Need a new school lab?

Ed Tech Teach, Staff Tech Reviews

<![CDATA[Frequently technology coordinators are faced with the option of adding or upgrading a new lab at school.  Usually we just look at our current setup and upgrade to newer hardware, OSs, and associated software.  This past year I was faced with the possibility of adding an additional lab in a very old (low tech) building.  When our building supervisor looked at it he immediately said we would need a new sub-panel and wiring to support 28 new PCs in the room.  His estimate for that was $7500.
Instead of going for the wiring and the traditional approach, I decided to look into greener options.  The nComputing L300 option immediately popped out in my Google searches for low power PCs.  I am not a fanboy of thin computing and was very skeptical about the statements concerning it’s performance.  I contacted several other Technology Coordinators and got their feedback and recommendations.  All of them gave the system high praise, once they got their labs configured correctly.
The problem with this approach, and probably any thin computing lab, is proper configuration.  Two schools both recommended a fully configured option from FireFly Computers.  Their entire business is built on one thing, building nComputing Labs really well, and it turns out that they do just that.
IMG_0040We purchased their Firefly 1200 rackmount server and put it in our server closet.  We did a 28 station lab in the existing classroom (with no additional electrical added.)  The Ethernet (it is an all Ethernet connection back to the server) all goes through Gb switches to a single Gb copper line to the server.  The setup could not have been more simple and the performance has been exactly as advertised.
I would recommend this path for any new lab.  The price per workstation is much lower than ANY PC and the energy savings are great.]]>

Western Digital's WD30EFRX and Black WD1001X06XDTL Hard Drive Review

Hard Drive Reviews

<![CDATA[ 
Western-Digital-logo
 
This is a review for both the Western Digital WD30EFRX and the Western Digital Black² WD1001X06XDTL Hard Drives. The Western Digital Hard Drive should be used for your home or business PC as opposed to a gamer PC and the Western Digital Black should  be used for home or business PC as well. 
Western Digital Corporation is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world. Western Digital was founded in April, 1970 and its headquarters are in Irvine, California. They employ over 96,000 people and their annual revenue in 2013 was around US$ 15.40 billion. In 2003, Western Digital created the  first SATA drive that ran at 10,000 rpm.(Wikipedia)
The hard drives we’re looking at are to be used with the GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC Motherboard, which I reviewed a few weeks ago. I would recommend it being used predominately for gaming and professional use. We requested a quote for a 6GB SATA.This motherboard supports hard drives which have:

  • 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors  supporting up to 6 SATA 6Gb/s devices
  • Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

Western DigitalThe WD30EFRX is a traditional internal hard drive that is manufactured by Western Digital. You can purchase this hard drive on Newegg.com for $134.99. On Newegg.com, 46% of the people who left reviews gave it five stars. Users described it as being “quiet” and having “silent operation”. Overall I’d say this hard drive is pretty good for your money, considering how much it stores. Whether you use it as storage for your games or you’re looking for a quiet drive, this is the one for you.

 
Wd blackThe Western Digital Black² WD1001X06XDTL is an SSD  hard drive also manufactured by Western Digital.  It is a revolutionary drive as it is a dual drive with both 120 GB SSD and 1 TB HDD. On Newegg.com, 50% of the users who reviewed the drive gave it four stars. The users described it as being “Quiet” and “Painless to install”. The best part of this drive would have to be the speeds. Its a quite fast drive which could be used for home PC’s but would be used to its full potential only on a gamer or professional PC. This drive is also a good drive for your money, especially when considering the speeds.

  • Size-1TB HDD + 120GB SSD
  • Speed- 5400 RPM
  • Access Time or Latency- 140MB/s
  • Read/write speeds-350MB/s
  • Transfer Rate- 350 MB/s
  • Buffer-6 GB/s Max
  • Mean Time Before Failure- There doesn’t appear to be one, just a five year warranty.
  • Warranty- 5 year
  • Cost- $219.99 at Newegg.com

I would personally reccommend both of these drives, as they are relatively affordable and fast. They should accomplish most any task you need them to as they are quality drives.

Works Cited

Newegg.com. Newegg.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236642>.
 Newegg.com. Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344>.
Western Digital. Untitled Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.wdc.com/global/products/specs/?driveID=1087&language=1>.
 Western Digital. WD Black². N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1190>.
Western Digital. WD Black². N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1190>.
“Western Digital.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Digital>.

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Seagate Solid State Hybrid Drive ST1000LM014 Review

Hard Drive Reviews

<![CDATA[Seagate Technology PLC is a data storage company based in Cupertino, California. It was incorporated in 1978. Seagate's first product was the 5-megabyte ST-506, it was the first hard disk to be in a 5.25-inch form factor. The motherboard that this hard drive is for is an AMD GA-990FXA-UD7. The GA-990FXA-UD7 supports 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices, 2 eSATA 6b/s connectors. (Motherboard Blog)
The ST1000LM014 is an excellent Solid State Drive for gaming because not only does it load games and other applications faster, it is also faster than traditional Hard Drives. If you are a gamer, then this Solid State Drive is perfect for making your games load smoother and faster.
Specs:

  • Size- 1TB
  • Latency- 5.56ms (milliseconds)
  • Average read time- 12.0ms
  • Average write time- 14ms
  • Average transfer rate- SATA 6.0 GB/s
  • Buffer- 64MB
  • Annualized Failure Rate- 0.48%
  • Warranty- 3 years
  • $99.99

Seagate Hybrid Drives ST1000LM014 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 2.5" Laptop SSHD -Bare Drive
 

Works Cited
“HARD DISK MONITORING.” Hard Disk Sentinel. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Laptop SSHD.” Seagate. Seagate, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
“Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive – 2.5″ Form Factor, SATA III 6 Gb/s, 5400 RPM, 64MB Cache – ST1000LM014.” Tigerdirect. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Seagate Hybrid Drives ST1000LM014 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 2.5″ Laptop SSHD -Bare Drive Seagate Hybrid Drives ST1000LM014 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 2.5″ Laptop SSHD -Bare Drive.” Seagate Solid State Hybrid ST1000LM014 1TB Laptop Hard Drive. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

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Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 Review

Hard Drive Reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[Samsung is a company located in South Korea, and they are recognized as the one of the worlds biggest companies on Forbes (#20). They had a net income last year of billion dollars.  This is a nice cozy profit that leaves me to believe they will be around a while.
For this hard drive review I will be showing you a Samsung HDD (model: Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ). This would be great for any of your regular home use.You will see that with home use all you really need is a HDD.  Also this hard drive can go with the ASUS Rampage IV Black edition (Review found here).
Samsung_1TB
 
The specs are:

  • 1 TB
  • 7,200 RPM (this is very good)
  • Latency: 4.14 ms
  • Buffer DRAM size: 8 /16 /32
  • MTBF: 600,000 hours
  • SATA: 3.0Gb/s

Full specs here.
This excellent Samsung HDD can be found now on Amazon through various sellers. If you decide to buy this hard drive it will cost you $68. I would recommend this to anyone who decides that they want a new hard drive for their home PC. As you will find Samsung is definitely a reliable company that only makes great parts.

Works Cited
“1TB 2.5-inch 840 EVO SSD.” Samsung. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Gasior, Geoff. “Samsung’s SpinPoint T Hard Drive.” The Tech Report. N.p., 13 Sept. 2006. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“RAMPAGE IV BLACK EDITION.” ASUS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE1T0BW.” Newegg. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3.” Amazon. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Samsung.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

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Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 Review

Hard Drive Reviews

<![CDATA[Seagate Technology PLC is a data storage company based in Cupertino, California. It was incorporated in 1978. Seagate's first product was the 5-megabyte ST-506, it was the first hard disk to be in a 5.25-inch form factor. The motherboard that this hard drive is for is an AMD GA-990FXA-UD7. The GA-990FXA-UD7 supports 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices, 2 eSATA 6b/s connectors. (Motherboard Blog)
Max out your gaming computer with an enormous traditional hard drive, the ST1000DM003. It can keep all of your games as well as other media files. This hard drive is intended for gaming or business PC’s because of moderate to high usage.
Specs:

  • Capacity- 1 TB
  • RPM (Rotations Per Minute)- 7200
  • Latency- 4.16ms (milliseconds)
  • Average Read Speed- 8.5ms
  • Average Write Speed- 9.5ms
  • Transfer Rate- SATA 6.0 GB/s
  • Buffer size- 64 MB
  • Mean Time Before Failure- 29166 days= 79.9 years
  • Warranty- 2 years
  • $79.99

Seagate Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive

Works Cited
“GIGABYTE – Motherboard – Socket AM3+ – GA-990FXA-UD7 (rev. 1.x).” GIGABYTE – Motherboard – Socket AM3+ – GA-990FXA-UD7 (rev. 1.x). N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Seagate Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive – 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/s – ST1000DM003.” Tigerdirect. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003.” Newegg. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
“Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.11 SATA Product Manual – Page 24.” Seagate ST1000DM003. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

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SAMSUNG 840 EVO Solid State Hard Drive Review

Hard Drive Reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[Samsung is a company located in South Korea, and they are recognized as the one of the worlds biggest companies on Forbes (#20). They had a net income last year of billion dollars.  This is a nice cozy profit that leaves me to believe they will be around a while.
For this NT IT Tech review I will be presenting a Samsung solid state drive (model: MZ-7TE1T0BW). This would be great for playing games or rendering and editing videos. As you will find with gaming you really want the solid state drive to give you a edge up on the competition. This could also be great to hold your operating system. Also this hard drive can go with the ASUS Rampage IV Black edition (Review found here).
 samsung_840_evo_250gb_laptop_kit
 
The tech specs:

  • Size: 1Tb
  • Speed: 540Mb/s (read) and 520MB/s (write). (Take note this is the sustained sequential read and write)
  • MFTB: 1.5 million hours
  • Three year warranty
  • 4Kb read/right: 98,000 IOPS and 90,000 IOPS respectively
  • use SATA III (compatible with SATA 6Gb/s, 3Gb/s, and 1.5Gbs)

All tech specs can be found here.
Through all my years of PC gaming I have never had to use more than one terabyte, but most people will agree that this is a perfect number. Also the read and write speeds are amazing for all the things you might need to do. The mean time before failure equals up to 171.119 years that number speaks for itself. If you are interested in buy this hard drive it can be found on Newegg.com for $556.

Works Cited
“1TB 2.5-inch 840 EVO SSD.” Samsung. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE1T0BW.” Newegg. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
“Samsung.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

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KHX16C9T3K4/32X RAM Review

Memory Reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[I am reviewing one of Kingston Technologies products, a RAM chip called the KHX16C9T3K4.
Kingston Technology is an American corporation that was founded on October 17, 1987. Kingston Technology manufactures, sells and supports flash memory and other computer products. (Wikipedia)
 

 
Specs:

  • CL(IDD)- 9 cycles
  • Row Cycle Time-49.5ns
  • Refresh to Active Command Time-260ns
  • Row Active Time-36ns
  • DDR3-1600 SDRAM
  • 1.5V
  • 8GB

If you need to max out your gaming PC, then use this memory! It is a great choice for it is very high quality and is sold at a reasonable price in a set of four at Amazon for $369.72 and got a 5 star review. I think that this memory is the best for gaming and surpasses its competitors for being better.

Works Cited
“Amazon Prime Free Trial.” Amazon.com: Kingston HyperX Beast 32 GB Kit (4×8 GB) 1600MHz DDR3 PC3-12800 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM XMP Desktop Memory KHX16C9T3K4/32X: Computers & Accessories. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
“Kingston Technology.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

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CPU AMD FX-9590

CPU reviews

<![CDATA[If you are looking for a great gaming CPU then the AMD-9590 is for you. This CPU is the best against its rivals because not only is it cheaper, but its quality is higher and is superior to its competing CPU's.
'The FX-9590 was developed by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD is an American company that develops semiconductor and computer processors. AMD is the second-largest supplier of microprocessors, next to Intel."(Wikipedia)

The AMD FX-9590 is good for gaming PC’s because it has:
Clock Speed:5.0GHz
Supported Bus Speeds: 5200 MHz
L2 Cache: 8Mb
L3 Cache: 8Mb
Socket: AM3+
Eight-Core
It is better than the other gaming CPU’s because it is cheap and very high quality. It is a very reliable CPU, reviewers on Newegg gave it  a 5 star, while 15% gave it a 4 star. On Tigerdirect 3 out of 6 reviewers gave it a 5/5. It costs $329.99 on Tigerdirect.

Works Cited
“Advanced Micro Devices.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
“AMD FX-9590 Eight-Core 5.0Ghz Processor – 16MB Cache, 1866 Max DDR3, Unlocked – FD9590FHHKWOF.” Tigerdirect. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
“AMD FX-9590 Vishera 4.7GHz Socket AM3+ 220W Eight-Core Desktop Processor – Black Edition FD9590FHHKWOF.” Newegg.com –. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

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CORSAIR Vengeance Pro CMY8GX3M2A3000C12R Memory Review

Memory Reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[veng_pro_red_mb_x4_2_1_1_1_1
This is a review for CORSAIR Vengeance Pro CMY8GX3M2A3000C12R DRAM. This is a very  high-end memory for an intense gamer or professional use only. It would be best utilized on a gamer/professional PC. This memory is for those who want very fast memory and are fans of overclocking.
Corsair Memory is an American computer peripherals and hardware company headquartered in Fremont, California. The company was incorporated in California in January 1994 and was reincorporated in Delaware in 2007. In January 2010 the company was incorporated again in Delaware as Corsair Components, Inc. Corsair designs and sells a range of products for computers, including high-speed DRAM modules, ATX power supplies, USB flash drives, memory and case cooling solutions, computer cases, solid-state drives, and speakers. (Corsair Memory Wikipedia)
CORSAIR Vengeance Pro CMY8GX3M2A3000C12R DRAM is DDR3, 240 pin, DIMM memory. Its speed rating is PC3-24000 (3000MHz) and its SPD Latency is 9-9-9-24. When you buy this memory, Corsair includes a fan, a Vengeance Pro heat spreader, and a lifetime warranty. They sell the Vengeance Pro in two sticks of 4GB memory, adding up to 8GB. You can find this memory on Newegg.com for $539.99.
If you’re a gamer who’s looking for some top-notch, high-quality memory, then this is the stuff for you. I’d recommend this DRAM to anyone who wants fast  or just plain cool memory for their PC, although it would be best used on a high end system as opposed to a home or business PC.

Works Cited

“Corsair.” – High Performance DDR3 Memory Upgrades, 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply Units, SSD Drives, Computer Cases, CPU Cooling, USB Flash Drives, Pc Speakers, and Gaming Headsets. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. <http://www.corsair.com/us/>.
“Corsair Memory.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsair_Memory>.
“CORSAIR Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 X 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 3000 (PC3 24000) Desktop Memory Model CMY8GX3M2A3000C12R.” Newegg.com -. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233640>.
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AMD GA-990FXA-UD7 motherboard review

Motherboard reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[If you are looking for a mid-range/high-end gaming PC, then I have a treat for you.  The GA-990FXA-UD7 is made by the most superior manufacturer, Gigabyte Technology Corporation, Ltd., a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer.
"Established in 1986, its major customers include custom boutique PC manufacturers such as Alienware and Falcon Northwest. Mr. Pei-Cheng Yeh founded GigaByte Technology Co. Ltd. in 1986 and has been its Chairman since 1986. Gigabyte is considered a Tier 1 motherboard manufacturer (based on units sold) along with Micro-Star International (MSI), Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and Asus." (Wikipedia)
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard

  • Supports newest AMD AM3+ FX/AM3 Phenom™ II series processors
  • Advanced 8+2 phase CPU VRM power design for AMD high-TDP CPU support
  • 6 PCI-E 2.0 interfaces for 4way AMD CrossFireX and SLI multi-graphics support
  • AMD SB950 provides 6 native SATA3 ports with superfast 6Gbps link speed and RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support
  • Supports USB 3.0 with superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps
  • GIGABYTE 3x USB Power with On/Off Charge USB ports
  • Ultra Durable 3 Technology with copper cooled quality for lower working temperature
  • Turbo XHD technology accelerating hard drive performance with ease
  • Revolution energy saving design with Easy Energy Saver technology
  • Hi-def 108dB Signal-to-noise ratio Blu-ray DVD audio playback
  • Patented DualBIOS with Hybrid EFI technology for 3TB HDD support
  • Supports Dolby Home Theater audio
  • Stylish Power/reset/Clr CMOS onboard button for power user needs

(Gigabyte)
This motherboard is amazing for gaming because it supports 4×240 pin DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066. Its maximum memory that is supported is 32GB.
Its integrated components are:

  • 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
  • 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  • 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
  • 1 x IEEE 1394a port
  • 7 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  • 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
  • 1 x eSATA/USB Combo connector
  • 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s connector
  • 1 x RJ-45 port

6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
This motherboard is a very good choice for beginning gaming on PC’s and costs about  $209.60 on Newegg or Amazon.

Works Cited
“GIGABYTE – Motherboard – Socket AM3+ – GA-990FXA-UD7 (rev. 1.x).” GIGABYTE – Motherboard – Socket AM3+ – GA-990FXA-UD7 (rev. 1.x). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
“GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard.” GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
“Gigabyte Technology.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

 
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