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performance

Pricey supercomputers sold well in 2009

Though most of us had to watch our wallets last year, some didn't mind spending $3 million or more for a new supercomputer.

The overall market for high-performance computers (HPCs) and servers fell last year, bringing in sales of $8.6 billion, an 11.6 percent drop from $9.7 billion in 2008, according to the "Worldwide High Performance Technical Server QView" report released Wednesday by IDC. Shipments were down 40 percent from the prior year.

But one segment unfazed by the recession was the supercomputer. Sales of HPCs costing more than $3 million jumped by 65 … Read more

Check out the Hennessey Performance VelociRaptor 500

Don't think a pickup truck has much get up and go? Here's the 501hp Hennessey Performance VelociRaptor 500 doing 97 mph in a quarter mile.

John Hennessey is at the wheel of a 2010 VelociRaptor. With the high performance upgrade, the truck has 520 lb-ft of torque, a full stainless-steel exhaust, and custom tuning.

According to the Hennessey Performance Web site, only 100 of these trucks will be made.

Opera 10.5 lags in my speed tests

Opera, which was bumped down to fifth place in browser usage after Google Chrome burst on the scene, has embraced a super-fast JavaScript engine as part of its bid to stay relevant.

Unfortunately for Opera, my tests show more work is needed.

The beta version of Opera 10.5 arrived Thursday morning, and I thought it a good time to compare how some of the cutting-edge versions of the browsers were shaping up in performance--especially because Mozilla has released a preview version of the next version of Firefox.

Before we dig into the statistics, let's start with some important … Read more

Dump the junk

Digeus Junk Files Cleaner is an easy-to-use program that scans for and deletes unneeded files that can negatively impact your computer's performance. Although the program has the potential to be very useful, as with all programs of this type, users will want to be very careful about what they delete.

The application's interface is quite basic and easy to understand. A series of check boxes allows users to select what kind of files they want to scan for, including temporary files, invalid shortcuts, obsolete items in Program Files, empty folders, and so-on. The program then performs the scan … Read more

BMW represents at 2010 Detroit auto show

There was a lot of automotive eye candy and information to take in at the recent 2010 North American International Auto Show at Cobo Arena in Detroit, and yesterday's highlight reel clip from Inside Line barely scratched the surface on covering all the exciting new automobiles potentially on the make both domestic and international. Today, I bring you another quality video from Inside Line, but this time we focus on BMW's stand from this year's Detroit auto show and a few of the more interesting cars that the German luxury vehicle manufacturer brought stateside for this big … Read more

Clean your computer's clock

This program, like many others, promises to clean your Registry, make your computer run faster, and, if you're lucky, do your dishes, too. At least when it comes to cleaning your Registry, Advanced Registry Optimizer seems to do a pretty good job.

The scan process was easy to initiate and was done in about 3 minutes, although don't forget that the scan time depends on the computer system. A smart-looking row of five tabs and their labels makes navigating the program options stress-free, and the lack of lag on the system was much appreciated. The user interface has … Read more

Task wrangler extreme

AnVir Task Manager Free offers users a one-stop shop for managing your system's running processes and applications. Though it more than delivers the information it promises, it could really benefit from a more streamlined interface.

Users will need to spend some time taking in AnVir's user interface, because at first glance it's overwhelming. It uses tabs to distinguish system categories, such as start-up, applications, processes, and services. Command buttons at the top of the window give you the ability to kill processes, block processes, free memory, and select a parent process. The bottom of the window details … Read more

Maplock drives off GPS thieves

GPS sales have risen more than 700 percent in recent years, according to Who-Rae, an Australian company that develops and manufactures a range of consumer products. With increased popularity and usage comes crime, however--GPS are now the most commonly stolen item from vehicles, the company says.

Who-Rae is reacting with Maplock, a security device that latches onto a GPS unit and cables it to the steering wheel.

The Melbourne-based company suggests that suction cup marks or empty mounts left on the windshield are signs that criminals look for, so even if a GPS is removed from the car, thieves will … Read more

Intel unveils supercomputer chip, NEC partnership

Intel on Monday disclosed a version of its Xeon processor line optimized for supercomputers and announced a partnership with NEC to develop future supercomputers.

At Supercomputing 2009 in Portland, Ore., Intel unveiled a future version of its "Nehalem-EX" processor optimized for supercomputers. The six-core chip will run at higher speeds than eight-core versions of the Nehalem-EX processors and will offer advantages for supercomputer specific tasks, Intel said in a statement. Intel also refers to supercomputing as high-performance computing, or HPC.

The chip architecture will offer greater memory speeds and capacity and will allow customers to build single computers … Read more