OCZ Esata Flash Drives- All the Speed that you need!

Media Highlight: OCZ Throttle eSATA Drive
Part Number: OCZESATATHR8G OCZESATATHR16G OCZESATATHR32



Offering amazing speeds and proprietary technology, the OCZ Throttle is making waves in the storage arena. Extreme Overclocking just published their findings…check it out!



“As you can see the read speeds on this drive in eSATA mode are extremely fast. Almost three times the speed of USB.”



“In eSATA mode the OCZ Throttle the read speed was 88.17MB/s (very close to the rated 90MB/s). With read speeds like this, it is faster than a lot of desktop hard drives out there.”



“On average we got about 30MB/s write speed in eSATA mode. This was phenomenal, for those on the go transporting large files the Throttle would be great. Even in USB mode the OCZ Throttle was fast, coming in at 19.4MB/s.”



“The OCZ Throttle Flash Drive offers great performance and speed utilizing eSATA. This is a great feature for those who need to copy data quickly from computers.”

The only disadvantage that this has right now is Esata is not the standard yet. Most laptops do not support esata. You will only see Esata on most high end boards. But this is an amazing product and I can't wait to review it. Again OCZ has just prove that is always one step ahead.

Asus releases the Rampage II Genie

GENEtically Superior: mATX ROG Rampage II GENE Motherboard Delivers Max Performance in Mini Form Factor

ASUS, the world’s leading producer of motherboards, released the new X58-based ROG (Republic of Gamers) Rampage II GENE in response to overwhelming demand for a mATX gaming and enthusiast motherboard. Hailing from ASUS' world record-breaking Rampage II lineage, the Rampage II GENE boasts premium features such as MemOK! for worry-free memory upgrades, CPU Level Up for easy system performance boosts, and onboard SupremeFX X-Fi for true-to-life surround sound.

Atomic in Size, Atomic in Power
With the Rampage II GENE, ASUS has masterfully filled the mATX gap in its lauded ROG product line. For the first time, users will be able to harness the full power of the Intel® Core™ i7 processor in a chassis the fraction of the size and weight of an ATX desktop PC. The Rampage II GENE’s awesome combination of overclockability, tweakability and stability enable it to easily outgun other full-sized ATX


MemOK! Any Memory is A-Okay!
MemOK! was developed to provide users with a worry-free memory upgrade experience. In the event of a boot failure after installing new RAM, all the user has to do is press an easily accessible button on the motherboard and MemOK! will automatically load the failsafe settings needed to ensure a successful system boot. MemOK! is able to rapidly detect and resolve memory issues—even if bad or unstable memory is used!
Supreme In-game Audio with SupremeFX X-Fi
An onboard SupremeFX X-Fi solution delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic in-game sound effects. Official EAX sound effects from EAX 1.0 to EAX HD4.0 allow gamers to enjoy total immersion in supported games. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically.

Specifications
Model Rampage II GENE
CPU LGA1366 socket for Intel® Core™ i7
Chipset Intel® X58/ICH10R
System Bus Up to 6.4 GT/s with QuickPath Interconnection
Memory 6 x DIMM, Triple Channel, up to 24GB
DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C)/1333/1066 MHz
Expansion slot 2 x PCIe2.0 x16 slot, supports dual x16
1 x PCIe2.0 x4
1 x PCI 2.2
Multi-GPU Support NVIDIA SLI™ / ATI CrossFireX™
Storage 7 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s
1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s
1 x UltraDMA 133, support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
LAN Gigabit LAN
Audio Onboard SupremeFX X-Fi 8-Ch. Audio with EAX4.0 support
Other I/O ports 1*PS/2, 1*eSATA, 1*IEEE1394a, 1*Clr CMOS, 1*Optical S/PDIF
USB / IEEE1394a 12 x USB2.0 (6+6) / 2 x 1394a ports (1 at back I/O, 1 onboard)
Fan connector 5 (1 x CPU / 2 x Chassis / 2 x Optional)
Software (Full version) Kaspersky anti-virus, Futuremark® 3DMark™06 Advanced Edition
Features MemOK!, CPU Level Up, Keyboard-TweakIt, Extreme Tweaker, iROG, Loadline Calibration, LCD Poster, EPU-6 Engine, Q-Fan plus, Voltiminder LED
Form Factor mATX Form Factor, 9.6”x 9.6” (24.4cm x 24.4cm)

Note: Specifications are subject to change without prior notice. Please visit www.asus.com for more details.


ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than ten thousand and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s revenue for 2008 was 8.1 billion U.S. dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100”, and has been on the listing for 11 consecutive years.

The Asus GTX295 Techisland Review

Here is my long overdue review of the ASUS GTX295. I was suppose to review the GTX285 but instead, they replaced it with the GTX295. Right now, this card is the King of the HILL, top of the heap, NUMERO UNO VGA card beating the previous video champ, ATI’s 4870x2. Actually, this was NVIDIA’s answer to the 4870x2 because it also has two cores, well not really exactly the same, as the GTX295 is running two cards in SLI on a single card whilst the 4870x2 is running two cores on a single PCB. Sounds familiar? Yes, this is sorta like the Big brother of the 9800GX2 that a lot of fans came to love. Now you maybe thinking, “This card has $$$ written all over it” Well, you would be surprise to see hardcore gamers buying this baby even when most people are on Crisis Mode (and I don’t mean the game.) This card roughly sells at around P25,000.00, at that price most you could already buy a basic PC package or even a portable laptop but let me tell you this, YOU DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. So without further adue, let’s get it on!


The BOX
Did I mention they sent us two? :-D Later on you will see of course, BENCHMARK RESULTS of the GTX295 in SLI. But before that, lets move on.

Just like the RAMPAGE II it also has the ASUS Flip cover. On the front of the box you will see a very cool image of a knight on a horse. This clearly shows this card is targeted, OF COURSE, towards gamers. What I have notices though is ASUS seems to like the KNIGHT theme as they have been having a similar theme for most of their new Gaming video cards similar also on the previously reviewed MATRIX EAH 4870. That being mentioned, for those of you who don’t know, the cool thing about ASUS is they don’t just deal with ATI or NVIDIA, they have both, and they make these cool products even COOLER with a touch of ASUS.

The FLIP

When you flip open the box you will see very imporant information about applications that came with this card.

The TOP Flip

With Smart Doctor, you will be able to monitor essentials like Power, Temperature, Fan Speed and it even gives you shader clock overclocking controls. This software mite not even be installed by ordinary gamers but is a definite must have for enthusiasts who plan on seeing this card do more that what it says on the box!

The Bottom Flip

Now here you can see a well deserved highlight of a well deserved addition to this ASUS Video Card. The Unique GAMER OSD(On screen Display). It give the owner of this card very useful functions.

1.) Overclocking on the FLY. This allows the owner to overclock the card through preset keys even while in the MIDDLE of the game. This way, on slower level scenes he can make his card rest while on faster and heavier scenes he can easily switch to HARDCORE mode. This feature also allows the user to track is overclocks and adjust some basic functions like brightness & Contrast also while playing the game.

2.) Video Capturing option allows you to record your game and then share it with friends after you play. The great thing is, you can even setup your PC to become a video server allowing your friends to see what you are actually playing realtime. This is an awesome feature and I am sure team practice games will never be the same.

3.) Screen capture, of course you can capture your favorite screen shot midgame and share it with friends or show it as proof for competitions. For others, the best Kill scene would be the best wallpaper to have.

The BACK


Now here on the back you will see a lot of user information about the card that will help almost any techy understand what this card can do. The minimum requirements that this card can run on and the type of connectors it needs. One of the most important information I found on the back was that a SINGLE GTX295 would at least need 680 watts PSU to run it. That is heavy, the heaviest power requirement I have ever seen in a video card. Getting a 1200 watt power supply wouldn't be a problem for those who can afford a card like this. It is important to really get more than the required because you will for sure have a lot of hardrives and other peripherals to run as well and who knows, maybe a second GTX295 :-D

The Box within


When we got this card, I was surprised at its weight. Now I can see why. When ASUS wants to package in style, they definitely know how to do it right. When you open the box, you will see a very elegant second box. Sort of like, the outer box was your wrapper, and after tearing through the wrapper, you now your present. You are greeted with a minimalist black box with the ASUS gold logo at the center.



It does not end there, when you open the box, you will two separate boxes still with the same elegant ASUS packaging. They really know how to tease you. At this point I was so excited to see what goodies I would get aside from the VC.


The Contents.
Inside these boxes you will find the setup & manual CD, DVI to VGA adapter, dual Molex to 6 pin connector, An Audio Cable, a two 6 pin PCI-E to one 8 pin PCI-E power adapter, A Coupon for 10% off for 5 games, Speed setup guide, and like on my old EAH 3870x2, a disk folder to keep and protect all your Asus disks and games that you will buy.



The CARD.
Well as most hard core gamers know, cards are getting bigger and bigger. Why? Well, they need more room for cooling but this card also has more reasons. You see, deep within the realms of this behemoth are actually TWO CARDS on SLI packed into one. Like I said at the start of this review, this was also done on the old 9800GX2. The funny thing is, I got into an argument with this guy from a local forum. I told him that if I ran this Card on SLI, it would be better than two 285s together. And he corrected me thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifat I should not say SLI, it should be QUAD SLI. Well frankly, we were both right. You see, this card maybe two actual cards in one, it is still being sold as one single card in the sense that it does connect to your motherboard via a single PCIExpress Slot. And nowhere in the box does it say QUAD SLI, although, Technically it is, I wouldn’t go running around telling people I would “QUAD SLI a GTX295” because non techies would definitely take is as putting 4 295’s in one board, hence, Saying I want to put two GTX295’s in SLI is still the correct and appropriate term for to use, its just that technical end result would be QUAD. And if you happen to really put GTX295’s in Quad SLI, you would be actually using 8 cores already.


Asus has made its way to improving cooling on the GTX295. Unlike the 4870x2 cards, the sticker only covers a portion of the card making room for more breathing holes on the card. The card is thick and will most likely eat up two PCI slots but no fret, we have tested putting these on the ASUS Rampage II and we managed to put them together fine on the first and second PCIe slots. Now how does the airflow work on this card: It will take cool air from the rear vents and front back part of the fan holes.


It will then push the cool air to both sides of the card forcing the heat out from the fins that you can clearly see here:

And direct it out to the front end of the card outside the case.


I have to say, ASUS and NVIDIA did an amazing job on the cooling design allowing one FAN to cool two PCB’s and getting it to work well.
At the bottom of the card you will see the Single SLI connector to be able to run this card on SLI to give you a QUAD solution.


THE Connectors:
This card sports an HDMI port and two DVI ports as well another advantage of having two PCB boards.



Watch out for the Second part of this review where we will be testing these cards on two systems, one running on Phenom2 x 4 and the other running Intel’s Core i-7. And we will also be comparing it with some 4870x2 CF results on both Systems. :

Special Thanks to ASUS Philippines for providing us with these cards and Motherboards. Special thanks also to Silverstone, Sunbeam, Tuniq, OCZ and www.fineupgrades.com.

Iphone firmware 3.0 Walkthrough & Review

Hmmm, this mite finally just make me shift. Thanks to J. Rodriguez for pointing this out to me on F.B.

Imagine, the so Basic Copy and Paste had to wait for 3.0, non the less, its here!
But Landscape keyboard on texting is just as important to me. I have always wondered what made it so hard to implement since they already had a landscape keyboard on Safari working. Again, whats important is its here!


http://i.gizmodo.com/5174053/iphone-30-beta-os-walkthrough-video

And heres a review of the beta on youtube:

Microsoft Envisions 2019

Now if this is Microsofts vision, I want to see what Mac has up it's sleeve.

http://www.freshbite.info/fnews_1236041081_11205.htm

Here is one sample video:
Microsoft Envisions Banking in 2019:


Note: The funny thing is, there is so much talk about the world ending in 2012. Google it.

Got some new Techisland Episodes Uploaded on Y.T.

Please do visit my channel there and add me as a friend:
http://www.youtube.com/user/techisland

Here is a sample of the latest Episode uploaded:

Old CEBU BFW Lan Party VIdeo

I was doing some youtube surfing and guess what I found, a very old video of a Lanparty we did wayback in 2006. BFW LP at ARCTECH. Man those were the days.



Nice Job Homey!

Microsoft & HTC EB

It seems Microsoft aims to increase its WINMO users by organizing this event with HTC. I think this is a very good idea so more people can feel the power of WINMO and of course, HTC. This just mite work, but I tell you, it is still the battle goes on with the IPHONE.

How to detect fake Kingston RAMs

Thanks to a friend of mine from istorya.net, SIMOKO for showing me this and I would also like to share it with everyone else.
Hope this helps someone! If you are a victim please leave a comment!

Muchos Gracias!

Look what the cat dragged in- ASUS ENGTX295

Watch out for a review soon here on mytechisland.

Special thanks to ASUS Philippines

ASUS latest Concept Board- The MarineCool

This board was showcased at CEBIT 2009. ASUS was kind enough to email me a powerpint file which basically say's it all about this amazing concept.

MARINE COOL is a conceptual MB.

With a revolutionary Design and advanced innovations , MARINE COOL provides more stability, longer durability and the best Quality.
Enthusiasts and gamers do overclock. But there are also some people who prefer to use the default setting or purchase better components instead.

People do care about stability & compatibility.

The tough concept was thus conceived to provide the most stable computing experience.









Q&A:
Q: Will the MARINE COOL be officially launched?
A: MARINE COOL is still a concept MB, so we will not be launching it so quickly.

Q: Is MARINE COOL really tough? Are there any other features?
A: We have only introduced 3 innovations, but we still have many tough factors on the board. These include: hardware RAID, the strictest testing program, and the highest component specs. Also, feel free to submit any suggestions about what we can do to improving the concept.
Q: Why did you adopt the SO-DIMM memory design?
A: In order to set the Ceremic Backplate flush with the PCB, we needed to utilize SMT (Surface Mounted Technology) components such as capacitors and chokes in the design of the motherboard. As SO-DIMM is the only memory type that adopts the SMT design, that is the most important reason why we adopted SO-DIMM into our design. Furthermore, SO-DIMM also obtains good test results in terms of stability and compatibility. As the Marine Cool motherboard is not designed for extreme overclocking, we do not have overclocking results with SO-DIMM.

Bassunter- Dota (Dedicated to all DOTA players out there)

If you notice in the video, he is using the Steelseries Syberia Headset which is very popular in Europe.



Here is the link to the original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXKd7uuehlw

ASUS RAMPAGE II Extreme

Rampage II- with the Republic of Gamers branding, this Monster of a motherboard from ASUS is aimed towards the EXTREME users. Everything you need + More= ASUS Rampage II.
This board is ASUS’ second release for the Core i7 platform the first being the P6T (x58)

BOX AND WHAT’S INSIDE.

One of the great things I like about the box is you will never mistake it for anything else. “RAMPAGE II EXTREME” is boldly placed at the center of a Bright Red Motive box. Aside from the Republic of Gamers branding, you will see the processor support, chipset type and ATI and AMD multi card badges.

Before opening the box, it also comes with a flip cover, which when flipped, gives you a peek of what to expect inside. This would be good for resellers because they will be able to display this awesome piece of hardware without the need to open the box. You see, extreme enthusiasts can tend to get extremely meticulous about buying $$$ hardware. Most likely if there is a portion of the box that’s torn, they won’t take it anymore. So the FLIP top box is a + for all resellers!

On the TOP of the Flip, it basically gives you a run down on the highlights of the board and at the back, you will see all the specifications you need to know when buying a board like this.
In my opinion, the box was designed to make anyone who goes over it drool.

DVD Driver, APS and Software- IT comes with 3D marks Vantage benchmarking software for vista, making it very clear that if you have this board, you have to overclock it.
It has 6 Sata Cables and 1 IDE cable, making sure you get everything you need to connect all your drives. Since crossfire link connectors always comes with CF-ready ATI cards, this board only came along with two types of SLI connectors, a three way tri-SLI connector and a 2 way one.
Optional bridge cooler is provided as well if you intend to put a passive cooler on the CPU.
If you do not have a front panel port on your case, which is very unlikely, you will have the option to plug in a PCI dual USB and firewire panel at the back. For Extremist though, I am sure this will just get in the way of their TRI-Sli setup so this will probably remain in the box for most people.
Now here is another accessory I used to only see on MSI boards: A creative sound card. Well, MSI had it built in their board and ASUS had it as and add on card. I would have preferred it to be built-in just to make more room for my videos cards, but after testing it, it does not really get in the way, although it does eat up breathing room for the video cards we tested it with. The nice thing about this though is it makes you feel you got your money’s worth because you don’t have to shell out more for a separate high quality sound card.

Now, one of the coolest things is the Post screen. This is a mini LCD which you place outside your system or even stretch it out to your desk if you wanted to. I like to place ours just inside the glass window so it stays protected as well from envious onlooker’s lolz. Old motherboards started with POST beeps. For every beep you hear during boot up, there is a corresponding meaning. Like a beep that goes wild like a siren would mean there is something wrong with your processor, or long beeps would mean memory issues. Well basically, the beep has evolved into the post screen. Old post screens like I have seen in Epox motherboards showed us digital letters and numbers which you would then consult to a manual for the actual meaning. With this POST screen it just tells you what the heck is going on. ASUS, you really know how to spoil a gamer!


Now, the moment we have all been waiting for, the BOARD. For one, I really get goosebumps just by looking at it. I am sure that even non-enthusiasts , average joe PC users or heck , even non-pc users would really stop by the window of a PC shop when they see this and 90% of’em would ask “how much is it?” The board just looks so fantastic. Imagine looking at a supped up car in an international motor show with the babe at the side. That is how it feels (even without the babe lol.)
Since most of you already know the basics of motherboards, I will just jump to the highlights:

- The board is made of black/dark brown 6 layer PCB measuring 30x24cm.

- It now comprises of a special Control Panel. This panel is equipped with a power and reset button that allows you to of course, power on and off or reset on the fly. It also has toggle buttons and a joystick that’s used for manual overclocking and selecting certain setup features on the board. This Panel was designed for those OVERCLOCKERS who don’t put their PC on a case.
Sunbeam Ultra Tech Station.

Most of these guys have either nitrogen cooling or a very efficient watercooling setup ready to set world records in the OC world. This is the first I have ever seen and I really dig it!
- Just below this unique control panel is another first. Open pin sockets that allow you to measure the voltage with a multimeter to get more accurate results. Again, overclockers will love this. No longer do they have to rely on software voltage readers which sometimes can be quite accurate.
- This board is also equipped with 6 DDR3 RAM slots, which one day, can give you about 48Gigs of RAM (through 6- 8 gig sticks- WOW) I am giving 8 gigs as an example because DDR2 already reached up to 8 gig and I don’t think that’s far from becoming real on DDR3.

- The board’s CPU area may appear a little tight because of the Proprietary cooling system Asus has placed that covers the ICH10R Southbridge, the Northbridge and the Mosfets . We were still able to fit in a SUNBEAM Core Contact Freezer with the i7 Adapter on it. BUT there was no way we could fit in the additional ASUS fan anymore. No worries, it says to use the fan only if your HS was on passive cooling.

- One of the board’s main highlights is the triple PCIxpress slots allowing you to put up to three nvidia cards in triple SLI mode or three ATI cards in triple crossfirex setup. You may also have a dual SLI or crossfirex setup and just use the third PCIE slot for a dedicated PHYSX video card using a lower end card. One thing to take note though is the clip locks of the PCIE slots to lock the video card in place. When we attempted to put the ASUS EAH 4870x2 TRIFAN on it, it just would not lock, when we tested it on the second PCIE slot, it did lock, BUT removing the card was so hard that we broke off the latch that releases the card from the lock. This is something ASUS has yet to work on. TAKE NOTE though, that even with the latch gone, the 2nd PCIE slot still worked when without problems and if this happened to you, just make sure to push the card back into place after travelling (to your favorite lan party) or if you can, get a case like the Silverstone RV01 which also has a special VGA support system that pushes the card and locks it into place. The PCIE slots were also a little too for comfort make it hard to put VGA’s with large HSF’s in crossfire or SLI mode, more so on triple setups but with the ASUS EAH 4870 Matrix, we had no issues in putting them up together.

- Let’s go to the rear I/O panel. The first thing you notice is the single PS2 port, it can be used for a mouse or a keyboard, whichever you choose to connect, and the second device must be used on USB. It gives you 6 USB slot, 2 Gigabit Lan ports, a firewire and ESATA port and of course, your digital audio optical out. Now, what I love about the rear panel is ASUS’s back unique back plate. It lights up. Remember those dark days where you have to crawl to the back of your casing to plug extra USB device and you have to fumble with a flashlight in your mouth just to get it in? Well, gone are those days with this board. Again, this is a feature I have only seen with ASUS.
- The board also gives you one IDE port to allow you to connect whatever IDE
device you have left. Frankly I like it, because I really opt to use my optical drives on IDE to save all those SATA ports for my hard drives.

Asus also paid attention to the details. Aside form the lights on the rear back panel. You will also see a lot of lights inside. The start and reset button, the ROG logo also pulsates. Definitely gives you a lot of bling to add to your bragging rights.

Well that’s about all I have for you for now. This board is an amazing product and is definitely worth the ROG branding. I am quite sure any gamer would give anything to get a board like this on their arsenal. If you want to find out more on this board’s Performance & Overclockability, do watch out for my future articles when we run this baby off the roof on the FU 2009 ULTIMATE RIG SETUP. You may also see this board in action and TEST for yourself on the Fineupgrades’ Roadshow happening very soon so don’t forget to come back here for more details. In fact, you will already see this board in play on my previous article, the ASUS 4870 MATRIX, do check that out as well if you haven’t for I am adding more results there too!

Special Thanks to ASUS Philippines for providing us with this board.