Samsung Targets Gaming PCs with Solid-State Drives.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of flash memory, this week said that solid-state drives (SSD) provide just what the doctor ordered for PCs designed for video games: extreme performance. Even though SSDs provide additional performance that computer games need, capacities of flash-based drives are still well below those of advanced hard drives, therefore, it is impossible to install tens of games onto an SSD.

Samsung’s 256GB multi-level cell (MLC) solid-state drive does provide blazing performance: its maximum sequential read speed is 220MB/s, whereas maximum sequential write speed is 200MB/s. Such performance is virtually unachievable by conventional hard disk drives. The direct result of such high read speed is very fast loading time for modern video games, which means exceptional end-user experience.

“In addition to processing power, advanced graphics cards and high-resolution monitors, gamers want a fast storage drive for reduced loading times and faster game performance. Our 256GB SSD provides much better overall performance than conventional HDDs, as well as longer battery life for the notebook gamer. Clearly, all PC gamers will benefit from the blistering speeds and dazzling photorealism enabled by the Samsung 256GB SSD,” said Jim Elliott, vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Semiconductor.

Unfortunately, 256GB may be not enough for modern gaming personal computers. There are many games that require more than 10GB of disk space, Windows Vista operating system also needs around 15GB or more. As a result, for hardcore gamers, SSD may not be the greatest option. Still, if someone wants to enjoy 3-5 games, but does not want to wait for each of them to load, solid-state drive is the best possible choice.

“The PC gaming market continues to evolve into a more mainstream segment, and should reach $30.7 billion by the end of 2012. PC gaming enthusiasts are at the forefront for demanding the latest high-powered hardware available, making the PC gaming industry an important innovation driver for adopting cutting-edge technology, like high-performance solid state drives. Using an SSD will give the gamer the extra edge that he or she is seeking,” said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research.

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Samsung Targets Gaming PCs with Solid-State Drives.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of flash memory, this week said that solid-state drives (SSD) provide just what the doctor ordered for PCs designed for video games: extreme performance. Even though SSDs provide additional performance that computer games need, capacities of flash-based drives are still well below those of advanced hard drives, therefore, it is impossible to install tens of games onto an SSD.

Samsung’s 256GB multi-level cell (MLC) solid-state drive does provide blazing performance: its maximum sequential read speed is 220MB/s, whereas maximum sequential write speed is 200MB/s. Such performance is virtually unachievable by conventional hard disk drives. The direct result of such high read speed is very fast loading time for modern video games, which means exceptional end-user experience.

“In addition to processing power, advanced graphics cards and high-resolution monitors, gamers want a fast storage drive for reduced loading times and faster game performance. Our 256GB SSD provides much better overall performance than conventional HDDs, as well as longer battery life for the notebook gamer. Clearly, all PC gamers will benefit from the blistering speeds and dazzling photorealism enabled by the Samsung 256GB SSD,” said Jim Elliott, vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Semiconductor.

Unfortunately, 256GB may be not enough for modern gaming personal computers. There are many games that require more than 10GB of disk space, Windows Vista operating system also needs around 15GB or more. As a result, for hardcore gamers, SSD may not be the greatest option. Still, if someone wants to enjoy 3-5 games, but does not want to wait for each of them to load, solid-state drive is the best possible choice.

“The PC gaming market continues to evolve into a more mainstream segment, and should reach $30.7 billion by the end of 2012. PC gaming enthusiasts are at the forefront for demanding the latest high-powered hardware available, making the PC gaming industry an important innovation driver for adopting cutting-edge technology, like high-performance solid state drives. Using an SSD will give the gamer the extra edge that he or she is seeking,” said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research.

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Windows 7: Want the Release Candidate? You're Too Late

Microsoft has, as planned, removed the download for the release candidate of Windows 7, the next major update to Microsoft Windows.

The official download has been available from Microsoft's website since early May and offered for those who wanted it a free preview of what the new operating system will offer, before it hits stores in late October.

For those of you already running the release candidate, Microsoft were keen to point out that the evaluation software will expire in March next year, at which point you'll have to upgrade to a retail version of the OS.

Certain users, such as developers and early Windows 7 testers, got the final Windows 7 release earlier this month. If you weren't in this group and you were looking to grab the release candidate, you'll have to now wait until the October release.

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OCZ Technology: Solid-State Drives Really Going Mainstream.

OCZ Technology is primarily known for its high-performance dynamic random access memory (DRAM) modules aimed at performance-minded end-users. The company also makes power supply units, USB drives and even notebooks, but it looks like the company’s main growth driver for the future is solid-state drive lineup. According to chief exec of OCZ, SSDs are already entering the mainstream market and their popularity will continue to increase.

“I guarantee that if I gave you numbers, which I cannot right now, your jaw would be left hanging open. […] SSD technology is moving past the early adoption stage and is really going mainstream. […] I did not believe that people would go and buy a 120GB SSD for the same price that they could buy 2TB of hard drive space, but they do. They feel that performance gap is significant enough,” said Ryan Petersen, chief executive officer of OCZ Technology, in an interview with Computerpoweruser magazine.

Solid-state drives (SSDs) are indisputably faster compared to hard disk drives (HDDs), but their cost-per-GB is undeniably much higher. At present even 250GB may not be enough for systems aimed at multimedia and games. It is obvious that for those, who want to have performance at any cost, SSDs is a great choice, but there are also those, who demand maximum capacity, which solid-state drives just cannot provide.

Another obstacle on the way of SSDs is software and content piracy. It is not a secret that many end-users want to make reserve copies of video games distributed on dual-layer DVDs or 50GB movies distributed on Blu-ray disc media and some users download BD remuxes or dual-layer DVD images to burn them onto bulk media. At present pirated or copied software or movies that require 10GB – 50GB of space are not common, but the increase of demand towards storage space is rather clear.

As a result, going forward we are likely to see high-end PCs with both SSDs and HDDs in order to use the best of both worlds: high performance of flash and high capacities of hard drives. It is a big question, though, whether solid-state drives are a part of mainstream personal computers.

Mr. Petersen also said that according to NPD Group OCZ Technology is the No. 2 supplier of SSDs via e-tailers. The head of OCZ did not reveal who is the No. 1 though.

“I have seen the NPD data for etailers and we are in the No. 2 position,” he said.

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Retailers Run Out of PlayStation 3, PS3 Slim May Be Approaching.

A number of retailers from Japan and the UK notified an analyst from Wedbush Morgan Securities, a financial services and investment firm, that they were not able to refill their stocks of Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles since Sony Computer Entertainment ceased to supply current models. Potentially, this means that SCE is preparing to release a new model with lower cost.

“The retail commentary I’ve seen has come out of the UK. I have not seen at the U.S. retail. We heard Japanese retail a few weeks ago, say they were not going to be getting any more PS3s after August 8, and now we are starting to hear the UK retail say they cannot re-order PS3s until month-end. And that suggest there will be a model change,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, in an interview with VG247 web-site.

Earlier this month rumours transpired that Sony plans to launch slim version of PlayStation 3 at €299 price point on the 18th of August, 2009 at the opening of Gamescon trade-show in Cologne, Germany. No exact details were revealed at that point.

In case the information from the retailers in Japan and the UK is correct, then there is truly something going on as it is would be at least strange for Sony to start preparing for Christmas season in August, considering the fact that the demand for PlayStation 3 is not strong and it is logical to sell as much as you can now amid the global economic recession.

“If Sony’s practice is the same as it was in the past, and the PS3 Slim is more of a redesign of the components to drive down cost, then I think we will get a price cut,” added Mr. Pachter.

Sony did not comment on the news-story.

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