Maximum PC controller RSS Feed

RAID5 May Soon Be Obsolete

Justin Kerr — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:35:07 -0500

RAID 5 users anxiously awaiting the debut of 2 TB drives to help build massive storage array’s may want to think twice before taking the plunge. An in-depth look into the underlying problems with massive storage RAID5 configurations suggests that s a single drive as redundancy might not cut it anymore. SATA drives carry a specified unrecoverable read rate of 10^14. This might sound like a huge number, but it basically tells us that any array in excess of 11.37 TB will contain at least one unrecoverable read. In the case of a RAID 5 rebuild, this can be catastrophic.

Hit the jump to learn why RAID 6 won't help you, and to see what the future holds.

Immersion Hands Over $20 Million to Microsoft in Rumble Controller Settlement

Paul Lilly — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:31:50 -0500

All that experience in court looks to be paying off for Microsoft. After all, how else could you explain receiving $20.75 million from the very company whose patents you're using. Confused? Let's backtrack.

In 2002, Immersion took exception to the rumble effects in Microsoft's controllers for the Xbox and sued the Redmond giant for patent infringement. Microsoft ultimately settled with Immersion, agreeing to pay $26 million to end the litigation, but not without a clause. Before agreeing to pay the sum, Microsoft stipulated that if Sony should ever license Immersions force feedback technology for it's PS3 controllers, Immersion would have to pay a portion of the settlement.

Immersion did end up settling with Sony last year, and that's good news for Microsoft. It took some legal wrangling to get it done, but Immersion has finally agreed to pay Microsoft and make good on the clause.

"We are pleased to have reached a resolution to our legal dispute with Immersion that includes a $20.75 million payment to Microsoft," said Steve Aeschbacher, associate general counsel for Microsoft. "We are gratified that we have successfully resolved our claims under the 2003 settlement we negotiated with Immersion, which provided benefits to both companies and specific rights to Microsoft."

And Microsoft has every reason to be pleased. Legal costs aside, the payment whittles down the company's initial $26 licensing settlement to just over $5 million.

Speak of the Devil -230 MB/s SSD Becomes Reality

Chris Moody — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:00:18 -0500

Indilinx has completed the development of their Barefoot (IDX22) high-performing solid state drive controller with 90nm process technology which shows an impressive fastest read speed of 230MB/s and supports a capacity of up to 512GB with multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash. Indilinx claims “phenomenal performance at a competitive price”.

Barefoot supports native SATA 2.0 interface and provides maximum read and write speed of 230MB/s, 170MB/s with SLC NAND flash, and 200MB/s, 160MB/s with MLC NAND, respectively. It uses Indilinx’s unique architecture and technology, including independently operating 4 channels and external DRAM buffer and it enhances stability and reliability by using two types of hardware error-correcting code (ECC).

Those improvements are coming by leaps and bounds in SSDs. It's not clear if this will be competing with Intel’s controller directly. No mention if this is targeted at portable or stationary (or both) PC market.

Asus Announces a Wii Nunchuck-Like Wireless Gaming Controller

Paul Lilly — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:09:17 -0500

You knew it would happen sooner or later, and now it has; a Wii controller knockoff for the PC. Sort of. Asus has dubbed its new Wii remote lookalike as the Eee Stick, "an easy-to-~~sue~~ use yet highly versatile Plug and Play wireless controller for the PC platform that translates users' physical hand motions into corresponding movements onscreen."

Interestingly Asus has no plans of selling the Eee Stick as a standalone peripheral and will instead bundle the motion controller exclusively with select models of the Eee PC and the Eee Box. Huh? We don't understand it either, but Asus justifies the move by saying the Eee Stick is "perfect for gaming on-the-go."

The vibration capable controller connects via a 2.4GHz RF dongle with a broadcast range of 10m. Two AA batteries are required to power the Eee Stick, which Asus claims will provide up to three days (72 hours) of continuous play.

Will the Eee Stick entice potential customers to pick up an Eee PC or Eee Box, or is Asus making a mistake by not offering the controller as a standalone device?

Multi-function Modding

Chris Adcock — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:24:06 -0600

LED fans and cold cathodes are neat and all, but if you are going for a bit of bolt-a-bling, why not go with something functional as well? How about a multi-function panel?

RAID Done Right

David Murphy — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:49:59 -0600

Leanr how to perfect a multidrive setup with our encyclopedic guide to the most common RAID configs

Xbox 360 Controller

Maximum PC — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:16:42 -0600

Are you fed up with Xbox 360 owners waxing poetic about their new controller—how durable it is, how comfortable it is, how much better it is than a PC gamepad? Well, now you can shut ‘em up by buying an Xbox 360 controller for your PC.