Hardware

My obsession first appeared in the CES Press Lobby last January as I wrote a story on my PC laptop.  I’de glance over the screen to catch a glimpse of a Mac loyalist staring me down with this unmistakable  grin as it seemed I was the only press member not in possession of a Mac of some sort. That same …

The search for fast, cheap, reliable and large capacity Hard Disk Drives seems to be never ending. Enter Samsung with their new EcoGreen 54EG 2TB Series of hard drives and we get a fresh look at something newer, faster, quieter and requiring less power than other hard drives in todays fast moving world of storage. With contenders such as Seagate, …

This is the Test Bench and a quick click will display it close up.  As you may have guessed, it truly is no ordinary Test Bench and I have dedicated more hours creating this build than than I care to admit to get it where it is today. Our main focal point in this report will be an array of …

MBR LIMITATIONS In order to ensure that our review went smoothly, their needed to be consideration as to what partitions would serve our tests best as this was definitely not a standard-issue configuration.  This was first discovered when we examined the inherent limitation of the MBR disk partitioning system which is the standard used for the vast majority of drives …

ATTO DISK BENCHMARK V.2.46 ATTO Disk Benchmark is the quickest and simplest method to determine transfer speeds and utilizes the same test methodology as manufacturers in arriving at performance results.  It simply measures raw sequential transfer speeds for both read and write access at various transfer sizes, producing a very easily understood result. This benchmark is by far the industry …

CRYSTAL DISKMARK 3.0.1 Crystal Diskmark is a very flexible benchmark that shows the speed of the drives at various file sizes. All of the smaller file sizes are measured in random access, a key weak point of many types of Hard Disk Drives. With this benchmark we can see the great scaling from the single drive compared to the raid …

WIN7 EXPERIENCE INDEX The Win7 Experience Index (WEI) represents Microsofts method of rating computer systems and, more specific to our usage, provides a storage evaluation through a graduated rating system up to 7.9 on PC components and the system as a whole. This benchmark is built into Windows and anyone can use it by simply typing: Go to Win Orb/All …

Our review today is going to examine a 4GB kit of Patriot Viper Extreme Division 2 memory. This kit is rated at DDR3-1600 (or 800MHz) at timings of 8-9-8-24 with 1.65v. Based on the quick specifications, it is clear that this low-latency kit is designed for extreme performance. BACKGROUND Patriot Memory is a long standing company that was founded in …

3.  SiSoftware Sandra Professional Business Edition (Latest Version) SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information and diagnostic utility. It provides most of the information (including undocumented) needed by testing hardware, software and other devices. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level, Sandra presents information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound …

4.  Futuremark PCMark Vantage Professional 64-Bit Edition (Version 1.0.0.0) PCMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed for Windows, offering one-click simplicity for casual users and detailed, professional grade testing for industry, press and enthusiasts. A PCMark score is a measure of via a computers performance across a variety of common tasks such as viewing and editing photos, video, music …