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PCs - PC Components

Intel Preps Entry-Level "Braswell"

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Intel Preps Entry-Level

Intel announces the successor to the power-efficient Bay Trail processor series at Intel Developer Forum Shenzhen-- "Braswell," an architecture ideal for entry-level systems.

The system-on-a-chip is built using a 14nm manufacturing process, and promises to be more efficient than 22nm Haswell and Bay Trail CPUs it should replace. It is designed for use in low-cost PCs, including Chromebooks, budget desktops and hybrids.

Broadwell also makes an appearance as the first Intel products built using the 14nm process.

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Nvidia Intros GeForce GTX Titan Z

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Nvidia Intros GeForce GTX Titan Z

Nvidia unveils what it describes as "one insane graphics card" at the 2014 GPU Technology Conference-- the GeForce GTX Titan Z, a card designed for next-gen applications such as 5K and multi-monitor gaming.

“If you’re in desperate need of a supercomputer that you can fit under your desk we have just the card for you,” Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang claims.

The card carries two GK110 Kepler GPUs, each with 2880 processing cores for a total of 5760 cores. Unlike other dual-GPU cards the Titan Z GPUs run at the same clock speed with dynamic power balancing, thus avoiding performance bottlenecks.

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Back Side VGA Cooling from Arctic

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Back Side VGA Cooling from Arctic

Arctic insists graphics card cooling should not neglect back sides as it launches the Accelero VGA cooler range armed with "Patented Back Side Cooler" technology helping keep sensitive component temperatures down.

Apparently the cooling technology is inspired by something any child can tell, namely that heat rises to the top. The backside coolers replace the use of heatsinks and thermal sinks, allowing easy installation and the return of graphics cards to original condition at any time.

Arctic also promises better overclocking options for more enthusiast customers.

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Intel Sets to Reinvent Desktops

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Intel Sets to Reinvent Desktops

Intel reveals "roadmap enhancements, platform features and software partnerships" at Game Developer Conference 2014, all to prove that it has not abandoned the desktop PC format in favour of mobiles or wearables.

"The desktop business is a large and important segment for Intel, and we are investing in it-– reinventing form factors, experiences and products for our customers," the company says. "Enthusiasts are the heart and soul of the desktop and they asked us to give them more. We are delivering – more cores, better overclocking, faster speeds."

Thus GDC sees a preview of "Devil's Canyon," a 4th generation Core processor featuring an improved thermal interface and CPU packaging materials promising "significant" enhancements to performance and overclocking capabilities. It supports the DDR4 memory standard and will be available as an 8-core 16-thread "Extreme Edition" come H2 2014.

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AMD Intros AM1 Platform

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AMD Intros AM1 Platform

AMD aims to appeal to developing and mainstream markets with the AM1 platform-- a Kabini-based desktop System-on-a-Chip (SoC) combining Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture with quad-core Jaguar CPUs.

Set to be sold under the Atlon and Sempron APU brands, the AM1 platform features USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, DirectX 11.2 and Windows 8.1 support and is ideal for use inside mini-PCs with microATX and miniITX motherboards.

"The AM1 platform gives us a great opportunity to deliver a flexible infrastructure environment, and provides a multitude of options for consumers and system builders looking for upgradeability packed into an extremely affordable solution.” a company statement claims.

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The Fujitsu Phone-PC Hybrid

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The Fujitsu Phone-PC Hybrid

Fujitsu believes always-on business PCs consume too much power as it reveals the Esprimo X923 at CeBIT 2014-- an All-in-One (AIO) PC featuring unified communications capabilities and a special power-saving mode.

It carries a 23-inch display, Intel Core i4, i5 or i7 processors, up to 16GB RAM, storage via 1TB HDD or 500GB SSD and 6 USB ports together with UC features such as microphone, adjustable webcam, presence sensor and face-recognition software.

A X923-T variant replaces the LED display with a touchscreen.

The so-called low-power active mode (LPAM) pauses power-consuming applications such as browsers and office suites, but continues running Windows for telephone and video conferencing use. According to Fujitsu LPAM consumes just 5W, down from the 56W regular use requires.

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Raspberry Pi Gets Sound Card

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Raspberry Pi Gets Sound Card

The popular Raspberry Pi micro-PC gets audio functionality maker element 14 claims is on par with that of bigger PCs in the shape of a sound card add-on board from audio solutions maker Wolfson.

As seen at CeBIT 2014 the Wolfson audio card carries an audio processor able to output high-resolution audio at up to 24-bit/192kHz via 3.5mm line-out, digital S/PDIF output or external speakers through onboard 2W class-D power amlifier.

Audio recording comes through 2 onboard MEMS mics, 3.5mm mic jack and digital S/PDIF input.

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IDC: PC Shipment Decline Continues

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IDC: PC Shipment Decline Continues

PC shipments see the steepest fall yet during 2013 according to IDC-- shipments are down by -9.8%, slightly better than projections of -10.1% but still suffering from competition from other devices and economic pressures.

One can see slight improvements in Q4 2013 shipments, but only due to short-term factors such XP replacements.

As a result IDC lowers 2014 growth projections by just over 2% to declines of -6%, and adjusts projections for the 2013-2018 period by 1%-- meaning long-term growth should remain below zero, with shipments below 300 million during the forecast period.

Depressing shipments further in a "dismal" 2013 are emerging markets (2013 volume down by -11.3%) due to slower economic growth, the culmination of some large projects, tablet/smartphone pressure and conservative expectations for factors such as touch and Windows XP migration.

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Nvidia Goes Black With Titan Sequel

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Nvidia Goes Black With Titan Sequel

Nvidia reveals the 2014 successor to title of most powerful single-GPU graphics card from the company-- the GTX Titan Black, featuring the GK110B chip configuration from November's GTX 780 Ti.

According to the company the Titan Black combines the compute-focused features of the original Titan with the more gamer-friendly performance of the 780 Ti. It carries 6GB DDR5 RAM (up from 3GB in the 780Ti) running at 7GHz, 2880 stream processors and 240 texture units, and delivers performance of up to 5.1 Teraflops.

It also features a double precision floating point performance mode, making it ideal for semi-professional GPU compute tasks.

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