ways to distinguish their products from those of the competition. Even though the HD 5870 has been out for quite a while, it is still one of the most popular cards on the market and as such, we have seen numerous custom designs based off of it. Products like the PowerColor PCS+, ASUS Matrix, Sapphire Toxic, MSI’s Lightning series and HIS’ Turbo X have all shown that extra performance can easily be squeezed out of the HD 5870’s frame if you are willing to pay for it. There have even been 2GB versions released like the aforementioned Sapphire Toxic Edition. However, all of these players know that another major vendor is about to enter their cozy little corner of the market and want to make sure all their cards are on the table before any announcement is made. Gigabyte is joining the ranks of these board partners with their own eagerly anticipated HD 5870: the Super Overclock Edition. We have already looked at two previous Super Overclock cards in the form of the GTX 275 SoC and the GTX 260 216 Soc and both times we came away extremely impressed. Not only were those cards capable of equalling the performance of significantly high-end products but they were also priced quite well. Availability of highly overclocked cards usually leaves much to be desired and Gigabyte is committed to offering sufficient stock this time around. Interestingly enough, the HD 5870 SoC can already be found at several retailers throughout North America and Europe. When we previewed Gigabyte’s flagship card, quite a few interesting technologies were put on the table and discussed. Not much has changed since then other than the clock speeds which were predicted. Unfortunately, Gigabyte wasn’t quite able to hit their target 1Ghz core speed even with their stringent GPU Gauntlet sorting process. In our conversations with them it was stated again and again that the yields of cores capable of running 1Ghz with the stability needed for a retail product were too small. As such, the speed had to be dialled back to a more pedestrian 950Mhz. Naturally, pricing for any non-reference card is going to run the usual gamut: it will either be priced surprisingly well or it will command a significant premium over the cookie-cutter version. The Super Overclock lands firmly on the “they want how much!?” side of the fence at around $500 USD. With many HD 5870 1GB cards costing between $400 and $420, this will probably be a bitter pill to swallow for prospective owners. However, if the Super Overclock’s performance can live up to expectations, it may well be worth the investment.

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MSI 890GXM-G65 Review

The AMD 890GX chipset was released just over a month ago and since that time we here at OCC have managed to get our hands on the majority of these newly released boards, with the exception of just a few. So, to close that gap, the good folks over at MSI sent us a sample of its offering based on this chipset. As a 890GX motherboard, the MSI 890GXM-G65 does have a lot in common with the other boards we reviewed, such as native SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 support, but it does come with one major difference - it uses the mATX form factor. This smaller size could actually be quite the silver lining for this boardm as the 890GX chipset is geared toward and offers a wide array of features for the home theater crowd. This will make it easily fit in most HTPC cases, which tend to be smaller in order to fit more discreetly in entertainment centers without taking up all the room of a conventional style PC. In our previous tests, the 890GX chipset has proven to be a worthwhile successor to the phased out 790GX, but will this smaller form factor from MSI hurt or help this versatile chipset?

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Sapphire Toxic HD 5970 4GB Review

Back when the HD 5970 launched in November of 2009, it was the fastest video card on the planet. Fast forward almost 6 months and well, the HD 5970 is still the top dog when it comes to video cards. So what do you do to follow up the fastest video card on the planet? Well if you're Sapphire, you take the best and make it better. As ATI's largest partner, Sapphire has long been known as a source of high end graphics solutions that easily move to the top of the class when they receive the Toxic, Vapor-X or Atomic treatment. While I have not seen an Atomic video card since the HD 4890, the Toxic and Vapor-X cards have been making the rounds. The latest before this behemoth being the Toxic HD 5870 2GB that offered third party cooling and improved performance via higher clock speeds and additional frame buffer memory. Kind of the same story here, with the improvements made to the Toxic HD 5970 4GB. The HD 5970 is a stout card and Sapphire has made the Toxic even more robust with the addition of aftermarket cooling in the Arctic Cooling Xtreme HD 5970 as well as higher clock speeds. Lets see if the new kid has what it takes to move to the front of the line.

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AMD Phenom II X6 1055T & 1090T Six-Core Processors Review

Two six-core processor reviews six weeks apart? We must be in heaven. Well as you all have guessed AMD's very highly anticipated Phenom II X6 processors have now launched. The media embargo is over and we can finally reveal what you probably already know courtesy of the rumor mill. The condensed specifics of the Phenom II X6 1055T are as follows: 45nm SOI manufacturing process, 2.80Ghz core clock, Turbo CORE up to 3.3Ghz across three cores, 9MB of total cache, dual-channel DDR3-1333 memory interface, 125W TDP, and a $199 USD price tag. The 1090T Black Edition is clocked at 3.2Ghz, can Turbo up to 3.6Ghz, also has 9MB of total cache, a dual-channel DDR3-1333 memory interface, 125W TDP, and a $285 price tag. Being a Black Edition model the 1090T also has fully unlocked multpliers. Unlike the only other six-core processor on the market, the Intel Core i7-980X, these chips are targeted at your average enthusiast, someone who is looking for a lot more multi-threading power than their current AM2+/AM3 processor can deliver. Yes, to make full use of these processors' capabilities you need to have software that supports more than four threads, but that is becoming more and more common nowadays. As you will see in the coming pages, these new Thuban chips will absolutely appeal to those who take their multi-threading performance serious, yet who don't have an unlimited budget, nor a desire to upgrade their whole system. Speaking of which, the best part is that these new processors are compatible with over 160 AM2+ and AM3 motherboards, with a mere BIOS update. These new chips should prove popular among more than just the AMD faithful though. Because AMD really haven't had any way to challenge the high-end/upper-mainstream dominance of Nehalem-based chips like the Core i7 series, most enthusiast really haven't had their sights on AMD processors in far too long. However, after having extensively tested the Phenom II X6, we strongly believe that this product launch might be the turning point that converts a large swathe of price-conscious powers users over to AMD's side. For all you AMD owners though, this is definitely the upgrade path that you have been patiently waiting for...

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AMD’s 890FX Chipset: An Evolution for the AM3 Platform

When AMD’s Phenom processors were first released, they didn’t quite live up to the hype surrounding them but the mistakes that were made in the first generation products were soon fixed. The newly-revamped quad core processors –dubbed Phenom II- were soon followed by a long list of tri and dual core derivatives that competed quite well with Intel’s offerings on a price / performance level. However, AMD has still not been able to catch the lead horse in the high-end, enthusiast range of the spectrum and many of their chips have been relegated to the status of budgetary solutions to competing Intel products. In the next few months, we may see that gap widen as AMD gradually transitions towards their Thuban six core processors before jumping to a new architecture in the future. As the processor technology evolved, AMD realized their older 700-series AM2+ / AM3 boards needed a bit of a refresh and has now introduced the 800-series. Back at the beginning of March, AMD released the first of its 800-series chipsets; the 890GX. Motherboards based on it target consumers who are looking for a budget-conscious product with decent integrated graphics along with a broad list of features from native SATA 6GB/s to Crossfire compatibility to 8x / 8x Crossfire support. In our own testing we have found these sub-$150 boards to have surprisingly decent overclocking capabilities as well. However, many enthusiasts are looking for something more than a basic motherboard and want a robust PWM design for overclocking, dual 16x PCI-E lanes for high-end graphics cards and other high-end features. For these more demanding customers, AMD is releasing their 890FX chipset which will be used in flagship motherboards from literally every manufacturer. The 890FX itself follows closely in the footsteps of the outgoing yet still well respected 790FX and indeed, its specifications are nearly identical to those of the older generation. Nonetheless, with the transition from the Dragon platform to the newly named Leo combination we won’t see a significant jump in price which means that motherboards sporting the 890FX chipset likely won’t retail for more than a lower-end X58 product from Intel’s side of the fence. This translates into the possibility of equipping yourself with one of AMD’s 6-core processors along with a 890FX motherboard for less than a single Intel i7 960. If that doesn’t tempt you, we don’t know what would. In this somewhat brief article we will be taking a quick look at what the 89-0FX brings to the table in terms of technology and staying power. ASUS and Gigabyte have sent boards as well so while the reviews will be posted in the coming weeks, we’ll also give you a quick look at what the 890FXA-UD7 and Crossfire IV will be bringing to the table.
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ASUS Maximus III Extreme LGA1156 Motherboard Review

The first wave of Intel P55-based LGA1156 motherboards have now been on the market for approximately 8 months. This is ancient by technology standards, so we have slowly begun to see second-generation P55 motherboards make their arrival. The main selling point of these newer models is support for SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0, but the board that we are reviewing today has quite a few other tricks up its sleeves. The Maximus III Extreme (MIIIE) is, of course, a Republic of Gamers motherboard that has been designed for the hardcore enthusiast. This is a $350 component, it is not for the weak of heart, nor the light of wallet. However, at first glance this model is miles ahead of just about every other Intel P55 motherboard on the market, even casting a huge shadow on Gigabyte's newest flagship, the P55A-UD7.

This new RoG model is designed around a sophisticated new power management system called Extreme Engine Digi+, which combines the best features from digital and analog VRM designs thanks to a newer type of MOSFET. It uses less phases than traditional VRM designs, but is significantly more robust. This new design has also unlocked advanced BIOS features, like user selectable PWM switching frequencies and voltage control. Basically, skilled overclockers have more control over aspects of the power delivery system. Adding to the MIIIE's allure is the presence of an NVIDIA NF200 chip, which allows this particular motherboard to have 40 PCI-E lanes for graphics use. This is 24 lanes more than a traditional P55 motherboard, which is limited to dual graphics card PCI-E x8/x8 setups. What this means, is that the MIIIE supports not only two cards @ x16/x16, three cards @ x8/x16/x16, four cards @ x8/x8/x8/x8, but five cards at PCI-E x8 each. While latter configuration only works with single-slot cards though, this motherboard can handle up to four dual-slot cards. Obviously, having five cards is useless for gaming purposes, but it it is very attractive for Folders. Features-wise, ASUS have really kicked things up a notch too, with many of the improvements being centered around ROG Connect. First debuted on the Maximus III Formula, this technology allowed users to monitor and tweak the most motherboard parameters from a netbook/notebook via a USB cable. We thought it was somewhat a novelty feature, but interesting nonetheless. Well now ASUS have allowed for a smaller device to be able to control and monitor your desktop, a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone. There's also the new USB BIOS Flashback feature, which allows users to flash the BIOS without even turning on the system, the CPU/GPU/RAM don't even need to be installed! Whether or not these features are worthwhile from a day-to-day perspective is what we are interested to find out, so without further ado, onto the review.

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Sapphire HD 5870 2GB Toxic Edition Review

If we rewind to a few weeks ago, ATI’s HD 5000-series sat atop the graphics card market without any competition when it came to offering DX11 compatibility and extremely good performance per dollar. Times were good since the competition didn’t have anything to offer and there were constant rumors of NVIDIA’s next gen products sporting horrible performance and power sucking characteristics coming from several sources. However, the GPU market just got a lot more competitive and even though the GTX 480 and GTX 470 do consume gobs of electricity and at times exude blast furnace-like heat, they have proven to be equal to the task of competing with ATI’s latest and greatest. While NVIDIA just launched their GTX 400 series after nearly a year of delays, ATI’s board partners are already well into their revisions of the HD 5000 series. We have seen numerous overclocked and custom cooled versions of the lower-end cards but the HD 5870 hasn’t seen much up-market treatment other than a few products sporting advanced cooling and minor clock speed increases. Due to the new market realities, several manufacturers have decided to cut loose and introduce impressive-looking HD 5870 cards which many hope will bridge the sometimes-substantial gap between ATI’s single GPU prize fighter and the GTX 480. Gigabyte will soon have their Super Overclock Edition, ASUS has announced a Matrix-branded card and of course Sapphire has their Toxic version. While we will be reviewing both the Gigabyte and ASUS versions very soon, it will be the Sapphire HD 5870 2GB Toxic we will be taking a closer look at today. Back when the HD 5870 Vapor-X was reviewed, we mentioned that Sapphire had yet to announce their usual limited-edition Toxic but it was on its way. Well, it has finally landed and in addition to sporting the expected high clock speeds and Vapor-X heatsink, this card also packs an interesting surprise: 2GB of GDDR5 memory. Many of ATI’s fans have been hoping the extra gigabyte of memory will lead to better performance at higher resolutions and IQ settings which could make this card a direct competitor to the GTX 480. What is even more surprising is the fact that Sapphire’s MSRP for the Toxic is $449USD, making it a good $50 less than the paper launched GTX 480 and a mere $25 more than most HD 5870 cards on the market. The only problem we see with this price is actually how popular it will cause the Toxic Edition to be. Historically, Toxic branded cards only see a very limited release and then they are gone for good. As with the HD 4890 Toxic we reviewed last year, we are not expecting stock to last more than a few days. There is no denying the fact that Sapphire has come to play with the big boys by launching the HD 5870 Toxic 2GB but the real question many people will want to know is how it competes with NVIDIA’s GTX 480. We intend to answer that in this review.

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