QNAP TS-659 Pro II Review

QNAP is a well known player in the SMB / SOHO NAS market. This market is a highly competitive one with many players like Synology, Thecus, Netgear, LaCie, Sagate and Western Digital. Consumers with a necessity to store and backup their home media collection also form a small segment of this market.

We have been playing around with the QNAP TS-659 Pro II unit over the last month or so. Based on the Intel Atom D525 platform, it has 6 bays and dual GbE ports, making it a candidate for the high end SMB market. The Pro II units introduced this year have a couple of USB 3.0 ports which the versions from the last year lacked.

The purpose of any NAS is to serve as a centralized repository for data while also having some sort of redundancy built in. The redundancy helps in data recovery, in case of media failure of any other unforeseen circumstances. In addition to the standard RAID levels, some companies also offer custom redundancy solutions. The OS on the NAS also varies across vendors.

The QNAP TS-659 Pro II runs a Linux variant (Turbo NAS v3.5 was used in our benchmarks) which can be managed through a web browser. Internally, the dual core Atom D525 runs at 1.8 GHz and has four execution threads, thanks to the hyper threading feature. There is 1 GB of RAM inbuilt, but it is possible for the end user to increase this. The dual GbE ports can be configured in multiple ways to provide load balancing or fault tolerance or just dynamically aggregating the bandwidth.

Let us conclude this section with a look at the marketing specs from QNAP:

73 Comments Mobile GPU Faceoff: AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics vs. NVIDIA Optimus Technology

Switchable Graphics - Meet the Contenders
Before we get to the actual meat of this review, we have a disclaimer to make: both laptops we’re comparing came to us via NVIDIA. Now, before anyone cries “foul!”, let me explain. First, we asked AMD for just such a laptop back in May, and they haven’t been able to get us one yet (though it’s likely as much the fault of OEMs as AMD). We also only just received our first Sony laptop (from Sony) in a long while, and we received the VAIO C from NVIDIA first. Finally, the laptops came boxed up, unopened, with all the standard fluff you’d expect from retail notebooks.
After unboxing, we did our usual thing: create a new user account, and then commence uninstalling the bloatware—and yes, the Sony VAIO C and Acer TimelineX 3830TG both have a lot of it!—and when all that is done and we’ve shut off any unnecessary applications and utilities, we start installing our benchmark suite. After that’s done, we do a full defrag (using Defraggler) and then we can start testing. Despite the source of the laptops, then, we are confident that both are reasonable representations of what you’ll get—actually, the TimelineX 3830TG has some issues with throttling in games, so if anything NVIDIA’s choice for their own platform wasn’t the best, though the Sony VAIO C may not be the greatest AMD offering either.
In terms of other alternatives, while there are dozens of currently shipping Optimus laptops (ASUS, Clevo, Dell, HP, MSI, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and others are all onboard with the platform), finding laptops with Intel CPUs and AMD dynamic switchable graphics is a lot more difficult. Sony has the VAIO C—the VAIO S we recently reviewed doesn’t support dynamic switching, instead using the older manual switching—Dell has the Vostro 3450/3550, and HP has it with certain dv6/dv7 series laptops using 6700M GPUs. Meanwhile, 6300M (rebadged 5400M), 6500M (rebadged 5600/5700M) and 6800M (rebadged 5800M) can't support dynamic switching, and no one is trying to do it on 6900M. (Note: I’ve looked around for more details on which laptops support AMD’s Dynamic Switchable Graphics and came up empty, but if anyone can find a comprehensive list I’ll be happy to post it.) There may be a few other laptops out there with Intel CPUs and AMD 6000M GPUs, but there definitely aren’t as many options.
We’ll be running a few benchmarks later, so while we’re on the subject of laptops, let’s go over the full specs. Starting with the AMD Sony VAIO CA laptop, here’s what we have:

Sony VAIO CA (VPCCA290X)
Processor	Intel Core i5-2410M (dual-core 2.30-2.90GHz, 35W)
Chipset	Intel HM65
Memory	2x2GB DDR3-1333 (CL9)
Graphics	AMD Radeon HD 6630M 1GB (480 Cores at 485MHz, 128-bit DDR3 at 1600MHz) Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics
Display	14.0” WLED Glossy 16:9 768p (1366x768)
Hard Drive(s)	320GB 5400RPM HDD (Western Digital Blue WD3200BPVT-55ZEST0)
Optical Drive	8X Tray-Load DVDRW (Optiarc AD-7710H)
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet (Atheros AR8151) 802.11n WiFi (Intel WiFi Link 1000 BGN)
Audio	2.0 Speakers Microphone and two headphone jacks Capable of 5.1 digital output (HDMI/SPDIF)
Battery	6-cell, 11.1V, ~5.3Ah, 59Wh
Front Side	Memory Card Reader Wireless On/Off Switch
Left Side	Kensington Lock 1 x USB 2.0 1 x USB 3.0 HDMI VGA Exhaust vent Ethernet AC Power Connection
Right Side	Headphone Jack Microphone Jack 2 x USB 2.0 Optical Drive
Back Side	N/A
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	13.43" x 9.26" x 1.10-1.43" (WxDxH) 341 mm x 246 mm x 28-36 mm (WxDxH)
Weight	5.41 lbs / 2.46 kg (6-cell)
Extras	HD Webcam 82-Key backlit keyboard Three Sony quick-access keys Flash reader (SD, MS HG Duo) Sony Bloatware! :-)
Warranty	1-year standard warranty
Pricing	Starting Price: $730 Price as configured: $930

Gallery: Sony VAIO CA

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The OEM-only i5-2410M is a good entry-level Sandy Bridge processor, and pricing is only slightly higher than the base model i3-2310M (which is clocked at 2.1GHz and lacks Turbo Boost support). 4GB RAM is fine, and the HD 6630M is actually a fairly potent mobile GPU as we’ll see in a moment. The big problems with the VAIO CA are that it comes with a slow and rather outdated 320GB 5400RPM hard drive (Western Digital Blue) and it also has a ton of bloatware. The bloatware can be uninstalled, and we did that as our first priority, but the hard drive tended to be an ongoing concern. AMD’s Catalyst Control Center for instance pops up in a couple seconds on my desktop (Bloomfield + SSD + HD 6950), but on the VAIO C there are times when it can take upwards of 30 seconds (with the HDD activity light a solid orange). Games also tended to take a bit longer to load than we’re used to. Outside of those two areas, the VAIO C is pretty much standard consumer laptop fare: glossy 1366x768 LCD, decent but not exceptional build quality, and average speakers. The keyboard is decent, though I’d still prefer dedicated document navigation keys (rather than the Fn+cursor combinations Sony uses), and it does have nice backlighting.

Acer TimelineX 3830TG-6431
Processor	Intel Core i5-2410M (dual-core 2.30-2.90GHz, 35W)
Chipset	Intel HM65
Memory	2x2GB DDR3-1333 (CL9)
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M (96 SPs, 672/1344/1800MHz Core/Shader/RAM clocks) Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics NVIDIA Optimus Technology 280.26 WHQL Drivers
Display	13.3” WLED Glossy 16:9 768p (1366x768)
Hard Drive(s)	500GB 5400RPM HDD (Western Digital Blue WD5000BPVT-22HXZT1)
Optical Drive	N/A
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet (Atheros AR8151) 802.11n WiFi (Atheros AR5B97)
Audio	2.0 Speakers Microphone and two headphone jacks Capable of 5.1 digital output (HDMI/SPDIF)
Battery	6-cell, 11.1V, ~6.0Ah, 66Wh
Front Side	Memory Card Reader Battery Check Button
Left Side	1 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 HDMI VGA Exhaust vent AC Power Connection
Right Side	Headphone Jack Microphone Jack 1 x USB 2.0 Ethernet Kensington Lock
Back Side	N/A
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	12.64" x 9.0" x 1.15" (WxDxH) 321 mm x 229 mm x 29 mm (WxDxH)
Weight	4.08 lbs / 1.85 kg (6-cell)
Extras	Webcam 86-Key keyboard Flash reader (SD, MMC, xD, MS Pro) Acer Bloatware
Warranty	1-year standard warranty
Pricing	MSRP: $780 Online starting at $700

Gallery: Acer TimelineX 3830TG

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On the other side of the table is Acer’s TimelineX 3830TG-6431, priced over $200 cheaper than the Sony. Acer has a habit of releasing laptops and then discontinuing them not long after, only to replace them with slightly different models, so we can’t guarantee the 3830TG-6431 will always be in stock; however, it appears readily available right now. The AS3830TG-6431 has on serious problem, unfortunately: the CPU tends to throttle down to 1.2GHz when gaming as the CPU and GPU end up creating more heat than the system cooling can handle. That’s a real shame, as if it weren’t for the throttling there would be a lot to like with the 3830TG.
For one, the floating island keyboard I detest so much on other Acer/Gateway laptops is gone, replaced by a chiclet-style keyboard. There’s a bit of flex but I can live with it, and the layout is good (except for the crazy backslash-joined-to-the-enter-key weirdness). This is also a very thin and light laptop, helped by the absence of an optical drive, and the dimensions would be very impressive given the i5-2410M CPU and GT 540M GPU if it weren’t for the thermal throttling problem. Acer gives the TimelineX an aluminum cover and palm rest as well, but the LCD is one of the worst I’ve used (poor viewing angles and weak colors, plus our sample has a red pixel in the middle center of the LCD that’s stuck).
Because of the throttling issue, the 3830TG benchmarks aren’t the best representative of what you can get from NVIDIA’s GT 540M. We’ll include two other laptops with the GT 540M (and Optimus) in most of our benchmarks as alternative reference points: the Alienware M11x R3 (i7-2617M CPU) and the Dell XPS 15 L502x (i7-2630QM). In theory, the i5-2410M should sit somewhere in between these two in terms of performance, but the throttling drops it lower in most tests. However, if you’re willing to play around with a utility like ThrottleStop, you can actually get the CPU to run at a constant 2.1GHz without any throttling (basically using the i5-2410M as an i3-2310M CPU). We tested with ThrottleStop set at 2.1GHz along with running “stock” (e.g. with throttling) to provide a couple more points of reference in our gaming results.

Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Wifi Review - Mini-ITX meets Z68

With every chipset, there's a call to arms in providing the package that everyone needs. Unfortunately there's never one motherboard which can cater for every possibility, but there are some that come quite close. Our review today is on the Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Wifi - a mini-ITX take on the Z68 chipset, which promises to be a winner right from the start, with dual gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, onboard wifi, onboard power/reset buttons, a debug LED, a lot of extras with your motherboard, and all the extras that Z68 offers. For $170, we're looking at a good contender for an award here, as long as the performance and additions compare well to its rivals.

Overview
The most noticeable thing about using the Zotac board for this review is the out-of-spec features used by Zotac. With regards to the turbo of the CPU, the CPU should scale down the multiplier bins the more cores being used - however, the Zotac board likes to apply a 4x multiplier increase, even in full CPU usage. This gives it a distinct advantage in all our stock benchmark suite, and an unfair advantage against every other board in the market. It gives the consumer, however, extra performance without having to do anything. This may set an unhealthy trend, where other manufacturers will similarly produce products out-of-spec in order to jump ahead in performance.
Overall, for $170, Zotac have provided a board full of features that provide a great motherboard for various consumer levels. The addition of dual gigabit Ethernet, onboard wifi, dual HDMI, and that out-of-spec CPU speed are nice additions to such a small product. This situation benefits a non-K Sandy Bridge CPU (which unfortunately negates one of the Z68 features, overclocking, which as we find out isn't that great on the Zotac) where the iGPU is required as well as the PCIe x16 slot. There's not too many SATA ports (two SATA 6 Gbps, two SATA 3 Gbps), which perhaps is ideal for the non-enthusiast consumer (SSD, HDD, DVD/BluRay drive). Also, the lack of overclocking may be a sticking issue for some. I'm unsure if I should label it a gamers' board, a 24/7 machine with various enthusiast applications that require performance, or a multi-monitor setup that needs Sandy Bridge and Z68 and perhaps a GPU for GPU programming. Nevertheless, I've found the board an impressive product at a great price, despite the old fashioned BIOS and lack of software provided.
Visual Inspection

With Zotac's aim of piling as much as it can onto such a small PCB, it is obvious to see that the board is fairly cramped, in a livery with no defined color (yellow, orange, red, blue, black). As a result, the 8-pin 12V CPU power connector is on the far end of the board behind the audio headers of the I/O panel. The CPU socket is also quite small in comparison to full size P67/Z68 boards we've seen this year, negating large CPU coolers but still providing enough space for stock coolers and all-in-one CPU coolers such as the Corsair H50 and H100.
There are two fan headers on board - one by the SATA ports and the other beside the 24-pin ATX power connector. Beside this power connector are the power/reset buttons and a debug LED - it's great to have this on such a small board. The wifi module is in a mini-PCIe (with mSATA compatibility) between the memory slots and the SATA ports - with cables from the wifi card to the I/O panel. A full size mSATA holder is included in the bundle, if the user decides not to use the wifi and takes advantage of the Z68 Smart Caching Technology via this port.

On board are four SATA ports - two SATA 6 Gbps and two SATA 3 Gbps, all from the PCH. Technically the PCH should be able to support two more, but given the size of the board and all the other extras on it, it's understandable that these are not included. Beside the SATA ports are two USB 2.0 headers, and beside them, behind the wifi antenna, is a USB 3.0 header.

The back panel of the board is also similarly cramped, with a combination of wifi antenna, dual gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, a clear CMOS button, a PS/2 Connector, dual HDMI and mini-DisplayPort, optical SPDIF output, and the standard audio jacks. The combination of having the heatsink there results in some space lost - perhaps if it wasn't there by design, the HDMI and mini-DP could be stacked and other features could be added.

The Apple Thunderbolt Display Review

Ever since I moved to a notebook as my main work computer I've become increasingly annoyed with the process of actually moving my notebook-as-a-desktop around. At my desk I've got DisplayPort, Ethernet, two USB, FireWire 800, speakers and power all plugged into a 15-inch MacBook Pro. What makes it frustrating isn't the first-world-problem of having to unplug seven cables, rather that it doesn't need to be seven cables - Apple could make the whole thing happen with just two.
Every Mac released in 2011 has at least one Thunderbolt port (the iMac has two), and Thunderbolt can deliver exactly what I'm looking for. Thunderbolt can carry two things: PCI Express and DisplayPort, the former for data and the latter obviously for video. Why would you want to carry PCIe and DP over a single cable? To address problems like the one above.

Pretty much all device expansion on modern day PCs happens via PCI Express. Several years ago it was hard to find PCIe sound cards or Ethernet controllers, but these days vanilla PCI slots are nearing extinction and PCIe is the de facto standard. Ethernet, USB and FireWire controllers all exist as single-lane PCIe devices. Put a bunch of them at the other end of a Thunderbolt cable and you no longer need to plug in a bunch of individual cables into your notebook when at your desk. Send DisplayPort over the same cable and you can actually move all of those ports onto your monitor, thereby using a single cable to carry everything but power to your display. And this is exactly what Apple has done with its new Thunderbolt Display. By mating its 27-inch LED Cinema Display with a bunch of integrated IO controllers, Apple is hoping to deliver a display that's more of a mobile docking station than just a passive way to display video.

Apple has tried this in the past. The old Cinema Displays used to feature an Apple Display Connector (ADC) that actually carried DVI, USB and power from a desktop Mac to the monitor. You only needed to plug in a single cable to your display, significantly reducing desktop clutter. Although Thunderbolt does carry power, it's limited to 10W - not enough to power any reasonably sized display. Where Thunderbolt does win out over ADC however is in its universal appeal. Intel created the standard. Although it's used almost exclusively on Apple systems today, come 2012 Intel is expecting PC OEMs to embrace the interface with its Cactus Ridge line of Thunderbolt controllers.

Apple's Thunderbolt Display

The Thunderbolt Display uses a near, if not perfectly, identical panel to what was in last year's 27-inch LED Cinema Display. You get a 27-inch, 16:9, 2560 x 1440 LED backlit display capable of at least 350 nits at full brightness. Apple seems to conservatively spec its desktop displays as we were able to measure 425 nits at max brightness. The uber brightness comes in handy because the display does have a glossy finish. Indoors it's not really a problem unless you're watching a dark movie scene with the display lit by a sun-facing window. Even then, cranking up the brightness all the way is usually enough to overcome any significant glare. As with all glossy displays, if you have light control (e.g. curtains or blinds) you'll be just fine.
The similarities don't end with the internal panel, the chassis is very similar to its older sibling and the Thunderbolt Display retails for the same $999 price.

The display sits on an aluminum swivel base that allows for -5 degrees to 25 degrees of tilt along the horizontal axis. There's no height adjustment for the display either, only tilt. Personally, I use a height adjustable desk as I find it helps me avoid any carpal tunnel pain. Combined with a height adjustable chair, the lack of height adjustment on the display doesn't bother me. If you have a fixed height desk however, this may be a problem.
Aesthetically the Thunderbolt Display continues Apple's aluminum meets glass design language. The front of the display is all glass, while the edges and back are all aluminum. Along the top surface of the display is a mic for the integrated FaceTime HD camera. The outgoing 27-inch LED Cinema Display (still available for purchase online) sported a 640 x 480 camera, while the Thunderbolt Display ups capture resolution to 1280 x 720.
There's an ambient light sensor hidden in the top bezel of the display, but as always you can disable its functionality from within OS X.

There are two integrated speakers in the display, again unchanged from the previous LED Cinema Display.
Two cables attach directly to the display: a removable power cable and an integrated IO cable. Cable management is done through a round cutout in the aluminum stand. The IO cable is where things really change with the Thunderbolt Display. Instead of a breakout of three cables as was the case with the Cinema Display, there are now only two: MagSafe and Thunderbolt.

The MagSafe connector remains unchanged. If you've got any Mac that can be charged by an 85W MagSafe adapter, the Thunderbolt Display will charge said Mac. This feature alone is particularly awesome for notebook-as-a-desktop users since it allows you to just keep your actual AC adapter tucked away in your travel bag. For me I keep my MagSafe adapter in my bag and never take it out so I never have to worry about forgetting to pack it. Given how expensive MagSafe adapters are ($79 for an 85W), this is a nice feature for MacBook Air/Pro owners.
The Thunderbolt cable is obviously what gives this new display its name. Inside the Thunderbolt Display is an Intel Light Ridge Thunderbolt controller. The type of controller is important as it bestows upon the display some clear limitations. The biggest of course is the lack of support for all non-Thunderbolt systems. That's right, the only way to get video to the Thunderbolt Display is by using a Thunderbolt enabled Mac (or theoretically a Thunderbolt enabled PC). For Mac users that means only 2011 MacBook Pro, Air, iMac or Mac mini models will work with the Thunderbolt Display. Everyone else has to either buy a new Mac or stick with older displays.

I believe the limitation here is actually on the cable side. A Thunderbolt cable can only transmit a Thunderbolt signal. Although DisplayPort is muxed in, if the display on the other end is expecting Thunderbolt and it receives DisplayPort it won't know what to do with it. It's possible Apple could have built in logic to autosense and switch between Thunderbolt and DisplayPort as inputs, but Apple traditionally employs clean breaks rather than long technology transitions. If Apple wants to ensure Thunderbolt gets adopted (at least by its users), this is the way to do it. As we learned from other legacy interfaces (e.g. PS/2, IDE), if you enable backwards compatibility you'll ensure the survival of systems that implement those interfaces. It's not so great for existing customers unfortunately.

The Samsung SSD 830 Review

Samsung is a dangerous competitor in the SSD space. Not only does it make its own controller, DRAM and NAND, but it also has an incredible track record in terms of reliability. Samsung SSDs were among the first I reviewed and while they weren't anywhere near the fastest back then, every last one of those drives is still working without issue in my lab today. It's also worth pointing out that Samsung SSDs are also one of the two options Apple rebrands and delivers in its Mac lineup. To continue to hold on to Apple's business for this long is an impressive feat on Samsung's part.
In the early days Samsung actually sold reference designs to companies like Corsair and OCZ. Its partners could then rebrand and resell the drives, which they did. Samsung was still learning the market and after being overshadowed by Indilinx in the performance segment, Samsung retreated. Returning last year to the consumer market Samsung had a new strategy in mind: go directly after the channel. Seeing no point in reselling its designs to third parties, Samsung made its SSD 470 available to both OEMs and consumers alike. OEMs were free to obscure the Samsung name but consumers were told upfront what they were getting. Samsung even spent a good amount on packaging for their drive just to develop its brand.

Although the 470 was a downright decent 3Gbps drive, it was competing in a world dominated by 6Gbps alternatives. Crucial's m4, Intel's SSD 510 and OCZ's Vertex 3 all offered better performance, at a similar price point. The only leg Samsung had to stand on was reliability, which believe it or not can sometimes take second place to performance depending on the target market. What Samsung needed was a faster drive that didn't sacrifice reliability and didn't move price points up. That's exactly what the Samsung SSD 830 is designed to do.
As we've already mentioned, the 830 is an evolution of the 470 design. It still employs a page-mapped architecture to deliver high random and sequential performance, but as a result requires quite a bit of on-board memory. Samsung has no qualms about storing user data in DRAM temporarily so it outfits the SSD 830 with a massive 256MB DDR2 cache. While this cache was spread over two chips in the 470, it is contained in a single package in the 830.
On the interface side Samsung gave the 830 a much needed upgrade to 6Gbps SATA. With a higher speed interface to the host controller and some tweaks on the firmware side Samsung is able to deliver much higher performance than the outgoing 470. Samsung manufactures and uses its own 2x-nm Toggle-mode DDR NAND which is fairly similar in performance to the ONFi 2.x NAND used by Intel and Crucial (133Mbps data rates per interface).

Little is known about the 830's controller other than it is a multi-core ARM design. Samsung claims the controller has three cores however we don't have any information on the design of each core nor the type of work each one does. As SandForce has claimed in the past, SSDs are rarely limited by processing power. Instead it's the firmware, algorithms and internal chip memories that ultimately determine performance. Samsung has claimed in the past its multi-core design yields better performance under multitasking workloads but I'm guessing that's more marketing than substantive.
The enterprise version of the 830 enables full-disk encryption (AES-256) however Samsung's product literature doesn't clarify whether or not the same is true for the consumer version.

The Drive

The SSD 830 is the consumer version of Samsung's recently announced PM830. The two drives use identical hardware but they do differ in initial firmware revisions. Samsung will provide firmware updates (Windows only) via its Magician Software. Users are also able to configure the amount of spare area on the drive using the Magician toolbox. By default spare area is set at a standard ~7% (just what you get from the GB to GiB conversion), putting the 830 on par with Intel and Crucial in that regard.
The Samsung SSD 830 will be available to consumers starting in mid October. Although Samsung isn't announcing pricing at this time, I've been told to expect the drive to be priced around where the SSD 470 is today. I popped over to Newegg to do a quick price check on the 470 and came away relatively pleased:

Newegg Price Comparison
	256GB	128GB	64GB
Samsung SSD 470	$384.99	$214.99	$114.99
Crucial m4	$379.99	$196.99	$94.99
Intel SSD 510	$569.49	$279.99
OCZ Vertex 3	$439.99	$209.99	$134.99

For the most part the SSD 470 is priced competitively with the Crucial m4 and OCZ Vertex 3. Crucial is a bit cheaper across the board but the gap is at most $20. If Samsung can keep its 830 pricing on par with where the 470 is today, I'll have absolutely no complaints.
The 830 will be available in four capacities, each of which will be available in three different versions: bare drive, laptop installation kit and desktop installation kit. The bare drive will be the cheapest option while the laptop kit gives you Norton Ghost + a SATA to USB cable and the desktop kit gives you Norton Ghost + a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (with SATA cable).

Samsung SSD 830 Lineup
	512GB	256GB	128GB	64GB
NAND Type	2x-nm Toggle MLC	2x-nm Toggle MLC	2x-nm Toggle MLC	2x-nm Toggle MLC
NAND	512GB	256GB	128GB	64GB
User Capacity	476GiB	238GiB	119GiB	59GiB
Random Read Performance	Up to 80K IOPS	Up to 80K IOPS	Up to 80K IOPS	Up to 75K IOPS
Random Write Performance	Up to 36K IOPS	Up to 36K IOPS	Up to 30K IOPS	Up to 16K IOPS
Sequential Read Performance	Up to 520 MB/s	Up to 520 MB/s	Up to 520 MB/s	Up to 520 MB/s
Sequential Write Performance	Up to 400 MB/s	Up to 400 MB/s	Up to 320 MB/s	Up to 160 MB/s

Samsung sent us a 512GB drive, however as you can see from the table above the performance should be identical to the 256GB version. We are trying to get our hands on lower capacity versions as well to see how they perform.

The 830 is a very pretty drive, something Samsung is quite proud of. The 7mm chassis is all plastic save for the aluminum top plate. The bare drive doesn't ship with an adaptor for 9.5mm bays. If your notebook requires a 9.5mm drive you'll need a carrier of some sort to make the drive fit. There are no screws on the 830, the top plate just snaps on/off:

Inside the 512GB drive are only 8 NAND packages occupying one side of the PCB. These are octal-die packages with 64GB of total NAND per package. Each die is obviously 8GB in capacity.

The Test

CPU	Intel Core i7 2600K running at 3.4GHz (Turbo & EIST Disabled) - for AT SB 2011, AS SSD & ATTO
Motherboard:	Intel DH67BL Motherboard
Chipset:	Intel H67
Chipset Drivers:	Intel 9.1.1.1015 + Intel RST 10.2
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1333 2 x 2GB (7-7-7-20)
Video Card:	eVGA GeForce GTX 285
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA ForceWare 190.38 64-bit
Desktop Resolution:	1920 x 1200
OS:	Windows 7 x64

Dell U2311H: E-IPS, Full Adjustments, and DisplayPort

For years now Dell has been one of the few companies that consistently offers a range of displays using IPS panels for desktop displays instead of only the more affordable TN panels. Now with the availability of e-IPS panels, Dell has been able to offer even more models and lower the price all the way down to $319 for a 23” 1080p display.

Gallery: Dell U2311H Appearance

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The U2311H uses a very similar base to what Dell has been using for years that lets the monitor simply clip in, and allows for rotation to be used as a portrait display as well. The left side of the display has a pair of USB 2.0 ports, to go with the pair located on the bottom of the display. Also on the bottom of the display are DisplayPort, DVI, and VGA inputs, as well as the power input. Located on the front of the display on the right side are the menu control buttons that are unlabeled and nicely disappear into the bezel. The U2311H can adjust in height vertically and has both tilt and swivel adjustments as well, which should make it able to fit into most spaces. It might not be flashy but it gets the job done.
With all the above features, you’ll note that a few items are missing. There’s no HDMI port, making this less desirable as an all-in-one display for use with PCs as well as game consoles. There are also no speakers, though given the quality of most LCD speakers we don’t feel like we’re really missing out. In a similar vein, there’s no audio out, so if you were to use DisplayPort for carrying audio there’s no way to get the audio from the display to an external source. There are perhaps minor omissions, but most of Dell’s higher-end LCDs include such features and they’re worth pointing out. Here’s the full rundown of the LCD specs:

Dell U2311H Features and Specifications
Video Inputs	1 x DVI-D w/HDCP 1 x DisplayPort 1.1a 1 x VGA
Panel Type	e-IPS 6-bit + AFRC
Pixel Pitch	0.265 mm
Colors	16.7 Million
Brightness	300 nits (typical)
Contrast Ratio	1,000:1 (typical)
Response Time	8 ms (GTG)
Viewable Size	23" (58.4 cm)
Resolution	1920x1080 at 60Hz
Viewing Angle	178 degrees horizontal and vertical
Backlight	4-CCFL edge-light system
Power Consumption (operation)	33W (typical)
Power Consumption (standby)	Less than 1W
Screen Treatment	Antiglare with hard-coating 3H
Height-Adjustable	3.94" Height Adjustment
Tilt	Yes, range not specified
Pivot	Yes: Landscape and Portrait
Swivel	Yes, range not specified
VESA Wall Mounting	100 mm x 100 mm
Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD)	21.57” x 14.02” x 7.25” (548 x 356 x 184 mm)
Weight	14.22 lbs with stand (6.46 kg)
Additional Features	USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Hub (1 USB upstream port and 4 USB downstream ports)
Limited Warranty	3 years
Accessories	Power Cable, DVI Cable, USB Cable, VGA Cable
Price	$319.00 MSRP Online Starting at $285 (Plus S/H)

Hands-on With The Galaxy Tab 8.9

Samsung’s been moving PMP’s in one guise or another for some time. With the Galaxy Player line they claim to have the OS that can bring their media players to the next level, serving a user's media, gaming, internet and communications needs in one device. So what are these iPod Touch competitors like? Each is driven by 1GHz Hummingbird processors (single-core ARM Cortex A8, of course) and include 8 GB of on board NAND, expandable by microSD. Both models have 3.2 MP rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras. The Galaxy Player sports Android 2.3 and the usual assortment of DLNA and Google Apps. If it sounds like these are Galaxy S phones without the phone part, it’s because they are. 

They’re distinguished by their screen size, however users accustomed to Samsung’s brilliant Super AMOLED displays might want to hold off from these particular models. The 5.0 comes with a 5” TFT-LCD at just WVGA (800x480). Contrast is less than stellar and the black notification bar was a murky grey. The 4.0 receives a 4” Super Clear LCD, analogous to S-LCD, which drastically improves viewing angles, and contrast. As a test for how the WVGA resolution works on larger screens, the 5.0 doesn’t bode well. If nothing else, when you open a website on such a larger device, you really expect to see more content than on a 4” screen.

 

Form factor is vanilla slate; more vanilla than chocolate certainly, with the only case color an attractive white. The edges are slightly rounded, but the thickness of the devices lend a very blocky character to them. These are not thin, sleek devices like the iPod Touch. Why so thick? Batteries. The 4.0 packs in a 1200 mAh battery while the 5.0 uses a rather large 2500 mAh battery. The software is only lightly infused with TouchWiz, these ROMs sporting less than the full gamut of recent TouchWiz updates. 

 

Samsung 2011 Galaxy Player Lineup
	Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0	Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0
Network	802.11 b/g/n	802.11 b/g/n
OS	Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread)	Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread)
Display	4-inch S-LCD WVGA (800 x 480)	5-inch LCD WVGA (800 x 480)
Connectivity	Bluetooth 3.0, Mini USB	Bluetooth 3.0, Mini USB
NAND	8GB, microSD slot (up to 32GB)	8GB, microSD slot (up to 32GB)
Battery	1200 mAh	2500 mAh
Dimensions	2.53 x 4.87 x 0.39"	3.07 x 5.56 x 0.46"
Weight	4.27	6.42 oz
Price	$229	$269

 

Pricing places these in direct competition with the iPod Touch; the 4.0 matches Apple’s wares at $229, while the 5.0 merits a $40 premium for its extra inch of screen real estate. Availability starts October 16th.

 

Gallery: Galaxy Player 4.0 And 5.0 Hands On

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OCZ Z-Drive R4 CM88 (1.6TB PCIe SSD) Review

In our last SandForce SSD roundup I talked about how undesirable the consumer SSD market is, at least for those companies who don't produce their own controllers and/or NAND. There's a downward trend in NAND and SSD pricing, which unfortunately squeezes drive manufacturers as they compete for marketshare. The shrinking margins in the consumer SSD space will ultimately drive companies out of the business, consolidating power in those companies who are fine operating with slim margins. There are other effects, such as insufficient validation testing that result from this price crunch.
Public companies are under an even greater pressure to maintain high profit margins. Investors don't care about good product, they care about good returns. What is a public SSD manufacturer like OCZ to do? Go after the enterprise market of course.
OCZ has quietly addressed the enterprise SSD space for a while now. Today you can custom order an OCZ Deneva 2 SSD which is an enterprise focused SF-2000 based solution. OCZ's enterprise drives are fully customizable down to the controller, firmware and NAND type on-board. If you want an SF-2000 drive with SAS support and SLC NAND, OCZ will build it for you.
In the enterprise segment where 1U and 2U servers are common, PCI Express SSDs are very attractive. You may not always have a ton of 2.5" drive bays but there's usually at least one high-bandwidth PCIe slot unused. The RevoDrive family of PCIe SSDs were targeted at the high-end desktop or workstation market, but for an enterprise-specific solution OCZ has its Z-Drive line.

We introduced the Z-Drive R4 in our Computex coverage earlier this year - it's a beast. The Z-Drive R4 is a multi-controller PCIe solution that uses either 4 or 8 SF-2000 controllers behind a SAS-to-PCIe 2.0 x8 controller. The breakdown is as follows:

OCZ Z-Drive R4 Lineup
	CM84	CM88	RM84	RM88
Capacities	300/600/1200GB	800/1600/3200GB	300/600/1200GB	800/1600/3200GB
NAND	MLC	MLC	MLC	MLC
Interface	PCIe Gen 2 x8	PCIe Gen 2 x8	PCIe Gen 2 x8	PCIe Gen 2 x8
Form Factor	Half Height PCIe	Full Height PCIe	Half Height PCIe	Full Height PCIe
Dimensions LxWxH	168.55 x 68.91 x 17.14 mm	242 x 98.4 x 17.14mm	168.55 x 68.91 x 17.14 mm	242 x 98.4 x 17.14mm
SSD Controllers	4 x SF-2282	8 x SF-2282	4 x SF-2582	8 x SF-2582
Power Failure Protection	N	N	Y	Y
Max Read	2000MB/s	2800MB/s	2000MB/s	2800MB/s
Max Write	2000MB/s	2800MB/s	2000MB/s	2800MB/s
Max Random Read	250K IOPS	410K IOPS	250K IOPS	410K IOPS
Max Random Write	160K IOPS	275K IOPS	160K IOPS	275K IOPS

The xM84s are half height solutions with four controllers while the xM88s are full height with eight controllers. The C-series use SF-2282 controllers while the R-series use SF-2582. The main difference there is the support for power failure protection. The R-series boards have an array of capacitors that can store enough charge to flush all pending writes to the NAND arrays in the event of a power failure. The C-series boards do not have this feature.
Despite the spec table above, OCZ also offers customized solutions as I mentioned above. The table above simply highlights the standard configurations OCZ builds.
For today's review OCZ sent us a 1.6TB Z-Drive R4 CM88. We have a preproduction board that has a number of stability & compatibility issues. OCZ tells us these problems will be addressed in the final version of the drives due to ship in the coming weeks. OCZ expects pricing on this board to be somewhere in the $6 - $7/GB range depending on configuration. Doing the math that works out to be anywhere between $9600 - $11200 for this single SSD. OCZ typically sells SF-2281 based SSDs at around $2/GB, even accounting for the extra controllers on-board there should be a hefty amount of profit for OCZ in the selling price of these Z-drives.

As with the RevoDrive X2 models the Z-Drive R4 CM88 uses two PCBs to accommodate all of its controllers. Each PCB is home to four SF-2282 controllers and 64 Intel 25nm MLC NAND devices (8 controllers, 128 devices total). Each NAND device has two 8GB die inside, which works out to be 2048GB of NAND on-board. This is an absolutely insane amount of NAND for a single drive. Remember each 8GB MLC NAND die (25nm) is 167mm², which means this Z-Drive R4 has 42752mm² of 25nm silicon on-board. A single 300mm wafer only has a surface area of 70685mm² (even less is usable), which means it takes more than half of a 300mm 25nm MLC NAND wafer to supply the flash for just one of these drives. Roughly 27% of the NAND is set aside as spare area, exposing 1490GiB to the OS.
Thanks to the eight SF-2282 controllers and tons of NAND in close proximity, OCZ requires 100 CFM of air to properly cool the Z-Drive R4. This is clearly a solution for a rack mounted server.

It's OCZ branded but this is a Marvell SAS controller - the same driver works on the RevoDrive 3 X2 and the Z-Drive R4

OCZ continues to use its VCA 2.0 architecture on the Z-Drive R4. Details are still vague but OCZ claims to have written its own driver and firmware for the Marvell SAS controller on the Z-Drive R4 that allows it to manage redirection of IOs based on current controller queue depths rather than a dumb RAID-stripe. The driver accumulates IOs and redestributes them to the drive's controller array, to some degree, dynamically. OCZ's VCA also allows TRIM to be passed to the array although Microsoft's OSes won't pass TRIM to SCSI/SAS drives. You can use OCZ's Toolbox to secure erase the drive but there's no real-time TRIM available, this is a Microsoft limitation that impacts all SAS based drives.

The Test

This is going to be a bit of a disappointing set of performance graphs as it is our first real foray into the world of enterprise SSD testing. You will see results from the RevoDrive 3 X2 as well as a single Vertex 3 and Intel's X25-E, however we have no other high-end PCIe SSDs at our disposal for comparison. We have put in a request to FusionIO for a competing solution however it appears to have fallen on deaf ears. We will use this review to begin assembling our enterprise SSD data and hopefully in the coming weeks and months we'll be able to have a set equivalent to what we have in the consumer space.
We also had to run the Z-Drive R4 on our old X58 testbed instead of our H67 system as it wouldn't complete any tests on our H67 platform. OCZ attributes this to an issue with the preproduction Z-Drive boards which it says will be corrected by the time mass production begins.

CPU	Intel Core i7 965 running at 3.2GHz (Turbo & EIST Disabled) for Enterprise Bench Intel Core i7 2600K running at 3.4GHz (Turbo & EIST Disabled) - for AT SB 2011, AS SSD & ATTO
Motherboard:	Intel DX58SO (Intel X58) Intel H67 Motherboard
Chipset:	Intel X58 Intel H67
Chipset Drivers:	Intel 9.1.1.1015 + Intel RST 10.2
Memory:	Qimonda DDR3-1333 4 x 1GB (7-7-7-20)
Video Card:	eVGA GeForce GTX 285
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA ForceWare 190.38 64-bit
Desktop Resolution:	1920 x 1200
OS:	Windows 7 x64

Lian Li's PC-V353: Lighter Than Air

Introducing the Lian Li PC-V353
We've been wanting to get Lian Li enclosures in house for review for a while now, and we're pleased to report we finally have a contender on hand (with more on the way!) in the form of the PC-V353. Lian Li touts this case as having been designed to cool through use of extensive ventilation instead of fans, but surprisingly they don't advertise what may be one of its more interesting aspects: the enclosure is comprised almost entirely of aluminum and is likely to feel surprisingly light. Can an aluminum, well-ventilated enclosure take the place of steel and fans?

We're trying to get more Micro-ATX/Mini-ITX enclosures in for review, so when the Lian Li rep contacted me about reviewing their products and asked me what I was looking for, I had a pretty specific answer in mind: something silent and/or something small. (Well, I had a third answer, too: "...or pretty much anything; I've been dying to get some Lian Li kit in.") Her answer came in the form of the PC-V353: a Micro-ATX enclosure designed to minimize the amount of fan noise by simply not having fans, instead relying on a lot of ventilation  to get the job done.

Lian Li PC-V353 Specifications
Motherboard Form Factor		Micro ATX, Mini ITX
Drive Bays	External	1x 5.25"
	Internal	2x 3.5" and 2x 2.5"
Cooling	Front	4x 120mm fan mounts
	Rear	1x 80mm fan mount
	Top	-
	Side	-
	Bottom	-
Expansion Slots		4
Side I/O Port		eSATA, 2x USB 3.0, mic and headphone jacks
Top I/O Port		-
Power Supply Size		ATX
Clearance		11.5" (Expansion Cards), 100mm (CPU HSF), 200mm (PSU)
Weight		9.1 lbs. (4.13 kg)
Dimensions		11.26" x 11.34" x 15.63" (286mm x 288mm x 397mm)
Price		$169

Like many smaller cases, the PC-V353 is going to be fairly limited in the types of peripherals it can hold. While some are more bizarrely spacious than others (SilverStone's Temjin TJ08-E comes to mind) these are generally cases that require some compromise; a tower-style cooler seems like a bad idea in general for the PC-V353, especially when you note that the area above the I/O cluster is one of the few places Lian Li didn't ventilate the chassis. Let's take a closer look and see how this small box performs.

HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim: The Littlest Desktop

Introducing the HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim
If you've been following along for a while, it should be pretty clear that around here, we're fans of doing a little computing. Awkward turns of phrase notwithstanding, we thought we'd seen the smallest HP had to offer when we tackled the Z210 SFF desktop not too long ago. But we were wrong, and today we present you with the smallest desktop computer in HP's enterprise lineup. Wearing its power supply on the outside, meet the HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim.

Get a load of that. Admittedly consumer desktops (and nettops) can get just a bit smaller, but the HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim is still pretty impressively diminutive. Once you get this small it's very hard to include any kind of real graphics hardware, so even the entry level Quadro found in the Z210 is absent here, but other than that you'll see it's a surprisingly fully-featured little computer.
HP offers several pre-configured variants of the 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim, and they shipped us the top XZ788UT model. They also have custom-build options available, with a much larger selection of parts on tap. Here's what we received in our review sample.

HP Compaq 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim Specifications
Chassis	HP Custom
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500S (4x2.7GHz, 32nm, 8MB L3, turbo to 3.7GHz, 65W)
Motherboard	HP Proprietary Motherboard with Q67 chipset
Memory	1x4GB Samsung DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM (expandable to 16GB)
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 2000 (6 EUs, 850-1100MHz)
Hard Drive(s)	Western Digital Scorpio Black 250GB 7200-RPM 2.5" SATA 3Gbps HDD
Optical Drive(s)	HP DVD+/-RW Combo Drive
Networking	Intel 82579LM Gigabit Ethernet Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 802.11a/b/g/n
Audio	Realtek ALC662 HD Audio Speaker, mic/line-in jacks for stereo sound
Front Side	4x USB 2.0 Headphone and mic jacks Optical drive Card reader
Top	-
Back Side	Speaker, mic/line-in 2x PS/2 6x USB 2.0 1x Ethernet 1x DisplayPort VGA AC adaptor
Operating System	Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
Dimensions	9.9" x 10" x 2.6" (WxDxH), 6.8 lbs. 251 x 254 x 66 mm, 3.1 kg
Extras	SD Card Reader 87% Efficient PSU with active PFC
Warranty	3-year parts, labor, and onsite service
Pricing	MSRP starts at $679; review configuration at $914 Available online starting at $770

You can immediately tell from the specs that the 8200 Elite Ultra-Slim is the kind of system designed more for mass deployment than any kind of serious, high performance computing. HP includes an MXM slot and Mini-PCIe slot inside the chassis for expansion, and for those that really want some for of discrete graphics a $61 upgrade to an AMD Radeon HD 5450 is available. With 80 Stream Processors, that's not a major upgrade from Intels HD 2000; it's a little dated but it's there if you need it. There's also no USB 3.0 support, but at least HP includes DisplayPort connectivity.
Moving to the CPU, the Intel Core i5-2500S is no slouch. Rated for a TDP of 65 watts instead of 95, it still manages to boast the same impressive top turbo core speed as its non-S-series counterpart. Other options range from basic Pentium CPUs all the way up to the i7-2600S. HP backs the CPU up with two SO-DIMM slots (and no ECC support), one of which is occupied in our review unit by a 4GB DDR3-1333 DIMM.
Keeping up with the "notebook in a desktop shell" motif is the 2.5" Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200-RPM mechanical hard drive and a slimline DVD+/-RW drive. (Note that SSDs are available in the custom configurator if desired.) HP also includes integrated wireless in the form of the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 wireless chipset, which supports 802.11a/b/g/n connectivity. The 87% efficient PSU is an external power brick rated for 135 watts, more than enough to support this configuration.
None of the specs are going to set the world on fire, but being a business class system there are a few other extras we need to discuss. The major selling point for systems such as this is the warranty and support. The HP Compaq Elite 8200 comes standard with a 3-year onsite warranty, and in our experience business class systems are built and supported better than consumer offerings. Remember also that while HP is talking about selling off their consumer PC division, they want to keep the (more lucrative) business and enterprise lines.

Amazon Kindle Fire: A $199 Kindle Tablet

Kindle Fire

Earlier reports of the device now known as the Kindle Fire have varied wildly and with speculation rampant about what Amazon might announce the finished product appears to fall nicely in between the greatest device ever and a serious disappointment. We'll begin with pricing. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, repeated one line more than any other during the event today, "premium products at non-premium prices." By pegging the Fire at $199 he certainly is following through on the latter claim. This undercuts even the Barnes and Noble Nook Color, while providing specifications that match devices more than twice it's price. So, bargain? You bet.

And what you get for that $199 is a stylish black device with a 7" IPS 1024 x 600 screen, and a 1 GHz dual-core ARM processor. At 11.4mm the Fire is thicker than other slates, but as we've discussed before, a thicker device can still be pleasant to hold, so long as the form factor works. Reports from gdgt's Ryan Block indicate that Quanta Computers, who designed the BlackBerry PlayBook, were responsible for the design of the Kindle Fire, and by all accounts they seem to have not strayed far from that design. Holding to that design may include using the same TI OMAP 4430 SoC, though we have yet to confirm that. What we can confirm is that at 413 grams, this is one of the lightest weight tablets we've seen.

Tablet Specification Comparison
	Amazon Kindle Fire	Apple iPad 2	BlackBerry PlayBook	Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Dimensions	190 x 120 x 11.4mm	241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8mm	194 x 130 x 10mm	230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6mm
Display	7-inch 1024 x 600 IPS	9.7-inch 1024 x 768 IPS	7-inch 1024 x 600	8.9-inch 1280 x 800 PLS
Weight	413g	601g	425g	447g
Processor	1GHz TI OMAP 4430 (2 x Cortex A9) ?	1GHz Apple A5 (2 x Cortex A9)	1GHz TI OMAP 4430 (2 x Cortex A9)	1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 (2 x Cortex A9)
Memory	?	512MB	1GB	1GB
Storage	8GB	16GB	16GB	16GB
Pricing	$199	$499	$499	$469

Gallery: Amazon Kindle Fire

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Hardware isn't the whole store with the Fire, though. Amazon is selling a platform from which to experience it's various Amazon services, and it is leaving none of them from this party. Obviously, and this is the last mention of Android you'll find in this piece and their PR, there's the Amazon Appstore. This will be the only official means by which buyers will be able to load their apps onto the device, though intrepid hackers will no doubt make quick work of the device. Amazon's MP3 store is on hand, as well, of course, as Amazon's Kindle app and e-book store. This brings us up to apps, music, magazines and books. The addition of Amazon Prime Instant Videos rounds out the offerings with over 100,000 movies and TV shows from the likes of Fox, CBS and NBCUniversal. Buyers will be treated with an expanded WhisperSync service that now allows users to mark their place in movies and TV shows, as they already do with books and magazines. Amazon is even leveraging EC2, their web services provider to enhance the browsing experience with Amazon Silk.

Amazon Silk Browser

 

The Kindle Fire is the first device to ship with Amazon's Silk browser. According to Amazon, Silk is a split-browser that leverages the company's EC2 cloud. The idea is simple: rather than simply going out and maintaining connections with all of the various servers that supply content for a single web page, Amazon will deliver as much of that as possible via its own cloud. The benefit of delivering content via Amazon's cloud is it minimizes the number of independent DNS lookups and handshakes the browser has to perform to load a single webpage, not to mention that Amazon's cloud should hopefully deliver more consistent performance due to the scale of its deployment.

 

Amazon is also doing some prediction in Silk. As Amazon's EC2 cloud aggregates usage data from Silk users, it can develop models for web page access patterns. The browser is then capable of prefetching what it thinks will be the next web page you click on based on historical data from a number of other users. I've always thought browser prefetching makes a lot of sense and it appears that Amazon is going to try to do some of that here with Silk.

 

 

Amazon's cloud can also deliver size optimized content depending on the device you're using. The example Amazon gives is a 3MB jpg that can be compressed to 50KB without you being able to tell the difference on a Kindle Fire. Silk will work with EC2 to determine the appropriate size of the image that it should send down to you. 

 

Given that the Kindle Fire is WiFi only, I wonder how much of an impact Silk's network optimizations are really going to have on the overall experience - particularly on fast WiFi connections. Web browsing on mobile devices is still largely CPU bound and with the Kindle Fire shipping with (presumably) the same CPU power as a number of other Android tablets that bottleneck shouldn't really change because of Silk.

 

We also don't know anything about Silk's underlying parsing and rendering engines. As Google has shown us, web page rendering performance depends just as much on software as it does hardware. Amazon is addressing the network part of the problem with Silk but there are also CPU and software issues that are either unchanged or big unknowns at this point.