April 2007
Volume 6 / Issue 2

Downloadable Version (.pdf format)
 
 In This Edition:
 

Welcome ASI Partner System Builders! This newsletter features articles on the latest computer technologies and products offered by ASI CORP, a leading North American Distributor of computer components and whitebox systems. If you are registered ASI customer feel free to call our Technical Support Team or visit www.asisupport.com (technical help), www.asiserver.com (server solutions) or www.asimobile.com (notebooks). Thank you.


Colorgraphic ATI FireMV™ Multi-View
 
Colorgraphics ATI FireMV, a 2D multi-screen graphic accelerator card based on the PCI and PCI Express bus architecture.  Featuring 64MB and 256MB of memory, dual and quad monitor support, low power with high performance, fanless solutions, and many more.

This card was designed for a wide range of professional such as CAD, Financial Community, Emergency Dispatch, Digital Signage, Process Control and others where reliability and stability are mission critical. It enables consumer and professional the ability to use a single PC to project crowded information out to multiple screen where each screen can operate independently in it's own resolution and refresh rate. 

Colographics ATI FireMV advantage software package capable of spreading overloaded information out where each application is operating separately from another within it's own screen. Thus, allowing the user to have more control, less eyes strain, and avoid confusion, which overtimes critical data are overlooked.

ASI is partnering with Colographics presenting the one-stop-shop for ATI-Power 2D professional multi-view graphics solution.  Colographics ATI FireMV are available in FireMV 2200 (dual output) and FireMV 2400 (quad output) PCI or PCI Express card.  It utilizes WHQL unified driver, which was tested and certified for a wide range of professional 2D software packages, and ensuring cost effective and simple upgrade for system administrator. 

The PC board are design as fanless solution to ensures silent running of the graphics card and longevity of the card.  All FireMV card form-factors are low profile with optional full height I/O bracket for users to employ in a variety of different systems from ATX, miniATX, SFF, 1U, and to docking stations level. Speaking of docking stations, the FireMV 2400 card line does not currently support docking stations. However, we believe that Colographics are in development of a solution.

Colorgraphics ATI FireMV™ benefits over competitors are as followed:
  • Reliability
  • Stability
  • Flexibility
  • User-friendly software
  • Direct user support
  • Lower power consumption
  • Space efficient low profile design
  • Product longevity
  • All FireMV™ cards have a 3 year warranty
The FireMV™ Software Advantage

Colorgraphics ATI FireMV comes with innovative software package design with user-friendly in mind and loaded with tons of unique feature. It enables seamlessly operation between the hardware and software to get the most out of the multi-monitor display.

Features such are:
  • Preserve position of desktop icons on each display
  • Wall paper placement on each display
  • Dialog box management features
  • Windows Management
  • Taskbar Management
  • Virtual Desktop Manager
  • Desktop Grid Configuration
  • Drag & Zoom
  • Transparent windows/dialog boxes
  • Click here for more features

 

Colographics ATI FireMV™ Multi-View Graphics Accelerators
Product Name FireMV™ 2200 PCI Express FireMV™ 2200 PCI FireMV™ 2400 PCI Express FireMV™ 2400 PCI
ASI SKU
> 55271 (single)
> 55268 (5 pack)
> 55277 (single)
> 55263 (5 pack)
> 55272 (single)
> 55270 (5 pack)
> 55274 (single)
> 55273 (5 pack)
Picture
Product Brochure More info... More info... More info... More info...
Bus PCI-Express x16 PCI 32bit PCI-Express x1 PCI 32bit
GPU RV370 - Powered by ATI’s scalable FireMV™ workstation GPU RV280 - Powered by ATI’s scalable FireMV™ workstation GPU M24 -Powered by two of ATI’s scalable FireMV workstation GPU M9 - Powered by two of ATI’s scalable FireMV workstation GPU
Memory Config 128MB DDR 64MB DDR 256MB DDR 128MB DDR
Display Support
> Dual DVI or VGA
> Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays
> Dual DVI or VGA
> Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays
> Quad DVI or VGA
> Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any four connected displays
> Dual DVI or VGA
> Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays
Connector
> DMS-59 to dual DVI-I for dual DVI output
> DVI-I to VGA connectors for dual VGA output
> DVI and VGA can also be outputted simultaneously
> DMS-59 to dual DVI-I for dual DVI output
> DVI-I to VGA connectors for dual VGA output
> DVI and VGA can also be outputted simultaneously
> Two VHDCI to quad or dual DVI-I output
> DVI-I to VGA connectors for quad or dual VGA output
> DVI and VGA can also be outputted simultaneously
> Two VHDCI to quad or dual DVI-I output
> DVI-I to VGA connectors for quad or dual VGA output
> DVI and VGA can also be outputted simultaneously
Maximum Analog Resolution 2048x1536 2048x1536 2048x1536 2048x1536
Maximum Digital Resolution 1600x1200 1600x1200 1600x1200 1600x1200
Form-Factor Low Profile 2.3" x 6.6" / Half Length Low Profile 2.3" x 5.6" / Ultra-Half Length Low Profile / Half Length Low Profile / Half Length
Install Boards Limitation up to 3 FireMV cards, (2 PCIe cards max & 3rd is PCI or 3 PCI cards in a system) up to 3 FireMV cards, (2 PCIe cards max & 3rd is PCI or 3 PCI cards in a system) up to 3 FireMV cards, (2 PCIe cards max & 3rd is PCI or 3 PCI cards in a system) up to 3 FireMV cards, (2 PCIe cards max & 3rd is PCI or 3 PCI cards in a system)
Power Low power consumption with no performance loss Low power consumption with no performance loss Low power consumption with no performance loss Low power consumption with no performance loss
Cooling Passive cooling Passive cooling Passive cooling Passive cooling
Operating System Support
> WinVista 32 / 64 bit
> WinXP 32 & 64 bit
> Win2K
> Linux x86 / x64
> WinXP 32 bit
> Win2K
> Linux x86 / x64
> WinVista 32 / 64 bit
> WinXP 32 bit
> Win2K
> WinXP 32 bit
> Win2K
Lead Free RoHS and WEEE compliant / Full EMI RoHS and WEEE compliant / Full EMI RoHS and WEEE compliant / Full EMI RoHS and WEEE compliant / Full EMI
 
Before deciding which Colorgraphics ATI FireMV to buy and meet it's expectation, one should invest sometime to research FireMV common FAQ.  Colorgraphics ATI FireMV is a specialty 2D workstation card targeting multi-view user. It is not a standard PC video card that will work on any PC platform and not intended for 3D gaming.

FireMV Common FAQ:

  • FireMV Install Procedure
  • How many displays can I have
  • FireMV and Core 2 Duo Processors
  • FireMV and Vista
  • FireMV and Window XP 64bit Edition
  • Motherboard Compatibility with FireMV
  • Can I put more than 1 FireMV card in the same system
  • FireMV and TV Tuner cards
  • Click here for more FAQ
Courtesy of : www.colorgraphic.net | http://ati.amd.com 

 
AMD/ATI 690 Series Chipset
Last year when AMD acquired ATI Technologies everyone predicted this new silicon powerhouse would eventually release a chipset which combined the best features of both company's technology.

Therefore few are surprised that AMD/ATI has recently launched an exciting motherboard chipset called the 690 series that will enable a new generation of desktop and mobile systems with excellent integrated video and other features perfect for both home and office use using efficient AMD processors. In fact AMD is positioning the 690 chipset as the "perfect fit" for the Athlon X2 processor as well as systems for digital home use, business PC, and Windows Vista. On the digital home side this solution is perfect fit for AMD Live! based media center systems. This is good news for system builders everywhere.

The AMD 690 series chipset is the company's first chipset to combine AMD processor and platform technology with the ATI Radeon X1250 graphics processor. The AMD 690 series chipset incorporates ATI Radeon X1250 graphics into its design to ensure the "ultimate visual experience" for Windows Vista. Multitasking between applications has never been so easy with Windows Aero, the new visually exciting 3D user interface built into Windows Vista Premium, Business and Ultimate editions. The AMD 690 series chipset delivers the power to make Vista features like Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D an integral part of everyday business computing.

Working together, AMD's chipset, CPU and GPU hardware and software teams have optimized the AMD 690 platform to provide rock-solid stability and image quality and will soon support select platforms in the AMD Validated Solutions (AVS) program. Commercial customers will appreciate the energy-efficient design of AMD 690 series-based platforms, in a compact package suitable for multiple form factors and configurations, supporting up to four monitors with the addition of a dual-DVI ATI Radeon graphics card (690G). With more display choices than ever before, the AMD 690 series chipset is the first with integrated HDMI and an DVI outputs.

Chipset Versions
There are actually two versions of the chipset, the 690G and 690V. The AMD 690G has more graphics power with the X1250 and integrated dual independent graphics support and Integrated HD Audio controller for HDMI audio data. The 690V is value graphics version using the X1200 ATI GPU and does not support dual integrated HDMI/DVI. We expect the great amount of motherboard will use the 690G chipset.
AMD 690 Chipset Series Specifications
CPU Interface
 
  • AMD Sempron™, AMD Athlon™ 64, Athlon™ 64 FX, Athlon™ 64 FX X2
  • 1GHz HyperTransport interface speeds

    PCI Express Interface
     
  • Compliant with the PCI Express 1.1a Specifications
  • 1x16 graphics interface
  • Up to 4x1 PCI Express general purpose links

    2D Acceleration Features
     
  • Highly optimized 128-bit engine, capable or processing multiple pixels per clock
  • Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp
  • Game acceleration including support for Microsoft's DirectDraw

    3D Acceleration Features
     
  • Full DirectX 9.0 support
  • 3D Texture support, including projective 3D textures
  • Anti-aliasing using multi-sampling algorithm with support for 2,4, and 6 samples
  • New generation rendering engine provides top 3D performance
  • Support for OpenGL format for Indirect Vertices in Vertex Walker

    Motion Video Acceleration Features
     
  • Enhanced MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration
  • MPEG-4 decode support
  • Hardware acceleration for WMV9 playback
  • Supports top quality DVD and time-shifted SDTV/HDTV television playback with low CPU usage

    TV Out
     
  • Integrated TV encoder from Xilleon products with integrated Avivo™
  • Supports Macrovision 7.1 copy protection standard (required by DVD players)
  • Supports the formats of component, composite and S-video outputs

    Multiple Display Features
     
  • Dual independent displays including two digital outputs *
  • Resolution, refresh rates, and display data can be completely independent for the two display paths
  • Supports both interlaced and non-interlaced displays
  • Integrated HD Audio controller for HDMI audio data *

    DVI/HDMI *
     
  • Supports a TMDS interface, enabling DVI or HDMI 1.2 <1650 Mbps/channel with 165 MHz pixel clock rate per link
  • HDCP 1.1 support on data stream with on-chip key storage

    Universal Connectivity
     
  • 10 USB 2.0 ports
  • SATA Gen 2 PHY support at 3.0GHz
  • 4 ports SATA AHCI controller supports NCQ and slumber modes
  • ATA 133 controller support up to UDMA mode 6 with 2 drives (disk or optical)
  • TPM 1.1 and 1.2 compliant
  • ASF 2.0 support for manageability control
  • UAA (Universal audio architecture) support for High-Definition Audio
  • PCI v2.3 (up to 6 slots)
  • LPC (Low Pin Count), SPI (New Flash Bus), and SM (System Management) bus management

    (* Not applicable to the AMD 690V)
  • Chipset Block Diagram (690G)

    AMD 690 Chipset Motherboards
    The AMD 690 chipset is a perfect all-in-one motherboard solution for home and business systems using Windows XP or the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Using this technology you can build a small, fast, efficient system with tons of built in features. Below are motherboards with this chipset currently sold by ASI. All these boards use AMD Socket AM2 processors such as AMD Athlon X2 dual core series.
     ASI SKU  Brand Model Chipset Size CPU AVS Main Features
    59685 ASUS M2A-VM HDMI* 690G Micro ATX AM2 Yes DDR2 800 4*SATA (includes Bundled HDMI/AV/S/SPDIF module) AMD Live! Ready / *HDMI - HDMI VIDEO OUTPUT
    59686 ASUS M2A-VM CSM* 690G Micro ATX AM2 Yes DDR2 800 4*SATA / DVI and RGB video output AMD Live! Ready /  * CSM = "Corporate Stable Model"
    60501 GIGABYTE GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Micro ATX AM2 No Dual Channel DDR2 800 (4 DIMM) Optimized Gigabit LAN connection
    Features 8 channel High Definition Audio
    60033 ECS  AMD690GM-M2 690G Micro ATX AM2 Yes The AMD690GM-M2 motherboard, supporting the most powerful and energy efficient AM2 processors, is based on AMD 690G CHIPSET with ATI RADEON X1250 GRAPHICS.
    59967 MSI  K9AGM2-L 690V Micro ATX AM2 No MSI K9AGM2-L Dual Core/AMD690V/DDR2/SATAII/A&V&L/ System Memory: Supports 2 Dual DDR2 400/533/667/800 UP TO 4GB, Realtek 8101E 10/100 LAN. RAID 0, 1, 0+1
    60425 MSI K9AGM2-FIH 690G Micro ATX AM2 Yes Socket AM2 AMD Sempron™, Athlon™ 64, Athlon™ 64 X2, AMD 690G Chipset with ATI Radeon™ X1250, HDMI OUTPUT
    * AVS = AMD VALIDATED SOLUTION | http://avs.amd.com/us-en/Home-Page.aspx
    A closer look at a 690V chipset motherboard (the MSI K9AGM2)


     
      High Density Server Solutions

      Components that save space and energy and reduce IT costs

    Supermicro 1U Twin System
    Need more room in your rack?

    Supermicro has a new server series called "1U Twin" featuring two motherboards per chassis. The Supermicro 1U Twin is an innovative 1U rack mount system designed to increase computing density while reducing cost, energy and space requirements. With two systems (or two nodes) within a 1U space, the 1U Twin can support up to 16 processor cores (two systems each housing dual quad-core Xeon 5300 (Clover town) CPU's. This new High Density Clusters, 6015T Series 1U Twin Super Servers Support Quad-Core & Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 5300, 5100 & 5000 Series.

    By combining two DP nodes into a 1U form factor, we can now supply space-constrained data centers with double the computing density of existing 1U installations. When loaded with four Quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 series processors, 1U Twin Super Servers feature 16 processing cores for exceptional computing density. The performance and energy efficiency of the New Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series is igniting new levels of high volume server market.

    Features per Node:

    • Dual Xeon 5300/5100/5000 (Clover town/Woodcrest/Dempsey) processors

    • 32GB ECC FBD (Fully Buffered DIMM) DDR2 667/533 (8 DIMMs)

    • 1 PCI-Express x8 slot

    • 1 COM, 1 VGA, 2 Gigabit NIC, 2 USB ports

    • Front panel power switch and monitoring LEDs

    • 2 Hot-swappable SATA drive bays 

    • InfiniBand onboard (Mellanox MT25204, single port, DDR version, 20Gbps) - optional.

    The new Supermicro's innovative 1U Twin server systems are a great new levels of platform that will increasing high density high-performance computing environments. With two nodes sharing a single 93% extreme high-efficiency power supply, 6015T Series servers achieves excellent power efficiency per node to deliver significant energy cost savings. These Supermicro 1U Twin servers require half as many server racks, chassis, power supplies, power cables and power strips, which further reduces costs. Additional cost savings associated with less IT space required as well as easier maintenance and management make these servers a very attractive option for almost any high performance server cluster environment.
    ASI SKU

    Twin Barebones Models

    Specs.

    57146 Supermicro 6015T-InfB 1U TWIN 5000P  Black color, includes infiniband port  Details
    57907 Supermicro 6015T-InFV 1U TWIN 5000P Silver color, includes infiniband port  Details
    57992 Supermicro 6015T-TB Black 1U TWIN 5000P  Black color Details
    57994 Supermicro 6015T-TV Silver 1U TWIN 5000P Silver color Details

    Benefits:

    • Two nodes in one 1U system - save chassis, power supply and rack costs.

    • Double the density and computing power - save IT space rental costs.

    • Higher power utilization increases power supply efficiency - save energy costs.

    • Reduce power cables and power strips – for easy cabling, better airflow and reduced cabling costs.

    • Operate and maintain two systems in one physical space - save maintenance / management costs.

    • Perfect for HPC computing cluster, data center / data farm, search engine nodes, and high-availability applications.

    Higher Power Efficiency:

    The 1U Twin reduces cost by providing higher power efficiency. The placement of two nodes in 1U also reduces your chassis, power supply, and rack cost. In addition, the reduction in chassis investment also reduces the need for power cables and power strips. This provides simplified cabling, better air flow, and easier maintenance.

    Another way to do more with you servers using less energy is to use quad-core and/or low voltage Xeon processors. Adding greater computing power per node allows you to actually save energy by consolidating servers (such as having one server support more applications, or using server virtualization).

    Intel industry's first quad-core processor for mainstream servers provides breakthrough performance and capabilities for the ultimate in powerful, dense and energy efficient servers. With the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series you get breakthrough performance - up to 50% greater than the industry-leading Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor in the same power envelope¹ and up to 150% better than the competition. And this savings is even better when you use the new low voltage quad core Xeons.

    New Low Voltage Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series

    Intel is introducing two low-voltage processors: the Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor L5320 and L5310. The new 50-watt quad-core processors operate at 1.86 GHz and 1.60 GHz, respectively, feature a unique 8 megabytes (MB) of on die cache for faster memory data communication and run on dedicated 1066 MHz front side buses.

    The new Intel Quad-Core Xeon® processor 5300 series based platforms deliver record-breaking performance for server applications beating the previous mark set by Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® processors 5100 series. The breakthrough performance, energy efficiency and reliability of the new Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor-based systems make them the best choice for virtualization and business critical applications, enabling IT to become more efficient and responsive.

    ASI SKU Model Core Speed Heatsink
    60682 L5320 1.86 GHz Active / 1U passive
    60683 L5320 1.86 GHz 2U Passive
    NA L5310 1.60 GHz Active / 1U passive
    NA L5310 1.60 GHz 2U Passive
    The two new energy-efficient 50 watt server processors represent a 35 to nearly 60 percent decrease in power from Intel's existing 80 and 120 watt quad-core server products. As companies increasingly focus on reducing electricity bills and cooling costs associated with their computing needs, these new processors, requiring just 12.5 watts of power for each of the four cores or processing engines, deliver similar performance yet set a new standard in energy efficiency. These new processors represent nearly ten-fold power consumption improvement.

    click to enlarge

    This doesn't mean the regular quad-core Xeons are not also energy efficient if you consider the advantages of being able to consolidate multiple servers using this technology. With 4 cores, 8 MB of on-die L2 cache, and the performance-enhancing and energy efficient technologies of the Intel Core micro-architecture, the Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series helps IT departments maximize performance and density with fewer cooling challenges. A large number of server applications are multi-threaded capable as a result of years of running in symmetric multi-processing environments. Well-threaded server applications will benefit from more cores, larger cache, and higher throughput and memory capacity of Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series-based servers and the Intel Core micro-architecture.

    The chart below is a direct comparison between standard Xeon 5300 and the low voltage models.

    Processor Number Architecture Speed Cache Size  Front-Side Bus  Power
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor L5320 65 nm 1.86 GHz 8 MB L2 1066 MHz 50W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor L5310 65 nm 1.60 GHz 8 MB L2 1066 MHz 50W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5320 65 nm 1.86 GHz 8 MB L2 1066 MHz 80W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5310 65 nm 1.60 GHz 8 MB L2 1066 MHz 80W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5345 65 nm 2.33 GHz 8 MB L2 1333 MHz 80W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5335 65 nm 2.00 GHz 8 MB L2 1333 MHz 80W
    Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor X5355 65 nm 2.66 GHz 8 MB L2 1333 MHz 120W

     

    It seems like each week you see a story on the news about a stolen or missing notebook. The IRS, the military, and large corporations.. they all seem to be guilty of losing their data, and what's even scarier is that in many of these cases the data that they have lost contains sensitive information about thousands of people, possibly even you. Up until now there has only been limited options for protecting your data once it has been compromised, but thanks to Seagate Technology, Wave Systems, and ASI Corp., you have a very simple solution.

    Seagate Technology has began shipping their new Momentus 5400 FDE.2  (Full Disk Encryption) notebook hard drive with native encryption capabilities which works in conjunction with Wave Systems Embassy Security Center software suite to allow data to be fully protected against prying eyes. Along with being an invaluable tool for protecting data, it also simplifies the task of IT departments as it allows a simple, almost instantaneous, unrecoverable drive wipe by changing the encryption key. In the case of retiring a drive, or reallocating it's use, this tool insures that no matter who used the drive previously, their data will never be exposed.

    With the addition of the Embassy Remote Administration Server (ERAS) software, IT Departments can remotely administer Seagate Trusted Drives allowing them to control security, modify or reset passwords, and in the most dramatic cases, wipe a drive clean if the situation deems it necessary.

    Drive Specifications

      160GB 120GB 80GB
    ASI SKU Number 59807 59808 59809
    Model Number ST9160824AS ST9120827AS ST980816AS
    Interface Options SATA 1.5Gb/s SATA 1.5Gb/s SATA 1.5Gb/s
    Security
    Security Method 128-bit AES 128-bit AES 128-bit AES
    Performance
    Transfer Rate      
    Sustained Internal (MB/s) 44 44 44
    Maximum External (MB/s) 150 150 150
    Cache, Multisegmented (MB) 8 8 8
    Average Seek (msec) 12.5 12.5 12.5
    Average Latency (msec) 5.6 5.6 5.6
    Performance Level 5400 5400 5400
    Configuration / Organization
    Disks / Heads 2/4 2/3 1/2
    Bytes per Sector 512 512 512
    Logical CHS 92,049/16/63 92,049/16/63 92,049/16/63
    Recording Method Perpendicular Perpendicular Perpendicular
    Reliability / Data Integrity
    Head-Rest Method QuietStep™ Ramp Load QuietStep Ramp Load QuietStep Ramp Load
    Load / Unload Cycles >600,000 >600,000 >600,000
    Non-recoverable Read Errors per Bits Read 1 per 10^14 1 per 10^14 1 per 10^14
    Power Management
    Startup Current 5v (amps max) 1.0 1.0 1.0
    Power Mgmt (W)      
    Seek 2.0 2.0 2.0
    Read / Write 2.0/1.8 2.0/1.8 2.0/1.8
    Idle / Standby 0.8/0.2 0.8/0.2 0.8/0.2
    Environmental
    Temperature (°C)      
    Operating 0 to 60 0 to 60 0 to 60
    Non-operating -40 to 70 -40 to 70 -40 to 70
    Shock      
    Operating: 2 msec (Gs) 350 350 350
    Non-operating: 1msec (Gs) 900 900 900
    Acoustics (bels-sound power)      
    Idle 2.3 2.3 2.3
    Performance Seek 2.9 2.9 2.9
    Physical
    Height (mm) .374/9.5 .374/9.5 .374/9.5
    Width (mm) 2.75/69.85 2.75/69.85 2.75/69.85
    Depth (mm) 3.945/100.2 3.945/100.2 3.945/100.2
    Weight (gm) .22/102 .22/102 .22/102
     

     

     


     

    ASI CORPORATION 2007