Thread: Anandtech News

Given just how long Logitech has been a vendor of all manner of desktop peripherals, it may come as a surprise that they've taken this long to release a keyboard with mechanical switches. Historically Logitech keyboards have employed membrane switches across the board, but Cherry MX mechanical switches have been picking up quite a bit of steam among enthusiasts lately. Mechanical keyboards are traditionally a fair sight more expensive than membrane-style keyboards owing to the spring-actuated switch in every single key, but the tactile feedback, durability, and overall comfort is undeniable. Consumers have largely spoken, and now Logitech is answering with the G710+.

At the same time, Logitech has also released an MMO-oriented mouse alongside growing ranks like Corsair's M90 and Razer's Naga. MMO mice are remarkable for including a staggering number of configurable buttons on the left side of the mouse, beneath the thumb, but with varying degrees of success. Ironically, with the G600, Logitech may very well have produced an MMO mouse so intuitive that its cavalcade of hotkeys could easily replace a more complex gaming keyboard.

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At a pace just shy of a card a month, NVIDIA has been launching the GeForce 600 series part by part for over the last half year now. What started with the GeForce GTX 680 in March and most recently saw the launch of the GeForce GTX 660 will finally be coming to an end today with the 8^th and what is likely the final retail GeForce 600 series card, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti.
Last month we saw the introduction of NVIDIA’s 3^rd Kepler GPU, GK106, which takes its place between the high-end GK104 and NVIDIA’s low-end/mobile gem, GK107. At the time NVIDIA launched just a single GK106 card, the GTX 660, but of course NVIDIA never launches just one product based on a GPU. So it should come as no great surprise that NVIDIA has one more desktop GK106 card, and that is the GeForce GTX 650 Ti.
The GTX 650 Ti is the aptly named successor to 2011’s GeForce GTX 550 Ti, and will occupy the same $150 price point that the GTX 550 Ti launched into. It will sit between the GTX 660 and the recently launched GTX 650, and despite the much closer similarities to the GTX 660 NVIDIA is placing the card into their GTX 650 family and pitching it as a higher performance alternative to the GTX 650. With that in mind, what exactly does NVIDIA’s final desktop consumer launch of 2012 bring to the table? Let’s find out.

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The new release of Trinity processors on the desktop opens up a cascade of issues when it comes to choosing a new motherboard for your Trinity system.  The main point of confusion comes in the face of chipsets, whereby multiple sockets and processor families can use the same chipsets and each motherboard manufacturer has a different naming scheme in order to differentiate the two.  Both Intel and AMD have been guilty of this in the past, but in the past 18 months we had no real cause for concern - until now.  With that, I give the first FM2 motherboard we are testing here at AnandTech, the ASUS F2A85-V Pro.  This full sized ATX board is aiming for the enthusiast in the Trinity space.

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Continuing their 304 Series drivers, NVIDIA has just released their 306.97 driver update for desktops and laptops. Along with updated SLI and 3D Vision profiles for a few games, the driver notes specifically call out improved support for Borderlands 2 and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. The new drivers come just under a month after the last WHQL release, the 306.23 drivers. I also noticed a few compatibility issues with Total War: Shogun 2 that came with the 306.23 drivers have been fixed with the latest update, though overall performance is largely unchanged in most titles. Here are the direct links to the various drivers:
Desktop 32-bit Windows Vista/7/8
Desktop 64-bit Windows Vista/7/8
Mobile 32-bit Windows Vista/7/8
Mobile 64-bit Windows Vista/7/8

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Earlier this week we reviewed NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 650 Ti. As this was a hard launch many of NVIDIA’s partners have had their cards available for purchase from day-one, so we’re here to provide you with a summary of what’s available with this week’s launch.
Before we dive into things we wanted to quickly point out that because of NVIDIA’s GTX 650 Ti Assassin’s Creed III promotion, prices are being distorted some. Manufacturers appear to be paying $5-$10 for the game, causing the price of most of these cards to come in over NVIDIA’s $149 MSRP. The only card initially available at Newegg at $149 is EVGA’s reference clocked card, which doesn’t include Assassin’s Creed III.

 	ASUS	EVGA	EVGA SSC	Galaxy
Part Number	GTX650TI-1GD5	01G-P4-3650-KR	01G-P4-3652-KR	65IGH8DL7AXX
Core Clock	928MHz	928 MHz	1071 MHz	966MHz
Memory Clock	5400 MHz	5400 MHz	5400 MHz	5400 MHz
Dimensions in inches (dimensions in mm)	8.39” x 4.72” x ??? (213.11 x 119.89 x ???)	6" x 4.38" x ??? (152.4 x 111.25 x ???)	6" x 4.38" x ??? (152.4 x 111.25 x ???)	6.88" x 4.37" x 1.51" (174.75  x 111 x 38.35)
Outputs	2x DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	2x DVI-I, Mini-HDMI	2x DVI-I, Mini-HDMI	2x DVI-I, Mini-HDMI
Included accessories	N/A	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin
Warranty	3 year	3 year	3 year	3 year
Price (Newegg)	$154.99	$149.99	$159.99	$159.99

 

 	Gigabyte Triangle	Gigabyte Windforce	MSI
Part Number	GV-N65TOC-1GI	GV-N65TOC-2GI	N650Ti PE 1GD5/OC
Core Clock	1032 MHz	1032 MHz	993 MHz
Memory Clock	5400 MHz	5400 MHz	5400 MHz
Dimensions in inches (dimensions in mm)	???	???	9.06” x 5.16” x 1.38” (230 x 131 x 35)
Outputs	2x DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	2x DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	2x DVI-I, Mini-HDMI
Included accessories	4-pin to 6-pin	4-pin to 6-pin	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin
Warranty	3 year	3 year	3-year parts/2-year labor
Price (Newegg)	$159.99	$174.99	$159.99

 

 	Zotac	Zotac AMP
Part Number	ZT-61102-10M	ZT-61103-10M
Core Clock	941 MHz	1033 MHz
Memory Clock	5400 MHz	6200 MHz
Dimensions in inches (dimensions in mm)	6.03" x 4.38" x 1.39" (153.16 x 111.25 x 35.31)	4.37” x 6.03” x ??? (111.15 x 153.162 x ???)
Outputs	2x DVI-I, 2x HDMI	2x DVI-I, 2x HDMI
Included accessories	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin	DVI to VGA, 4-pin to 6-pin
Warranty	2 year (Lifetime with registration)	2 year (Lifetime with registration)
Price (Newegg)	$169.99	Unlisted ($179 MSRP)

Card dimensions should be taken as an estimate rather than a precise measurement, as manufacturers haven’t standardized the unit of measurement for their cards. Some cards were measured in inches while others were in metric. I’ve done the necessary conversions to both formats, but the physical product does not always match the dimensions given on the spec sheet.
ASUS (Product Page)

This card is among the largest of the lineup, due to its second fan, which should be taken into consideration with some setups.
EVGA (Product Page)

& EVGA Super Superclocked (Product Page)

By skipping the Assassin’s Creed III promotion on their entry-level card, EVGA boasts the least expensive card of the competition by a slight margin. Meanwhile, for an investment of $10 you can get the Super Superclocked version (reviewed here) which includes Assassin’s Creed III along with a hefty factory core overclock of 15%. Based on NVIDIA’s reference design, the cards are also among the most compact of the bunch.
Galaxy (Product Page)

As with many other GTX 650 Ti cards launching today, Galaxy is seeding the market first with a factory overclocked model, with a shipping clockspeed of 966Mhz. Otherwise, Galaxy’s sole GTX 650 Ti is a fairly standard card, featuring a single-fan open air cooler and NVIDIA’s standard port configuration of 2 DVI ports alongside a mini-HDMI port.
Gigabyte Triangle (Product Page)

Gigabyte’s GTX 650 Ti “Triangle” is their entry-level GTX 650 Ti card, based on a short PCB (presumebly NVIDIA’s reference PCB) and equipped with an open air fan & heatsink combination that Gigabyte calls their Triangle cooler. Like Gigabyte’s other GTX 650 Ti this features a fairly large factory overclock, with the card shipping at 1032MHz.
Gigabyte Windforce (Product Page)

This card, which we have reviewed more in-depth, is the 2GB product for Gigabyte’s 650Ti line and is equipped with Gigabyte’s Windforce 2X cooler, which is composed of two 100mm fans mounted over a large aluminum heatsink. While the dimensions were not specified, the cooling system requires more space than most cards in the lineup due to the second fan. Like the Triangle this card ships with a 1032MHz factory overclock.
MSI (Product Page)

The largest card in the lineup, this card also has a 3-year parts and 2-year labor warranty, like most MSI graphics cards. MSI is offering a mild factory overclock here shipping the card at 993MHz.
Zotac (Product Page)

 

Zotac is the only company in this lineup with a 2-year warranty, while also charging the highest premium for its cards. However, with product registration you can upgrade to an extended limited lifetime warranty, which may explain the increase in cost. Zotac also offers a factory overclock on this model –making them the only vendor to not offer a true reference clocked card – but at 941MHz the difference is trivial at best.
Zotac AMP! Edition (Product Page)

 

The Zotac AMP has all the features of the Zotac 650 Ti above, but it also is the only card in the lineup with a factory overclock on its memory, with Zotac having bumped it up to 6.2GHz. In our launch-day review this was among the best cards we reviewed, but also among the most expensive.

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As we march towards our review of the iPhone 5 (and some other really cool stuff you'll be seeing later this month), episode 8 of our weekly podcast got pushed back a bit - but here it is. Ian shares some of his latest test data on reducing POST times for newer motherboards in anticipation of Windows 8. We recap some of the Haswell Architecture piece that went live last week. Vivek joins us to talk about the 2nd gen Razer Blade as well as his perspective on anodizing thin aluminum surfaces. Brian talks about the T-Mobile acquisition and new phones from HTC.
The AnandTech Podcast - Episode 8
featuring Anand Shimpi, Brian Klug, Vivek Gowri & Dr. Ian Cutress
iTunes
RSS - mp3, m4a
Direct Links - mp3, m4a
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Outline - hh:mm
Ian On Reducing POST Times - 00:02
Smartphone Boot Times - 00:10
The Haswell Architecture Article - 00:20
Virtualized Cellphone Base Stations - 00:30
2nd gen Razer Blade - 00:40
NGFF SSDs - 1:02
Need for SFF Upgradable DRAM - 1:07
New Kindles/Nook  - 1:14
T-Mobile Acquisition - 1:38
HTC One X+/One VX - 1:46
Vivek on Scuffgate - 1:51

As always, comments are welcome and appreciated. Let us know what you liked, hated and want to hear more of.

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Continuing our coverage of Acer’s Windows 8 offerings, we’re nearing the end of the roadmap with the consumer laptop offerings. This time, Acer is announcing the updated versions of their M Series and V Series laptops, with thinner designs than previous models and of course a new OS to go with the hardware. Starting with the M Series, Acer provided details for two new models, the 14” M5-481PT and the 15.6” M5-581T—both are technically Ultrabooks, though they’re obviously on the larger end of the spectrum. Here are the full specs.

Acer Aspire M5 Windows 8 Ultrabooks
Model	M5-481PT	M5-581T
Processor	Core i5-3317U (1.7-2.6GHz, 3MB L3)	Core i5-3317U (1.7-2.6GHz, 3MB L3)
Memory	6GB DDR3	6GB DDR3
Storage	20GB SSD + 500GB HDD	20GB SSD + 500GB HDD
Display	14” Glossy 1366x768 LCD 10-point Multitouch	15.6” Glossy 1366x768 LCD 10-point Multitouch
I/O Ports	2 x USB 3.0 HDMI Gigabit Ethernet Flash Memory Reader	2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 HDMI Gigabit Ethernet Flash Memory Reader
Extras	DVDRW Drive Backlit Keyboard Webcam	DVDRW Drive Backlit Keyboard Webcam
Battery	Up to 8 hours	Up to 8 hours
Weight	4.63 lbs. (2.10kg)	5.07 lbs. (2.30kg)
Dimensions	13.39" x 9.65" x 0.81" (WxDxH) 340mm x 245mm x 20.6mm	14.43" x 10.05" x 0.79-0.81" (WxDxH) 367mm x 255mm x 20.1-20.6mm
Operating System	Windows 8	Windows 8
Price (MSRP)	$800	$700

The core specs are essentially unchanged from the existing M5 models, and the above offerings are apparently Best Buy exclusives (though Acer has a habit of releasing several nearly-identical models with minor changes in the naming, so you’ll probably be able to find the M5 elsewhere). The only major difference between the current M5 and the Windows 8 models—other than the OS, of course—is the addition of 10-point multitouch displays on select models. Sadly, the displays are still 1366x768 TN panels, but at least for touch-enabled displays I find glossy makes the most sense (matte surfaces would tend to show wear over time).
Gallery: Acer M5 Ultrabooks with Windows 8


There are a few other items not specifically listed in the specs table that are worth discussing. First, Acer feels there’s a market for larger thin and lights (Ultrabooks) that still include optical drives, and the M series fills that niche. The chassis on the M5 is actually quite nice, with a magnesium/aluminum alloy exterior (the 14” has aluminum alloy covers while the 15.6” uses magnesium alloy covers). Finally, the batteries appear to be better than average, as Acer rates them for up to 1000 cycles and state that they’ll still be able to charge to 80% of their rated capacity beyond 1000 cycles.
It looks like the MSRP is slightly higher than the existing non-touch M5 models by $50 to $100, which may or may not be acceptable. We’re also not particularly keen on the 20GB SSDs, as they’re only used for fast resume—there’s not even a caching benefit to be had! So basically you’ll get standard HDD performance when it comes to loading the OS and applications, but the laptops can resume from sleep/hibernate very quickly. We’d prefer to see pure SSD storage at least as an option on some models, and with high performance TLC SSDs coming out, hopefully the next year will spell the end of conventional storage on the primary drive.

Acer Aspire V5 Windows 8 Laptops
Model	V5-171	V5-471P	V5-571/571P
Processor	Core i3/i5/i7	Core i3/i5/i7	Core i3/i5/i7
Memory	4GB-8GB DDR3	4GB-8GB DDR3	4GB-8GB DDR3
Storage	Hard Drive	Hard Drive Optical Drive	Hard Drive Optical Drive
Display	11.6” Glossy 1366x768 LCD	14” Glossy 1366x768 LCD (10-point Multitouch on 471P)	15.6” Glossy 1366x768 LCD (10-point Multitouch on 571P)
I/O Ports	1 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 HDMI VGA Gigabit Ethernet Flash Memory Reader	1 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 HDMI VGA (via adapter) Gigabit Ethernet (via adapter) Flash Memory Reader	1 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 HDMI VGA (via adapter) Gigabit Ethernet (via adapter) Flash Memory Reader
Extras	Webcam	Webcam	Webcam
Battery	4-cell, 5 hours	4-cell, 5 hours	4-cell, 5 hours
Weight	3.04 lbs. (1.38kg)	4.63 lbs. (2.10kg)	5.07 lbs. (2.30kg)
Dimensions	11.2" x 8.0" x 1.1" (WxDxH) 284mm x 203mm x 27.9mm	13.5" x 9.6" x 0.9" (WxDxH) 343mm x 244mm x 22.9mm	15.0" x 10.0" x 0.9" (WxDxH) 381mm x 254mm x 22.9mm
Operating System	Windows 8	Windows 8	Windows 8
Price (MSRP)	$450	$750	$500/$700

The Aspire V5 Series is targeted more at the value end of the spectrum, though the touch-enabled offerings push the limits of what I’d consider “value”. It’s also not clear if all of the V5 laptops will use ULV CPUs, but that appears to be the case as the two models where we received specs (V5-571P-6642 at $800 and V5-517P-6437 at $850) but use the i5-3317U processor.
Gallery: Acer V5 Laptops with Windows 8


The overall system design for the V5 looks similar on some levels to the M5 models above, but Acer foregoes the use of metal alloys here and instead uses plastic shells. The port layout is also different, so at the very least they’re not just reusing the design. The larger offerings include optical drives while the 11.6” model is slightly thicker but doesn’t have DVDRW or touch options, but it also has the lowest point of entry at $450 for the base model (presumably with a Core i5 CPU).
The other two models are basically the same hardware options, but the 14” 471P is only available with multitouch (for now) while the 15.6” offering comes is standard and multitouch flavors. Acer quotes the starting price of the 571 at $500 compared to $700 for the touch-enabled 571P, but there are likely other hardware differences as well. Interestingly, both the 14” and 15.6” models use a special Y-cable adapter to provide VGA and Ethernet support whereas it’s integrated into the chassis on the 11.6” model.
Availability of all the Windows 8 laptops will coincide with the October 26 launch date.

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NZXT is an interesting manufacturer. Each company that designs and manufactures cases has their strengths and weaknesses, things they're good at and things that need work, but NZXT is unique in that they're very closely related to iBuyPower (one of the biggest system building boutiques and one that's starting to threaten established brands) and tend to vend some of the most cost effective enclosures to boutiques in general, for better or worse.

Our experiences with NZXT have been mixed. The H2 when it was released suffered from a serious design flaw that drove up internal thermals (an unmarked revision was silently released later that largely resolved those problems), and the Switch 810 was a good but not great enclosure that couldn't quite live up to its promise. But today NZXT is launching the Phantom 820, a case aimed squarely at the top end of the case market where stalwarts like the Thermaltake Level 10 GT, Corsair Obsidian 800D, and SilverStone FT02 reside. It has a lot to live up to, but most impressively of all...it might actually do it.

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Well over a year ago Micron announced something unique in a sea of PCIe SSDs that were otherwise nothing more than SATA drives in RAID on a PCIe card. The drive Micron announced was the P320h, featuring a custom ASIC and a native PCIe interface. The vast majority of PCIe SSDs we've looked at thus far feature multiple SATA/SAS SSD controllers with their associated NAND behind a SATA/SAS RAID controller on a PCIe card. These PCIe SSDs basically deliver the performance of a multi-drive SSD RAID-0 on a single card instead of requiring multiple 2.5" bays. There's decent interest in these types of PCIe SSDs simply because of the form factor advantage as many servers these days have moved to slimmer form factors (1U/2U) that don't have all that many 2.5" drive bays. Long term however, this SATA/SAS RAID on a PCIe card SSD solution is clunky at best. Ideally you'd want a native PCIe controller that could talk directly to the NAND, rather than going through an unnecessary layer of abstraction. That's exactly what Micron's P320h promised. Today, we have a review of that very drive.

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With Windows 8 officially launching in under two weeks, Microsoft and its retail partners have finally begun taking pre-orders for Windows 8. As with prior Windows pre-order promotions, several retailers are participating, including a number of brick & mortar retailers along with e-tailers such as Newegg, Amazon, and even Microsoft’s own online store.
Microsoft will essentially be handling the launch of Windows 8 in two phases: pre-order and launch. The pre-order phase is primarily geared towards buyers looking for boxed copies of Windows and with delivery on the 26^th; unsurprisingly these boxed copies are priced notably higher than Microsoft’s download options. As for buyers looking to take advantage of Microsoft’s previously announced $39.99 download offer, that promotion will not begin until the launch on the 26^th when Windows 8 actually ships. On that note, as previously announced both the boxed and download copies will be offered with promotional pricing, with Microsoft and its partners selling the upgrades at a significant until January 31, 2013.

Windows 8 SKUs
 	Windows 8 Upgrade	Windows 7/Vista/XP Upgrade	Full Version	Price
Windows 8 Pro Pack	X	-	-	$69
Windows 8 Pro Upgrade (Boxed)	-	X	-	$69
Windows 8 Pro Upgrade (Download)	-	X	-	$39
Windows 8 (Core) OEM	-	-	X	$99
Windows 8 Professional OEM	-	-	X	$139

For buyers looking for physical copies, retailers are taking pre-orders for both upgrade and full editions of Windows 8. For Windows X/Vista/7 users Microsoft is offering a single package, the Windows 8 Professional Upgrade, which has a list price of $99 but is being offered at $69 for the life of the promotion. Meanwhile the download version that will be made available on the 26^th will have a $39 promotional price, putting a $30 premium on boxed copies.
As for Windows 8 (core) users – primarily those who buy computers with Windows 8 pre-installed –Microsoft is offering the Windows 8 Pro Pack upgrade for upgrading a Windows 8 (core) installation to Windows 8 Pro. Like the Win7 upgrade, this too is being offered at a promotional price of $69 with a list price of $99.
Finally, full versions of both Windows 8 (core) and Windows 8 are also being offered for pre-order, but only in OEM form at this time. There isn’t a publicly announced discount on these, so the list price of $99 for Windows 8 (core) and $139 for Windows 8 Professional should also be the final price, which also closely matches the price for OEM copies of Windows 7. We haven’t seen retail full versions of Windows 8 appear for sale yet, and while there are rumors going around that Windows 8 will be OEM-only, it has not been confirmed by Microsoft.

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