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Crucial’s new drive utilizes the Marvell 88SS9174 controller along with a large Micron 256MB cache to improve small write performance and eliminate any ‘stuttering’ issues. This has effectively been doubled from the C300’s 128MB cache, so we’re curious to see if small writes are noticeably improved. The m4’s flash NAND memory is made by Micron, which unsurprising considering Micron owns Crucial. Our 256GB review unit is equipped with 16x16GB 25nm chips (29D128G08CFAAB) and feature Micron’s high-speed ONFI 2....

The only cards unable to deliver playable performance were the HD 6450 and an old Radeon 2600 XT that we dug up. Integrated graphics chips in the Core i5 2500K and i7 2600K processors weren’t up to snuff either, hovering in the teens.

Eve: Valkyrie Release date: TBA 2014 | Genre(s): Sci-fi shooter | Also on: ??? Evolve Release date: October 21, 2014 | Genre(s): First-person shooter | Also on: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 Far Cry 4 Release date: November 18, 2014 | Genre(s): First-person shooter | Also on: Xbox, PlayStation FIFA 15 Release date: September 23, 2014 | Genre(s): Sports | Also on: Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, 3DS Grand Theft Auto V Release date: Late 2014 | Genre(s): Open-world action-adventure | Also on: Xbox, PlayStation...

At 1080p we find that Fallout 4 in all of its ultra-quality glory isn’t that dependent on the GPU. Mid-range cards of years ago are able to deliver playable performance, albeit just. For instance, HD 7870 spat out 43fps and never dipped below 34fps while the old GTX 660 Ti was even more impressive with an average of 49fps and a minimum of 38fps. The modern budget graphics cards such as the GTX 950 provided very playable performance with an average of 51fps....

Sources have told Moore’s Law is Dead that the flagship models of the upcoming Intel Z790 motherboards will feature PCIe Gen 5 M.2 SSD compatibility, but not the mainstream variants. Among AMD’s approaching AM5 boards, the M.2 slots for the X670 Extreme, X670, and B650 will be PCIe 5.0. Manufacturers have recently revealed PCIe 5.0 SSDs with read speeds around 13GB/s. However, benchmarks show that most applications people currently use don’t max out the capabilities of PCIe 4....

GalaxyClub reports that it has discovered the codenames for Samsung’s upcoming phones. The first is B4; the B stands for Bloom, a codename for the Galaxy Z Flip that was once thought to be the name of the Z Flip 2. The second codename is Q4, which is the Galaxy Z Fold 4, based on the fact that the Z Fold 3 was codenamed Q3. Then there’s the mysterious N4....

PCMark 8 is an interesting benchmark to start with, because it depends on more than just the CPU and GPU: some tests also stress memory and storage performance. However it does give a good idea of how the i7-8550U stacks up against a general field of competitors. The good news here is that Kaby Lake-R gets off to a strong start, outperforming Core i7-7500U systems in the range of 10 to 20 percent....

At 1680x1050 high-end GPUs handle the game with ease, however budget to mid-range cards like the GTX 750 Ti start to feel the heat when graphics settings are set to Ultra. Dropping the graphics to High gives a generous boost to mid-range cards and makes the game somewhat playable with Intel and AMD integrated graphics. At 1920x1200, the $150 discrete GPUs barely make it through the 30fps barrier. The R9 270 delivered a playable 40fps, but you will need something faster for silky smooth frame rates at this resolution and Ultra graphics....

For the launch of their 2nd-gen Core CPUs (a.k.a. Sandy Bridge), Intel have compiled another interesting list of fun facts in a whitepaper. We have selected the ones we find more amusing and are republishing them here with Intel’s permission: There are close to 1 billion transistors inside a 2nd Generation Intel Core processor. If a car were to have 1 billion parts - compared to the 30.000 they currently have - it would take the most productive car manufacturer 114 years to assemble this car....

The GeForce GTX 770 Phantom system consumed 325 watts under load, which is only 6 watts more than the GTX 680, pretty good given we received on average 13% more performance. This also meant that the GTX 770 consumed 10% less power than the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition while providing 7% more performance. The GeForce GTX 770 using the Gainward Phantom cooler never exceeded 77 degrees, which is only slightly warmer than the GTX 680 which also happened to be using the Phantom cooler....

We thought the Taipan felt a little light during our first use and we were right to think so as it weighs only 110g – a potential deal breaker for some since there’s no weight system. Combine that weight with a small frame (124mm long x 63mm wide x 36mm tall) and big-handed palm users are mostly out of luck. In saying that, we managed to use it for hours with a typical claw grip and the lightness wasn’t too bothersome as it’s very well balanced....

Frame time data will still be included in our CrossFireX and SLI reviews. For this review we have tested at 1920x1200 and 2560x1600. We are yet to include 4K results or higher because there isn’t a single-GPU solution available yet that can provide playable performance at this resolution. All graphics cards have been tested with core and memory clock speeds set to the AMD and Nvidia specifications. Test System Specs Intel Core i7-4770K (3....

As you would expect the R9 390 performs very well in Hitman and once overclocked game second only to the GTX 1070. As this is an AMD sponsored title it wasn’t very surprising to see the 390 crushing the GTX 970 here. We find much the same story at 1440p. Here the 390 managed to average 60 fps while the overclocked GTX 970 struggled to average 50fps. Granted high frame rates aren’t necessary to enjoy Civilization VI but it’s nice to see the R9 390 providing strong results all the same....

Titanfall 2 fans will enjoy the fact that previous generation graphics cards are still able to deliver exceptional performance in this title. The 390 was also faster than the 970 in both its out of the box form and with the custom overclock. The margins did close up at 1440p though it was interesting to note that the R9 390 offered exceptional minimum frame rate performance, beating the 970 by 6 fps out of the box....

About a year ago we reviewed the RTX 2060 for the first time. We happened to miss the official launch because Nvidia “lost” our sample in the mail but that meant we didn’t have to rush our tests and we ended up with the full hog and provided a massive 36 game test. Looking back at that data, we found that the RTX 2060 was able to beat the GTX 1070 Ti by a slim margin, making it 13% faster than the vanilla GTX 1070....

A full range of common components including replacement displays, cameras and batteries will be available either individually or as part of an iFixit Fix Kit alongside handy tools like screwdrivers and spudgers. Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones are guaranteed to receive security updates until at least October 2026, making them viable for years to come. Earlier devices like the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL will see support end next month, so you’ll want to think twice about replacing parts on older models....

A report released on the AIB market for the quarter ending December 2021 shows that manufacturers shipped a total of 13.1 million discrete GPUs for the quarter, a 29.5 percent jump from the same quarter in 2020. That’s also a 3 percent jump from the 12.7 million units shipped in the quarter ending September 2021. AMD’s desktop GPU shipments in Q4 grew by 12.4 percent from the previous quarter and by 35....

At least one hacker is using anti-cheat software included in the tremendously popular free-to-play MMOPRG Genshin Impact to help mass distribute ransomware. The file is named ‘mhyprot2.sys’ and is described as an anti-cheat driver. Antivirus vendor Trend Micro received a report in July from a customer who fell victim to ransomware even though his systems had properly configured endpoint protection. When Trend Micro researchers looked into the attack, they discovered a hacker had used a code-signed driver, mhyprot2....

During the day I work at a fairly large industrial company. We have many different systems and machines worth millions of dollars, so it goes without saying that if such machinery works and performs a good job, we don’t throw it out just because it runs NT4 or Windows 2000. Indeed, some of them still do. The fleet is being continually upgraded though, and I’m glad to see the oldest NT4 systems leave us for good soon....