Tech Link (Industry): A Tour Of The Kingston Memory Factory In Taiwan

THG have a "photo" story up and running about their trip to Kingston. I think they are pretty good and interesting, go check 'em out if it's yer thing...


Source:THG

Tech Link (Technology): Analysis: Has Intel found the key to unlock supercomputing powers on the desktop?

TGDaily (I know, I have THG's image) posted an interesting article about supercomputing, and Intel. I still have yet to fully digest what the article is, but it delves mostly about multi-threaded programming, and of course, multi-core computing. Expand to read and excerpt of the article and visit their site for the full scoop...

Quietly but surely, we are heading into a new computing era that will bring one of the most dramatic changes the IT industry has seen. Acceleration technologies will inject lots of horsepower into the CPU, increasing the performance capability of the microprocessor not just by 10 or 20%, but in some cases by up to 100x. These new technologies, which are expected to become widely available through heterogeneous multi-core processors, create challenges for software developers – but Intel claims to have found a way to make the transition easy.

Source:Analysis: Has Intel found the key to unlock supercomputing powers on the desktop?

Tech Link (Platform): Vigor's Quadfather Uses AMD Quad FX CPUs

THG has an article posted about a AMD's 4x4 platform. We all know that this platform sucks and some of you might be thinking why post AMD things. Well, I am a Fanboy and if I see Intel products beating AMD's crap to a pulp, you'll see me post it here for sure. And this one is pretty good, if you're an AMDroid who is a masochist who likes torturing yourself, then get this platform. Otherwise, rejoice and just go a single-chip solution quad-core from Intel and have fun poking at the poor green bloke. Expand to read what THG has to say, or just read this excerpt:

We can't fault Vigor for building a system using inferior processors when these are the best an AMD enthusiast can buy. Instead, we'll put the blame on AMD for not keeping pace with the competition, and hope for a quick turnaround as new products are released.

Conclusion
If one were to add up everything Vigor Gaming put into its Vigor Force Recon QX4, its $4,900 price appears reasonable. Yet the 54% performance gain from Dell cost only 46% more. For anyone with an extra $2300 to spend, the Dell appears to be a better deal without even considering peripherals.

The Vigor Force Recon QX4 doesn't include a monitor it its base price. The Dell we tested included its 2407WFP 24" LCD monitor, a $670 value. Deducting that, the Dell system actually cost only 33% more, for a 54% performance gain.

We can't fault Vigor for building a system using inferior processors when these are the best an AMD enthusiast can buy. Instead, we'll put the blame on AMD for not keeping pace with the competition, and hope for a quick turnaround as new products are released.

Source:Vigor's Quadfather Uses AMD Quad FX CPUs

Tech Link (Platform): Microsoft Surface: What Media Center should have been - analyst opinion

TGDaily (yeah, I know the logo is THG) posted about a pretty cool technology that is about to hit us soon! I never expected it to be long due to be honest, since I have already seen a "similar" if not exactly the same thing for almost a year ago. Microsoft already put up a site for this technolgy and they have a pretty cool effect. Anyway, back to TGDaily, check out what they have to say on this...

When I was briefed on Surface (previously code-named Milan) a few days ago, I was incredibly impressed. Having gotten used to disappointments like Origami, Zune, and even the Media Center PC where Microsoft didn’t actually finish the offering, this product was a breath of fresh air, largely because it was complete.

Source:Microsoft Surface: What Media Center should have been - analyst opinion

Tech Link (Operating System): Build a Windows Vista Upgrade Parachute

THG has posted an article which I find is really nice and right on time. I can't believe I sifted through all pages (12 of them) and read them all with interest, I barely spend time reading past the conclusion nowadays. Do take time to read through it, I believe the article is well thought out and free from a lot of crap and focuses on the bare essentials necessary for the topic. Check it out...

The purpose of this article is to guide you through the myriad options for upgrading to Windows Vista. My goal here is balance: I will not slavishly regurgitate Microsoft's hype, but neither will I join the growing army of Microsoft bashers.

The choices for creating a Vista computer are bewildering. Since there are so many possibilities, let me start by offering you a default solution to the main question: "what should I do about Vista?" My default advice is that you wait until June 2007 - then buy a new machine with either Vista Home Premium or Vista Business pre-installed.

From that default position, I'll review the other options for Vista. My goal is to give you the information necessary to make the best decision for your particular circumstances.

Source:Build a Windows Vista Upgrade Parachute

Misc: THG Upgraded; Gear Digest Launched

THG have just undergone another make over. They look a lot cleaner now, and I have to say I like this one better than the old. However, it doesn't look like a tech site anymore, it looks more like a marketing site, an Apple* site if you may. Anyway, check their site out and maybe see if its something you like, or you don't like, or you just don't care what they look like, or have never heard of the site before. Expand to read what they have to say about it.

THG Upgraded; Gear Digest Launched
Omid Rahmat
February 5, 2007 01:48

Can we make you happy? Probably not, but we keep trying. In that spirit, 2007 is going to be a year of changes for us, changes that we hope will make you happy.

You will see some of those changes in our network today, changes designed to address some of your concerns, as well as adding opportunities for future expansion:

MobilityGuru and DenGuru have been combined into one site called Gear Digest (www.geardigest.com), We hope that in so doing, we will be better able to serve up reviews, news, and information on all things consumer electronics. There is a world of technology outside of the traditional PC market and we want to cover it, and bring our perspective to bear.
Tom's Hardware Guide has had a facelift. We have tried to clean up the design, and make it easier for our audience to navigate the site. I hope that you will find it an improvement and a benefit.
We have added drop down menus in the left hand navigation bar which should get you to our most popular categories quickly, and intuitively.
The Search function on the network has been improved. It should be quicker, and deliver the results you need.
We have made it easier for you to access our Archives, which are extensive, and go all the way back to 1996 when Tom's Hardware Guide first opened up shop.
We are going to be doing more on the video front so, we have placed a direct link to our videos in our navigation.
We have a few blogs running today, but we expect to have many more in the coming year. You will find a link to our blogs now integrated into the navigation.
The article pages have been reformatted to increase the amount of content per page, reducing the number of clicks you have to make, and we are working hard to reduce the clutter on those pages.
We have changed the TG Publishing corporate logo, and updated the corporate web site, too.
That's just today. There will be a number of other updates to the site over the coming months. Yes, there will be an article print function. Yes, TG Daily is getting a makeover soon. Yes, we will be adding new categories to all of the sites, and increasing our coverage. No, we don't give test hardware away to pleading members of our audience.

Just drop me a line with any comments or suggestions to omid@tgpublishing.net. I cannot promise that I will answer every email, but I will read them all. Finally, if you find a bug, or have problems with a particular browser, please let webmaster@tomshardware.com know so we can make the necessary fixes.

Omid Rahmat CEO TG Publishing

Source:THG Upgraded; Gear Digest Launched