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THQ threatened with stock exchange delisting

Laurence Howe — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:05:24 +0000

Troubled publisher THQ faces possible de-listing from the Nasdaq stock exchange, it’s been warned.

MCVreports that the Saints Row company’s shares have failed to top $1 for 30 consecutive days, which is the minimum level required for a continued listing.THQ has been given until July 23 (180 days) to boost its share price and must maintain a $1+ level for ten consecutive business days.

The firm recently announced it’s exiting the kids’ licensed games category to focus on its core game franchises and “develop digital initiatives”.

THQ’s “updated business strategy” was announced shortly after the publisher denied rumours that it had cancelled multiple projects and was positioning itself for sale.

Last month, the company cut 30 staff from its family-focused Play THQ division, the Californian development team responsible for the publisher’s uDraw line of products.

Source: CVG

GeIL Enhance Corsa DDR3 1333MHz 8GB Memory Kit Review

Andy Ruffell — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:49:37 +0000

GeIL have been attempting to bring their branding and their name back into the market, with extreme efforts being focussed on in the UK. They have done so with a new range of memory products with the “Corsa” branding of which we’ve already looked at the 2133MHz Evo Corsa 8GB kit a little while ago, but for a lot of consumers, 2133MHz is still overkill.

GeIL have this in mind and have released another load of 8GB kits ranging in speed with the Enhance Corsa range with the 1333MHz kit being a prime example of offering the capacity that’s needed but with the mainstream user in careful consideration.

Even though it’s set to run at 1333MHz, the 1333MH and 1600MHz kits have been fully tested at higher speeds with the same CAS latency, which is all part of the unique selling point of the Enhance range.

The kit consists of two modules that include the EVO style heatspreaders which are raised above the PCB and could cause complications with some CPU coolers. The heatspreaders this time are bright orange and could match up quite nicely with the X58-OC board from Gigabyte if it used dual channel memory.

Each module is 4GB in capacity and runs at a slightly lower than average 1333MHz with timings of 9-9-9-24 at 1.5V. GeIL also make it clear that this set of modules has been tested at 1500MHz at CAS 9 which straight away shows some headroom and with a low voltage of 1.5V we can only hope that we can push it a little bit further.

Test system:

Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z
Intel Core i7 2700k
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC
Corsair H80
Corsahir HX1050W
Kingston V+100 128GB SSD
Lian Li T60

We would like to thank Asus, Corsair, Kingston and Lian Li for supplying us with our test system components.

When we booted into BIOS to make sure all of the settings were correct, we find the command rate set to 2T so we straight away wanted to see if it would boot with a 1T command rate, and much to our surprise it did.

Once the timings had been set correctly, we wanted to see how the memory performed at stock and as you can see from the figures, it was pretty much standard for what a 1333MHz kit would get.

We managed to get a read speed of 16155 MB/s, a write speed of 17469 MB/s and a copy speed of 18213 MB/s. The latency for the memory at stock speed was 54.2 ns.

The next step for us was to see how far we could overclock, so we bumped the memory divider straight up to 1600MHz with stock timings and low and behold we managed to boot into Windows with 100% stability.

After toying with how far to go next, we attempted to move the memory divider again, but this time to 1866MHz. A failed boot occurred and we had to go back into BIOS to slacken off the timings a bit. We managed to loosen the timings to 9-10-9-28 whilst maintaining a 1T command rate and get a successful boot.

Knowing that the next step of 2133MHz was out of the question, we started to increase the BCLK instead, and whilst we’re aware that Sandy Bridge is quite restricting on the BCLK, we had a feeling that some extra juice could be squeezed out of these modules.

We started to ramp things up slowly until we hit a barrier at 106.0MHz which is fantastic considering how far we’d already pushed the modules by just using the memory divider.

We did find that the timings had to be slackened off a bit more to achieve this to 11-11-11-31 but as we’re using Sandy Bridge, it cares more for sheer performance opposed to latencies. We continued to boot and snapped a CPU-Z screenshot to confirm the correct settings at a successful 1979MHz from a stock 1333MHz. Simply WOW!

Now that we’d managed to push this memory to the limits, we wanted to see if it had made much of a difference within AIDA64. It surely did with some large increases across the board with a read speed of 20231 MB/s, write speed of 18520 MB/s and a copy speed of 22039 MB/s and the memory latency had dropped to 44.4 ns. These really were some great results, especially considering how easy it was to get to this speed.

We did find that the timings could be tightened up a little bit more but the stability wasn’t at 100% and would most likely require a voltage increase, but as we pushed our voltage to 1.65V anyway, we weren’t too keen on going past that, especially on a Sandy Bridge based system.

After looking at the EVO Corsa range of modules from GeIL a little while ago, we were quite clued up on their technology and what they could achieve but the Enhance Corsa surpassed all expectations and simply blew our ambitions out of the water.

The kit simply seemed like it didn’t want to stop from a stock 1333MHz with standard looking results to a whopping 1979MHz with extremely fast speeds, it simply left us with a massive smile on our faces.

Sadly there are no reputable retailers in the UK stocking this particular kit, but there are a few around that stock other similar kits including the 1600MHz kit that we’ll be looking at in the near future, so keep your eyes pealed if you’re after this exact set of modules.

I would normally sum things up with some kind of intelligent and somewhat witty comment, but I feel myself slightly lost for words as this kit has really done a great job in terms of performance and overclockability, and the fact they are bright orange really makes them stand out and that’s a good angle for GeIL to get them back into the market.

All I can say, is that I’m extremely excited to try out the 1600MHz dual channel kit as well as the quad channel kits that we have ready for Intel X79 very soon.

G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 1866MHz 8GB Memory Kit Review

Andy Ruffell — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:36:11 +0000

We’re currently at a time where the selection of memory available to a consumer is at its highest peak ever which makes buying a tough decision. G.Skill have tried to make things a little bit easier, by offering great performance sets for low prices to give something to the consumer that other brands can’t come close to.

This has been the case for the entire G.Skill product catalogue with memory ranging in size and speed but having one very similar point in common; the price. That’s why you’ll now find 8GB G.Skill kits priced so competitively that it rivals other brands and their slower 4GB module kits.

Today we’re taking a look at a 1866MHz 8GB kit which should be more than ample for the majority of users, so lets get stuck in and see what this particular RipjawsX memory module kit can do.

Just like the RipjawsX kit we’ve seen before, these are sporting the red low profile heatspreaders which should look great when installing into some of the top AMD or Intel boards on the market, such as the Maximus IV Extreme-Z or Crosshair V as the colours will match up extremely well, especially with the black PCB of the modules too.

Taking a closer look at this sticker we find the kit is a 14900 speed kit, consisting of 2x4GB modules which run at 1866MHz with timings of 9-10-9-28 and operate at 1.5V. This sticker also acts as your warranty and if removed will void any warranty that the modules may have.

Test system:

Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z
Intel Core i7 2600k
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC
Corsair H80
Corsahir HX1050W
Kingston V+100 128GB SSD
Lian Li T60

We would like to thank Asus, Corsair, Kingston and Lian Li for supplying us with our test system components.

Looking at the stock performance of this memory, we were quite surprised with the figures for an 1866MHz kit. AIDA64 gave us a read speed of 19824 MB/s, whilst the write speed was 17945 MB/s, copy speed was 21387 MB/s and a memory latency of 44.6ns.

The figures that we received at stock were very impressive and we were keen to see if it lived up to the hype that other RipjawsX kits have received in the past, in terms of overclocking.

As said, G.Skill modules have always been quite delectable when raising the speed and performance so we were very keen to see if this kit could follow suit for those wanting a little bit more performance from their purchase.

We managed to get this memory from its stock speed of 1866MHz to a stonking 1978MHz which is fantastic considering we kept the timings and voltages at their default stock levels. We then continued to run AIDA64 to see how the overclock had impacted the memory in terms of read, write, and copy speeds including latency.

Going back to AIDA64 to see how things have changed, we found the read speed has increased to 20252 MB/s, the write speed had jumped ever so slightly to 17982 MB/s and the copy speed showed up with 21578 MB/s. Taking a look at the memory latency, the overclock helped bring it down to 43.2ns.

So it seems that G.Skill has done it again. The overall performance speaks for itself and when looking at the way the set overclocked and the performance afterwards, it’s clear that this is definitely a kit to buy. When overclocking, it seemed that this memory didn’t want to stop and found us anxiously waiting to see where it would end up.

1978MHz seemed to be the golden number when using stock timings and voltages, and we find that overclocking in this way is the best way to gain extra performance. From increasing the voltage and loosening the timings, we’re sure that 2000MHz + is achievable but the majority of users are uncomfortable in increasing voltages.

The bottom line is that we can’t fault this particular set of modules, as they offer an extreme look, extreme performance but a value price tag and who can really grumble at that? Having the close neck performance to 2133MHz kits and having some headroom for overclocking shows that G.Skill are still as good as ever and will continue to be as they slowly take the market by storm.

AMD launches Bulldozer but has no stock

Ryan Martin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:01:09 +0000

Bulldozer Delayed yet again?

AMD officially launches Bulldozer tomorrow but an insider source says that AMD does not have any stock ready for the launch. It is not uncommon for AMD to fail to produce stock on a big launch day, the same thing occurred with Llano and the HD 6990 earlier this year. The bad news is that “High End” FX processors like the FX-8150 are said to be due for the end of October so all the enthusiasts out there will be very disappointed if this is the case. The more entry level Bulldozers are said to arrive before then probably within the next week.

We are also informed that some UK retailers are trying to acquire stock from the USA in order to have stock ready for the launch week. Price wars have already begun between the big retailers but they will not be able to ship out any stock until this alleged issue is resolved. Watch this space.

GeIL Evo Corsa DDR3 2133MHz 8GB Memory Kit Review

Andy Ruffell — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:36:54 +0000

There are a lot of manufacturers of memory modules in the market today, and the majority of them are very similar in terms of speed, performance and of course style. Looking at it, there is only so much you can do with a set of memory modules and that mainly comes down to the colouring and size and shape of the heatspreaders by trying to make them as unique as possible, and hope that the rest takes care of itself.

Obviously some modules can offer faster speeds and better performance but this all comes with a premium price tag and with very little real-world noticeable differences, memory kits have to be made unique in their own way to appeal to the mass consumer market.

GeIL are a brand who haven’t been around for quite some time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t been busy. Back in the day, they were famous for some of the hottest memory kits on the market for a reasonable price point, but sadly, at least in the UK, they seemed to fade into the night, but it now seems they are back and wanting to grab the market with maximum force.

The Evo Corsa stems from the other Evo range of memory modules from GeIL and relies on its key success and branding. It does so by offering up the fastest speeds possible with some key technologies that other brands don’t think are necessary including DBT. With a market that is flooded with competition, the fact of a lifetime warranty doesn’t really cut it any more, so GeIL believe that features like DBT and using the very best components to make the core product will pay off in the end.

Intel to scrap stock heat sinks with LGA 2011 processors

Ryan Martin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:41:00 +0000

Amidst news that AMD would be equipping FX 8 core processors with water cooling units Intel has made it clear they intend to scrap the stock Intel heat sink with the LGA 2011 processors and then make them available separately for those consumers that actually want to buy them. The three i7 processors which will not have them equipped will be the i7-3820 , 3930K and 3960X as Intel has recognised the market segment they are targetting is likely to buy third party cooling solutions.

Enthusiasts can expect the new LGA 2011 processors to reach a TDP of 130W although some engineering samples have recorded a TDP of 180W without overclocking. Therefore, those who want to overclock or maintain low temperatures will probably opt for third party cooling solutions. However, for those who intend to stick to stock clock speeds and want the Intel certification for warranty purposes Intel will make the certified stock coolers available to its partners for consumer purchase. It is expected all the cooling solutions for LGA 2011 will be ready a few days prior to the launch of the processors themselves.

Attached files

StockIntel1155cooler.jpg (14.6 KB)

AMD planning water cooled units to replace stock AMD heatsinks

Ryan Martin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:44:00 +0000

The team at X-Bit Labs report that apparently AMD officials have decided that they will replace the stock AM3+ heatsink fan units with small closed circuit water cooling units since they believe that the first thing most people get rid of when purchasing a high end AMD CPU is the stock heat sink since it is very often inadequate to keep the CPU temperatures under control when overclocking or overvolting. However, this is not going to be a standard issue with all AMD CPUs only the upcoming 8 Core FX Bulldozer processors will recieve this new cooling kit.

AMD has done this ahead of a trend among the cooling market which has seen a lot of consumers opt for the sub-$100 closed circuit water cooling kits over the similarly priced air cooling heat sink tower style units. It is expected the unit will be a closed direct copper contact unit with a 120mm Radiator and 120mm fan which is best mounted at the back of the case. This news indicates two things potentially, 1) the AMD FX 8 core CPUs will run too hot to be air cooled or 2) AMD is trying to win over the enthusiast crowd and steal some market share from the hands of Intel by offering a better value all round package.

Source.

Attached files

AMD-FX-8150.jpg (36.9 KB)