Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB Solid State Drive Review

Introduction

One of the biggest surprises we learned at CES 2011 was that Kingston had joined Team SandForce for the SF-2000 Series of products. After CES we learned from Digitimes that Kingston was also moving to acquire a larger stake of controller manufacturer JMicron at the same time. Kingston has been gaining attention for their solid state drive products for the last two years and slowly gaining market share. The recent maneuvers will allow Kingston to continue building upon their successes and become an even larger player in the global solid state drive market.

A majority of Kingston's SSD success to date has come from Kingston's V and V+ Series of products. These two series were very successful for the company and had a long reign in the active lineup. At the end of 2010 Kingston announced the successors to the V and V+ lineup and the new 100 products were born.

Today we are looking at the Kingston V+100. The new V+100 uses a 32nm Toshiba T6UG1XBG controller that is very close to the 43nm controller from the original V+. The new die size has really helped power draw, down to 3.6 watts from 4.2 watts. In addition to the die shrink, the new V+100 has been updated with better firmware that significantly improves internal drive cleanup (Garbage Collection).

Before we get too deep into all of the technical specifications, let's move over to the specifications page and look at the total package. After that we will get to the performance testing.

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Beyond Blu-ray - Looking into the Crystal Ball

Cast your minds back to 2007. Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-ray format were locked in a battle to the death, with no clear victor amongst the two. With support shared between both formats, many media pundits simply came to the conclusion that both formats would co-exist. Others still suggested that by not working things out, they were dooming themselves to an early grave and that downloads would ultimately be the sole winner.

Now back to 2011. HD-DVD is but a distant memory, just as Beta is to VHS. DVD sales are hemorrhaging, with declining retail value and sales. But Blu-ray continues to gain in popularity. Sales in Australia, Europe and the United States are particularly strong. Australian retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, Sanity and Big W continue to expand their lines and reduce pricing, particularly on 'must have' new release titles.

Name brand Blu-ray players can be purchased well under $200 AUD - it took the DVD format considerably longer to create that much impact on pricing. And don't forget that the original Star Wars trilogy will be released come September, as big a hallmark as any that the format has come of age. There's no doubt at all that Blu-ray is here to stay and it will continue to steal market share from DVD until the format fades.

A networked generation, upgradeable hardware and a format that was designed to be changed from the early days means that the format is reasonably malleable. We've seen numerous upgrades to the specification; the introduction of 'bonus view' multiplexing which has given us the ability to watch picture in picture video, the BD Live web portal and the latest change - the introduction of Blu-ray 3D, encompassing the new MVC codec.

1080p has become the de facto standard for TV resolution, the highest resolution that Blu-ray supports. But that won't be the case forever. Ultra high definition displays which support up to 8K resolution have been in development for a number of years now. Just as many argued that 'DVD was good enough', there exists vocal opponents of the technology who suggest that current 1080p signals are fine enough. Obviously it would be folly to think that the home will never surpass this technology. In fact, I give it around 12-15 years before it's common place.

It won't help all movies. Many film restorations up until recent years have only performed at 1080p. Some films might be lost before they can be transferred again. Other films recorded with early high definition cameras such as Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were only filmed in a 1080p resolution, and won't be bettered.

But a new TV format will likely be at least 4k in resolution - four higher than current spec 1080p. I've often said that I feel that Blu-ray will be the last packaged media format. I still think that as a mainstream format this will be the case. But, I am beginning to feel that there will still be additional formats that will eventually replace Blu-ray. And I'll tell you why on the next page.

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NZXT Cryo LX Aluminum Notebook Cooler Review

Introduction

With more and more laptop coolers passing through our doors, I have seen enough to get a basic feel for the market. Some coolers look like space ships with bulky plastic and rubber pieces and get surrounded by LEDs; some with and some without lighting control. If I was a teenager again, these things would all appeal to me, and at that point I know noise wasn't as much of an issue for me back then, but with lots of other things going on in the world around a PC, I like to see performance without making my ears bleed in the process.

While I was receiving coolers from Antec and Cooler Master, I asked NZXT for the Cryo LX to see what they have in store for the notebook cooling market. I mean we have just seen their LED kits, the Bunker, and those very nice looking wiring adapters, I figured they had to take some of that creativity into other products they produce, and NZXT seems more than happy to oblige me with my desire to want to see it.

Today we will be taking a close look at the Cryo LX, the "largest full aluminum notebook cooler". Not only does this notebook cooler offer an extruded aluminum construction, it also offers plenty of air flow. Even at first glance on the site or looking at the coolers packaging, it isn't hard to tell that NZXT is offering a classy looking addition to your desktop as well. I say we get to the specifics and key features of the Cryo LX, disassemble it a bit, and get to the testing to see if the "largest" cooler means the "best" notebook cooler.

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Corsair AX1200 1200W Power Supply Review

Introduction

Six years ago, loading a true enthusiast machine down with all the hardware you could muster meant that you were pulling no more than 600W-700W, and finding a power supply to handle that kind of load was nearly impossible. Since then we've seen a huge change in the hardware that enthusiasts utilize in their rigs. SLI brought about multi-GPU systems that required more power than ever.

We've seen a switch from using a single desktop processor overclocked to the max to dual processors with multiple cores� still overclocked to the max. Let's not even get into everything else that has evolved inside the computer. All of this is great, if you have the power to feed all of it. These days you'll need a minimum of 1000W to power a high end enthusiast machine - maybe even more.

While you have your selection of vendors for motherboards, memory, storage, and more, finding a power supply to fit the bill of such a machine produces few options. The last 12-18 months have brought some more selections, such as the Corsair Professional Series AX1200 that we are taking a look at today. The AX1200 is Corsair's flagship power supply. It is the biggest, meanest beast that they offer.

This PSU boasts an 80Plus Gold rating, has enough connections and power available to run two or three "normal" computers, and has a whole lot of other features to go with it. What matters most of course, is how the AX1200 performs. Nobody wants their rig shutting down in the middle of intensive use when it is needed most. Keep reading to find out all about the Corsair AX1200 and how it performs.

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Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Vapor-X Video Card Review

Introduction

It's been a bit of an AMD love fest lately when it's come to VGA with a lot of HD 6000 series making their way through the doors. It's not all that uncommon, though, as we tend to see a few months after launch companies start to release their different variations of the models that we begin to know and love.

Some choose to overclock, others choose to throw a new cooler on it, while some just go all out and do both. Today we're checking out the Vapor-X version of the HD 6870 which is a series we've grown fond of over the years thanks to the superior cooling it's offered over reference cooled cards.

With the HD 6000 series running a little warmer than people previously had hoped, it seems like the perfect candidate for a new cooler. So what kind of performance do we get from the card and does the cooler bring with it lower temperature, lower noise, or even both?

Well, before we find that out, let's check out the package, the card and then the specifications of the card in hand.

The Package

Cable wise we've got a pretty impressive array included. Apart from all the normal stuff we've also got a HDMI cable and mini-DP to DP connector. One of the better AMD card bundles we've seen when it comes to cables.

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