8 Buzzworthy Products For White Box Builders

Nvidia Welcomes Additions To Quadro Family

Nvidia introduced Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 cards, both of which run on CUDA (Compute Unified Design Architecture), a parallel computing architecture available to software developers for a number of applications. The latest additions to the Fermi-based Quadro line of GPUs from Nvidia run on 192 CUDA cores (the Quadro 2000) and 96 CUDA cores (the Quadro 600). The Quadro 600 is only half the height of the Quadro 2000 model, but it can interact with larger, more complex, models and offers more efficient performance per watt.

Both Quadro cards are built on industry standards such as OpenGL 4.1, DirectX 11, DirectCompute and OpenCL and both feature 30-bit color fidelity, or 10 bits per color. Both are PCI Express 2.0-compliant and are designed to be especially quiet, as Nvidia continues to focus on the professional desktop market and its potential uses for cutting-edge graphics. The Quadro 600 is available in the $169 to $199 price range, while the Quadro 2000 is available for between $422 and $499.

MSI Takes Wraps Off New Notebook

The new FX600MX notebook from MSI features a 15.6-inch backlit LED screen with support for 720p HD visuals. It is powered by an Intel Core i3 or i5 processor and can be configured with up to 8 GB of DDR3 memory. Most notably, MSI's new notebook uses Nvidia's Optimus Technology, or GPU Boost Technology, to automatically switch to the Nvidia GeForce 310M discrete graphics card for processing high-load applications. It then automatically shifts back to the integrated GPU mode for less intensive tasks in order to save power.

The FX600MX comes with 320 GB of hard-drive space, expandable to 500 GB. It includes the necessary ports for HD visualization: HDMI, VGA, two USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA/USB combination port. Featuring a 4-in-1 card reader, Bluetooth and a dual-layer DVD writer, the FX600MX weighs 5.29 pounds with the six-cell Li-Ion battery. MSI hasn't yet disclosed details on pricing or availability.

Iomega Delivers Three External SSDs

Iomega in mid-October launched three external SSDs featuring USB 3.0 connectivity and a small 1.8-inch form factor. The SSDs come in 64-GB, 128-GB and 256-GB sizes and have MLC Flash technology, which uses multiple levels per cell to allow more bits to be stored. For PCs equipped with the new USB 3.0 interface, Iomega's new portable external SSDs offer speeds of up to 10 times that of drives connected via USB 2.0 interfaces. The drives also perform about twice as fast as a 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive connected via USB 3.0.

Iomega expects the new SSDs to be used for performance-hungry applications such as high-definition video, digital images, graphics and music. Included with the SSDs is the Iomega Protection Suite of software. The 64-GB version of Iomega's SSD is priced at $229, the 128-GB version at $399 and the 256-GB version at $749. They are expected to be available starting early next month to Iomega's solution providers via Ingram Micro, as well as through retailers and from Iomega direct.

Western Digital Launches 3-TB Hard Drive

Western Digital's Caviar Green family of SATA hard drives delivers up to 3 TB of storage capacity on a single drive. Caviar Green applies 750-GB-per-platter areal density and Advanced Format technology to add storage capability. Green Power Technology reduces both power consumption through lower operating temperatures and acoustical noise for quiet operation. The WD Caviar Green 2.5-TB and 3-TB hard drives are designed for use as secondary external storage and advanced PC storage in 64-bit-based systems that run on Microsoft Vista or Windows 7 platforms. To satisfy the requirements of capacities in excess of 2.19 TB, Western Digital is bundling its WD Caviar Green 2.5-TB and 3-TB hard drives with an Advanced Host Controller Interface-compliant Host Bus Adapter, allowing the operating system to use a known driver with correct support for large-capacity drives.

The hard drives are available in the U.S. at select resellers and distributors. MSRP for the WD Caviar Green 2.5-TB hard drive is $189 and the 3-TB hard drive is priced at $239, each with a three-year limited warranty.

OCZ Revs Up PCI-Express SSD

OCZ's RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express SSD improves on the performance and capacity of its predecessor and is designed for high-performance computing consumers. The RevoDrive X2 offers processing speed of up to 740 MBps and up to 120,000 IOPS. RevoDrive X2 improves performance on a variety of applications including graphic design and multimedia rendering, as well as demanding database and server applications.

The RevoDrive family eliminates the SATA II (3-Gbps) bottleneck and leverages a PCIe x4 interface to implement current flash technology. The X2 uses an onboard RAID 0 design like its predecessor, but it features four SandForce-1200 controllers, two more than in the original architecture, for increased data access and bandwidth. The RevoDrive X2 is bootable to ensure quicker startups and load times, for workstation PCs in particular. Available in 100-GB to 960-GB capacities, the RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express SSD is available through the channel.

Patriot Makes Quick Work With Torqx TRB SSDs

Patriot Memory's Torqx TRB SSDs offer system responsiveness for quicker boot times and application load times. Available in 32-GB and 64-GB capacities, the TRB series is designed around the JMicron JMF616 controller. With a controller level cache of 64-MB DDR2, the Torqx TRB series offers up to 260 MBps in read speed and up to 115 MBps in write speed. The SSDs include support for the TRIM command in Microsoft Windows 7. They run on a SATA I/II interface, with RAID support, 64-MB DRAM cache and silent, low-power operation. The Torqx TRB series of SSDs come with an aluminum housing to minimize damage over time. With NAND memory at their core, they are available with a three-year warranty. Individual prices have not been released.

Nvidia Goes Deep With GeForce GT 430

Nvidia's new GeForce GT 430 graphics card uses the 40-nanometer GPU, code-named GF108, to increase the performance of photo and video editing, as well as Blu-ray 3-D playback. It's also designed to handle GPU-accelerated Web browsers and Web content. Alongside digital content in full 3-D, Nvidia's GeForce GT 430 offers gaming and multimonitor display compatibility. The expanded memory bandwidth from 96 CUDA cores enables advanced visualization technology from Nvidia's parallel computing architecture.

The GT 430 also features Windows DirectX 11 support and an additional 1 GB of DDR3 memory and a GPU running at 1.4GHz. The dual-link DVI-I port, HDMI 1.4a port and a 15-pin analog VGA port offer multiple connection and display options without the need for an auxiliary power supply connector. The GeForce GT 430 is priced at $79 and competes with the AMD Radeon HD 5570 in the entry-level, commercial space of the home theater personal computer.

CTL On The Go With New 10-Inch Tablet

The new 2goPad from Portland, Ore.-based system builder and manufacturer CTL is a 10-inch tablet with capacitive screen and 1,024-x-600 pixel resolution on a backlit LED display. It runs on the Atom N450 processor at a speed of 1.66GHz and includes 2 GB of DDR2 memory on a 250-GB hard drive. The device features an Adobe Flash video player, HTML5 compatibility, a built-in eReader and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

The 2goPad SL10 includes a rotating swivel touch-screen display, Microsoft Windows 7, 2 GB of memory and access to applications. It is designed for education, enterprise use and mobile computing, with connectivity options including 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet LAN port, a mini VGA port and two USB connectors. It comes with a microphone, stereo speakers and a Micro SD Card reader. The tablet weighs 2.6 pounds with its four-cell battery, which provides up to 5 hours of run time. The 2goPad is priced at $499.