Anandtech News

**FEED** · 06-29-12, 01:30 PM

Since posting the Nexus 7 mini review, I've gotten a lot of emails asking about whether USB-OTG for storage was currently supported or would be supported in the shipping software load. I've done some asking around and believe I have the final word now.
USB-OTG is indeed supported on the Nexus 7, however as anyone has used USB-OTG knows, whether peripherals or devices work is a function of the host OS and drivers. On the Nexus 7, using a mouse and keyboard is supported, and I saw Google using an Ethernet to microUSB adapter with the Nexus 7 (which I borrowed for my Galaxy Nexus) as well. Unfortunately mounting USB storage natively is not supported on the Nexus 7. Hopefully rooted users will be able to use StickMount with the Nexus 7 and make this work. In addition, MHL is not supported on the Nexus 7, which isn't very surprising since adding MHL requires another package and would increase BOM cost.

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**FEED** · 06-30-12, 12:30 AM

Closing out the month of June, AMD has posted two new Catalyst driver builds.
The first is Catalyst 12.6, the WHQL’d final version of the 12.6 beta at the start of the month. So this is virtually identical to the betas, save a few quick fixes. These are the first release drivers that only support AMD’s DX11 GPUs – since 12.5 was canceled, the latest driver for DX10 card owners continues be 12.4.
The second is Catalyst 12.7 beta, which we first saw with the launch of the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition earlier this month. Catalyst 12.7 introduces performance updates for several games and MSAA/SSAA support for Diablo 3, which comes as a bit of a surprise since it doesn’t appear to be part of a new driver branch.
AMD has a blog post up on their site covering both of these drivers, including a more complete lists of improvements.
Source: AMD

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**FEED** · 07-01-12, 01:00 PM

If you are an active reader, you might remember our Plextor M3 review from a few months back. As I noted in the review, I wasn't expecting much when I received the SSD; a Marvell based SSD from a relatively unknown brand when it comes to the SSD market isn't all that promising. We had not reviewed any Plextor SSDs before the M3, so I had no idea what to expect. Obviously, I prepared for the worst.

Luckily, my expectations turned out to be very wrong. Plextor's M3 came out as one of the highest performing drives we have tested. Today we are back with M3's big brother: the M3 Pro. Based on the same Marvell 88SS9174 controller and 24nm Toshiba Toggle-Mode MLC NAND, the M3 Pro offers even higher performance according to Plextor. The differences lie exclusively in the firmware, as hardware wise the M3 and M3 Pro are exactly the same. Just how much more performance can Plextor squeeze out of the Marvell controller? Read on and find out!

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**FEED** · 07-02-12, 11:30 AM

We saw it first at CTIA, one of the few devices launched there, and after a long wait it's here; the Droid Incredible 4G LTE by HTC will be arriving at Verizon Wireless stores July 5th and available for $149 on-contract, after a $50 mail-in rebate. Our review sample hit the door this morning, and we're fast at work getting our review done. In the meanwhile we have some glamour shots and a little family portrait.

For those that don't recall, the DINC 4G (as we'll colloquially refer to it) is an off-shoot of the HTC ONE S, and features Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 dual-core SoC, the ubiquitous MSM8960, though here clocked at 1.2GHz. The Droid Incredible aesthetic has never been one of litheness, and that persists here. The body is 11.7 mm at its thickest, and the screen is a compact 4.0 inches, though the benefit in pixel density is perceptible. The super LCD qHD screen is actually quite impressive, with subjectively good color representation and incredible viewing angles. And, of course, our trusty Snapdragon S4 comes with an LTE radio on its cool running and compact die. With a smaller screen, lower core clock and fairly beefy 1700 mAh battery, this could be a compact all-day data hog. We'll let you know when our full review goes up.
Gallery: HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Joining Verizon Wireless July 5 for $149

Physical Comparison
	Apple iPhone 4S	HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE	HTC One S	HTC One X (AT&T)
Height	115.2 mm (4.5")	121.9 mm (4.8")	130.9 mm (5.15")	134.8 mm (5.31")
Width	58.6 mm (2.31")	61.0 mm (2.4")	65 mm (2.56")	69.9 mm (2.75")
Depth	9.3 mm ( 0.37")	11.7 mm (0.46")	7.8 mm (0.31")	8.9 mm (0.35")
Weight	140 g (4.9 oz)	132 g (4.66 oz)	119.5 (4.22 oz)	129 g (4.6 oz)
CPU	Apple A5 @ ~800MHz Dual Core Cortex A9	1.2 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960	1.5 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960	1.5 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960
GPU	PowerVR SGX 543MP2	Adreno 225	Adreno 225	Adreno 225
RAM	512MB LPDDR2-800	1 GB RAM	1 GB LPDDR2	1 GB LPDDR2
NAND	16GB, 32GB or 64GB integrated	8 GB NAND with up to 32 GB microSD	16 GB NAND	16 GB NAND
Camera	8 MP with LED Flash, Front Facing Camera	8 MP AF/LED Flash, VGA front facing	8 MP with AF/LED Flash, VGA front facing	8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 1.3 MP front facing
Screen	3.5" 640 x 960 LED backlit LCD	4.0" 960 x 540 Super LCD	4.3" 960 x 540 Super LCD	4.7" 1280 x 720 LCD-TFT
Battery	Internal 5.3 Whr	Removable 6.46 Whr	Internal 6.27 Whr	Internal 6.66 Whr

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**FEED** · 07-02-12, 01:00 PM

Our monitor reviews frequently go into a lot of depth about the results before and after calibration, but for many users this won’t matter, as they aren’t going to purchase the calibration hardware and software necessary to achieve these results. Getting accurate performance out of the box without needing to spend extra money on hardware is important to many people but it's often very hard to deliver. With their Pro Art monitors, ASUS aims to deliver just that: sRGB and AdobeRGB modes that are reasonably accurate (a dE < 5.0 out of the box), with a full set of controls for users to calibrate it on their own.

ASUS doesn’t stop there as they also offer a 10-bit panel, integrated card reader and USB ports, and a user calibration mode with more controls than I have seen on a consumer monitor to this point. Does the ASUS deliver good color out of the box, and does it have the performance for those that wish to calibrate themselves? Read on for our full review.

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**FEED** · 07-02-12, 04:30 PM

It's a move that the team from Cupertino has been using for the last several years, and it looks like Microsoft is going to give it a shot. In a post on The Windows Blog (not to be confused with the Building Windows 8 blog), Brandon LeBlanc announces that upgrades from Windows XP, Vista and 7 to Windows 8 Pro will cost just $39.99. And the upgrade process will be done on-line through the use of the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, an installation app that streamlines the process and allows users to customize what they want to retain from their earlier installation. One interesting note, because this upgrade path leads to Windows 8 Pro, buyers will have access to Windows Media Center as a downloadable feature; this allays concerns from the HTPC community that upgrading would cost them the feature.

There's no obvious reason why they've made this pricing move. Perhaps it's a move to quell the outcry from users dissatisfied with the UI changes. Perhaps it's a change in pricing philosophy that treats delta updates as lower cost than a complete license; and if that's the case, could we see annual $40 upgrades a la OS X. What is cåertain, is that once you make this move, it's difficult to move back to a model where loyal customers have to shell out $150 to use your latest software. WIth any luck, this new frugalness will reach their other high cost moneymaker: Office.
Gallery: Windows 8 Upgrade Will Cost Just $39.99

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**FEED** · 07-03-12, 01:30 AM

And then there were 4.
For the better part of a year now the DRAM industry has been in a lurch due to low prices. As a result of soft demand exacerbated by the hard drive shortage and a corresponding glut in supply, DRAM prices have become severely depressed, to the point where even 16GB of PC DRAM can regularly be found for under $90 and 8GB of RAM for as little as $40. And though Moore’s Law puts constant downward pressure on DRAM prices, on a historical basis healthy DRAM pricing shouldn’t drop this quickly this fast.
Because of this extremely weak pricing all of the major players in the DRAM industry have been struggling to stay afloat – just breaking even is a big deal – which has led to a series of cutbacks and delays in future build outs. However even that hasn’t been quite enough, and as we’ve seen time and time again in during major slumps in commodity technology industry, the rising tide of red ink has come to claim another.
The victim this time is Elpida, one of the smaller DRAM manufacturers. After filing for bankruptcy earlier this year the company has finally accepted a buy-out offer from Micron, who has been looking to take advantage of this slump to purchase more capacity and increase their competitiveness with the other major players in the DRAM market. As a result of the deal Micron will pay Elpida shareholders a total of nearly 2.5 billion dollars, paid out as $750M upfront and then annual installments through 2019. In turn Micron will acquire Elpida and its assets, allowing the company to expand their DRAM production by nearly 50% for a fraction of the price of building new facilities of their own.
This acquisition is primarily about jockeying for position among the remaining DRAM manufacturers – Samsung, Micron, Hynix, and Winbond – ahead of a cyclical recovery in the highly volatile DRAM market. The acquisition will boost Micron to the 2^nd largest DRAM manufacturer (between Samsung and Hynix), while putting Winbond in 4^thplace. At the same time Elpida has a strong presence in the mobile DRAM market with memory types such as LPDDR2 and DDR3L, which in turn will give Micron a much stronger position in those markets as opposed to the more cutthroat PC DRAM market.
Ultimately major slumps in the DRAM market are usually followed by major booms, and this should be no different. A typical recovery pattern means that once demand recovers the current lack of investment in new facilities will bottleneck supply, which is where these acquisitions typically pay for themselves. At the same time four players is still a larger number than what we see in most other commodity component industries (e.g. hard drives), so there’s no guarantee that the next slump won’t also consume a DRAM manufacturer.
Source: Associated Press

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**FEED** · 07-03-12, 11:00 AM

NVIDIA has posted a new beta driver from their 304 family of drivers, version number 304.79.
The biggest change with 304.79 is that NVIDIA has officially unified their Windows 8 and Win7/Vista drivers into a single driver, which means Windows 8 is now on the same driver update schedule as the rest of the Windows 6.x family. This driver also enables official support for NVIDIA's new TXAA anti-aliasing mode (though no games currently support it), and fixes several issues including a hardware cursor issue that was prevelent in several MMOs.
New in 304.79 Drivers:

Adds support for NVIDIA TXAA
- NVIDIA TXAA is new film-style anti-aliasing technique designed specifically to reduce temporal aliasing (crawling and flickering in motion) through a combination of hardware AA, custom CG film style AA resolve, and a temporal filter.
- The Secret World is the first game to support TXAA (support will be enabled in an upcoming patch)..
- TXAA is supported on GeForce GTX 600-series Kepler-based GPUs.
- Learn more about TXAA on GeForce.com.

New SLI Support

The Secret World - added
End of Nations - added
Nexuiz (also provided earlier via NVIDIA Update)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier (also provided earlier via NVIDIA Update)
Tornado Force - added
Tribes: Ascend - updated

Key Fixes

Fixed a compatibility issue with Civilization V and GeForce 400/500 series GPUs
Fixed instances of flickering or missing mouse cursor when hardware cursor is enabled (reported with Aion, World of Warcraft, Eve Online and others).
Fixed instances of very low frame rates in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (DX11).
Fixed an issue that caused a PC reboot instead of a PC shut down.
Fixed an issue that led to a black screen after driver installation.
Power management mode settings now persist across driver overinstalls.

As always, you can grab the drivers straight from NVIDIA.
Source: NVIDIA

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**FEED** · 07-03-12, 01:00 PM

Today we're looking at some inexpensive ATX power supplies with a low output power. In most cases there is no need for a 1KW power supply when 350W to 450W units with an adequate cable configuration will do just fine. This is why we will review a few PSUs from manufacturers throughout the world which come up to these requirements. We have four units manufactured by FSP, three from HEC, one by Enermax, one ATNG, one CWT and one unknown producer.

The following review is one more look at seeing if you really get what you pay for—or if you can get high quality without breaking the bank. For this roundup we have 11 power supplies with different prices and power ratings. Will the most expensive unit deliver the best results? Read on to find it out. As usual we will look at the voltage regulation and quality, noise levels, and check out the internal design.

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**FEED** · 07-04-12, 03:30 AM

We’ve had plenty of Acer laptops come in for review over the years (along with visits from their close relatives, Gateway). Rarely do we find such laptops reaching for the upper echelons of performance, build quality, design, or features, and yet many people buy Acer products. The reason is pretty straightforward: while they may not be the “best” in any single area, what Acer does well is produce well-equipped laptops that target the value conscious buyers. With their new V3 and V5 lines, Acer once again goes after that familiar territory, and today’s V3-571G packs some decent performance into an updated design that addresses a couple of our previous complaints.

Make no mistake, however: this is still an inexpensive Acer laptop, with quite a few questionable choices made in order to hit a lower price point. Those of you longing for decent quality displays are going to want to look elsewhere, and if you’re looking for a sturdy chassis that eschews glossy plastic you’ll also be disappointed. But while those are some significant and sometimes painful omissions, taken as a whole the V3-571G does plenty of things right. Those of you interested in seeing just how much performance you can grab for under $800 might be in for a surprise—like a quad-core processor and switchable NVIDIA Kepler GPU. Can the new V3 hit the sweet spot, or are the compromises too much to stomach? Read on for our full review.

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