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September 2012 |
Microsoft Windows 8 with its new
tablet-oriented interface will come with downgrade rights to let
customers replace the new version of Windows with an older version
without having to pay for two copies or licenses.
If you purchase a new Compucon PC with a Microsoft Windows 8 Professional OEM license you may exercise your downgrade rights and use one of the following earlier versions: Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. Windows XP will fall off Microsoft's support list in April 2014 and has not been included in the list of allowable downgrades from Windows 8 Pro.
The Compucon team can install Windows 7 by default for you (effectively as a factory downgrade) and
supply the Windows 8 Pro installation media so that your customers can upgrade
for free when they are ready. You must instruct our team to do so in writing and you will need to source an existing Windows 7 license key for activating Windows 7 during the OOBE (Out of Box Experience) welcome screen.
Why would customers use downgrade rights?
Example: Your customer's organization needs a new system running on the same platform as its existing systems—Windows 7 Professional.
Downgrade rights offer a practical solution. The customer can:
- Purchase a PC with Windows 8 Pro.
- Downgrade—at no additional cost—to Windows 7 Professional.
- Move to Windows 8 Pro at an appropriate time.
End User requirements
Downgrade rights are an end-user right, documented in the Software License Terms that customers accept upon first running Windows software.
Note that end user downgrade rights will be available through the sales life cycle of Windows operating systems, which is up to two years after the launch date of a new version.
This summary is intended to be a general informational overview of the downgrade rights outlined in the End User Software License Terms for the indicated Microsoft OEM system builder product. Please refer to the actual License Agreement for the precise terms and conditions that govern use of the software.
The Downgrade Process
To downgrade Microsoft Windows 8 Pro software, customers must:
- Purchase a PC preinstalled with Windows 8 Pro.
- Accept the End User Software License Terms.
- Perform the downgrade or authorize a third party to perform it on their behalf.
Follow these steps to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional:
- Obtain genuine Windows 7 Professional media and a corresponding product key.
- The media should come from a prior legally licensed version from the OEM or Retail channels.
- End users who are licensed separately through Microsoft Volume Licensing (VL) may provide their VL media and key to a system builder to facilitate the downgrade on their own systems.
- Insert the Windows 7 Professional media in the DVD drive and follow the installation instructions.
- Type the Windows 7 Professional product key.
- If the Windows 7 Professional was previously activated, you will not be able to activate it online. In this case, the appropriate local Activation Support phone number will be displayed. Call the number and explain the circumstances. When it is determined that the end user has an eligible Windows 8 Pro license, the customer service representative will provide a single-use activation code to activate Windows 7 Professional. Please note that Microsoft does not provide a full product key in this scenario.
- Activate the Windows 7 Professional.
Third Party requirements (e.g. Compucon or Compucon Reseller)
Provided that certain requirements are met, end users may request that another party perform the downgrade on their behalf. The following text provides a summary of how to meet those requirements, and what that process entails.
- The end user must first accept the Software License Terms of Windows 8 Pro in advance of the downgrade facilitation service, as those license terms govern use of the downgrade software (Windows 7 Professional). These License Terms provide rights to the end user, not to OEMs or channel partners. End user acceptance must occur prior to the facilitation service upon first boot of the operating system.
- For clarity, any facilitating party must have a specific end user request, and facilitation may be done only on the specific system(s) belonging to that end user. Therefore, downgrading systems in advance of an end user request is not allowed.
- To perform the downgrade, legally licensed Windows 7 Professional software media is required. The facilitating party should obtain such media from the end user.
Microsoft Local Activation Support centre:
- Website: Click Here
- New Zealand Phone Number: 0800 676 334
Source:
Previously used sources:
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September 2012 |
Microsoft Windows 8 with its new
tablet-oriented interface will come with downgrade rights to let
customers replace the new version of Windows with an older version
without having to pay for two copies or licenses.
If you purchase a new Compucon PC with a Microsoft Windows 8 Professional OEM license you may exercise your downgrade rights and use one of the following earlier versions: Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. Windows XP will fall off Microsoft's support list in April 2014 and has not been included in the list of allowable downgrades from Windows 8 Pro.
The Compucon team can install Windows 7 by default for you (effectively as a factory downgrade) and
supply the Windows 8 Pro installation media so that your customers can upgrade
for free when they are ready. You must instruct our team to do so in writing and you will need to source an existing Windows 7 license key for activating Windows 7 during the OOBE (Out of Box Experience) welcome screen.
Why would customers use downgrade rights?
Example: Your customer's organization needs a new system running on the same platform as its existing systems—Windows 7 Professional.
Downgrade rights offer a practical solution. The customer can:
- Purchase a PC with Windows 8 Pro.
- Downgrade—at no additional cost—to Windows 7 Professional.
- Move to Windows 8 Pro at an appropriate time.
End User requirements
Downgrade rights are an end-user right, documented in the Software License Terms that customers accept upon first running Windows software.
Note that end user downgrade rights will be available through the sales life cycle of Windows operating systems, which is up to two years after the launch date of a new version.
This summary is intended to be a general informational overview of the downgrade rights outlined in the End User Software License Terms for the indicated Microsoft OEM system builder product. Please refer to the actual License Agreement for the precise terms and conditions that govern use of the software.
The Downgrade Process
To downgrade Microsoft Windows 8 Pro software, customers must:
- Purchase a PC preinstalled with Windows 8 Pro.
- Accept the End User Software License Terms.
- Perform the downgrade or authorize a third party to perform it on their behalf.
Follow these steps to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional:
- Obtain genuine Windows 7 Professional media and a corresponding product key.
- The media should come from a prior legally licensed version from the OEM or Retail channels.
- End users who are licensed separately through Microsoft Volume Licensing (VL) may provide their VL media and key to a system builder to facilitate the downgrade on their own systems.
- Insert the Windows 7 Professional media in the DVD drive and follow the installation instructions.
- Type the Windows 7 Professional product key.
- If the Windows 7 Professional was previously activated, you will not be able to activate it online. In this case, the appropriate local Activation Support phone number will be displayed. Call the number and explain the circumstances. When it is determined that the end user has an eligible Windows 8 Pro license, the customer service representative will provide a single-use activation code to activate Windows 7 Professional. Please note that Microsoft does not provide a full product key in this scenario.
- Activate the Windows 7 Professional.
Third Party requirements (e.g. Compucon or Compucon Reseller)
Provided that certain requirements are met, end users may request that another party perform the downgrade on their behalf. The following text provides a summary of how to meet those requirements, and what that process entails.
- The end user must first accept the Software License Terms of Windows 8 Pro in advance of the downgrade facilitation service, as those license terms govern use of the downgrade software (Windows 7 Professional). These License Terms provide rights to the end user, not to OEMs or channel partners. End user acceptance must occur prior to the facilitation service upon first boot of the operating system.
- For clarity, any facilitating party must have a specific end user request, and facilitation may be done only on the specific system(s) belonging to that end user. Therefore, downgrading systems in advance of an end user request is not allowed.
- To perform the downgrade, legally licensed Windows 7 Professional software media is required. The facilitating party should obtain such media from the end user.
Microsoft Local Activation Support centre:
- Website: Click Here
- New Zealand Phone Number: 0800 676 334
Source:
Previously used sources:
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September 2012 |
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Key Features
1. Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600
family; QPI up to 8GT/s2. Up to 512GB DDR3 1600MHz ECC
Registered DIMM; 16x DIMM sockets3. Expansion slots:
4 PCI-E 3.0 x16 (support 4x double-
width GPU cards),
2 PCI-E 3.0 x8 (1 in x16),
1 PCI-E 2.0 x4 (in x8)4. Intel® i350 Dual port Gigabit Ethernet5. 2x SATA3 and 8x SATA2 ports6. 8x Hot-swap 3.5" HDD Bays7. 1620W Redundant Power Supplies
80 PLUS, Platinum Level (94%)8. Tower or Rackmount |
This system model is based on Dual Socket Xeon E5-2620 CPU and provides up to 4 Tesla GPU cards.
It is housed in a pedestal tower case which can be mounted as 4U as an option. Compucon will fully integrate and test the machine to customer specification before delivery.
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| CPU |
- Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 (up to 150W TDP)
- Dual Socket R (LGA 2011)
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| Cache |
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| System Bus |
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| GPU |
- supports FC2075, up to 150W CPU at 35°C
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| Memory Capacity |
- 16x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets
- Supports up to 512 GB DDR3 ECC Registered memory (RDIMM)
- Supports up to 192 GB DDR3 ECC Un-Buffered memory (UDIMM)
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| Memory Type |
- 1600/1333/1066/800MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 72-bit, 240-pin gold-plated DIMMs
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| DIMM Sizes |
- 32GB, 16GB, 8GB, 4GB, 2GB, 1GB
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| Memory Voltage |
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| Error Detection |
- Corrects single-bit errors
- Detects double-bit errors (using ECC memory)
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| Chipset |
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| SATA |
- SATA 2.0 3Gbps with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
SATA 3.0 6Gbps with RAID 0, 1
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| IPMI |
- Support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface v.2.0
- IPMI 2.0 with virtual media over LAN and KVM-over-LAN support
- Renesas SH7757 BMC
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| Network Controllers |
- Intel® i350 Dual Port Gigabit Ethernet
- Virtual Machine Device Queues reduce I/O overhead
- Supports 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T, RJ45 output
- 1x Realtek RTL8201N PHY (dedicated IPMI)
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| Video |
- G200 (Renesas SH7757 BMC with graphic controller)
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| Super I/O |
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| SATA |
- 2x SATA 3.0 ports (6Gbps)
- 8x SATA 2.0 ports (3Gbps)
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| LAN |
- 2x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
- 1x RJ45 Dedicated IPMI LAN port
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| USB |
- 9x USB 2.0 ports total
(4x rear + 4x via header + 1x Type A)
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| Video |
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| Serial Port / Header |
- 1x Fast UART 16550 port / 1 Header
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| PCI-Express |
- 4 PCI-E 3.0 x16 (double-width)
- 2 PCI-E 3.0 x8 (1 in x16 slot)
- 1 PCI-E 2.0 x4 (in x8)
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| BIOS Type |
- 128Mb SPI Flash EEPROM with AMI® BIOS
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| BIOS Features |
- Plug and Play (PnP)
- APM 1.2
- DMI 2.2
- ACPI 1.0 / 2.0
- USB Keyboard support
- SMBIOS 2.3
- UEFI
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| Height |
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| Width |
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| Depth |
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| Gross Weight |
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| Available Colors |
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| Buttons |
- Power On/Off button
- System Reset button
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| LEDs |
- Power status LED
- Hard drive activity LED
- 2x Network activity LEDs
- System Overheat & Power Fail LED
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| Ports |
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| Hot-swap |
- 8x Hot-swap 3.5" SAS/SATA Drive Trays
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| Peripheral Bay(s) |
- 3x 5.25" drive bays in storage module - rotates 90° for Rackmount
- 1x 3.5" fixed drive bay
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| SAS / SATA Hard Drive Backplane with SES2 |
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| Fans |
- 4x 92x38mm 4-pin PWM Middle Cooling Fans
- 2x 80x38mm 4-pin PWM Rear Exhaust Fans
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| 1620W high-efficiency redundant power supply w/ PMBus |
| AC Input |
- 1000W Output @ 100-120V, 12-10A, 50-60Hz
- 1200W Output @ 120-140V, 12-10A, 50-60Hz
- 1620W Output @ 180-240V, 10.5-8A, 50-60Hz
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| DC Output |
- 1000W: +12V/84A; +5Vsb/4A
- 1200W: +12V/100A; +5Vsb/4A
- 1620W: +12V/150A; +5Vsb/4A
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| Certification |
  80PLUS
Platinum Certified
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| CPU |
- Monitors for CPU Cores, +1.8V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, +3.3V Standby, +5V Standby, VBAT, Memory, Chipset Voltages.
- 6-Phase-switching voltage regulator
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| FAN |
- Total of eight fan headers supporting up to 8 fans
- 8x fans with tachometer status monitoring
- Status monitor for speed control
- Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) fan connectors
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| Temperature |
- Monitoring for CPU and chassis environment
- CPU thermal trip support
- Thermal Control for 8x fan connectors
- Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2) support
- PECI
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| LED |
- CPU / System Overheat LED
- Suspend static indicator LED
- UID/Remote LED
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| Other Features |
- Chassis intrusion detection
- Chassis intrusion header
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RoHS
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| Environmental Spec. |
- Operating Temperature:
10°C to 35°C (50°F to 95°F)
- Non-operating Temperature:
-40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F)
- Operating Relative Humidity:
8% to 90% (non-condensing)
- Non-operating Relative Humidity:
5% to 95% (non-condensing)
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September 2012 |
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Compucon CPD Seminar
19 September 2012 Wed
Compucon House
4:00 – 4:15pm Outside the Square Time
4:15 – 5:00pm Parallel & High Performance Computing
5:00 – 6:00pm Compucon Efforts of Integrating CUDA Technology
6:00 - 7:30pm Wine and Cheese
Outside the Square Time
It is about time that we talk about time. This first word of time refers to calendaring. The second word of time has a much wider scope of meanings. Time has existed longer than human beings and therefore human can consider time as a resource of infinity. This session will avoid stepping into the philosophical nature of time and focus on the efforts human has spent to make time to be more useful to operating our life. The scope contains Greenwich Mean Time, Master Clock, GPS, Network Time Protocol, Olympics time measurement, and a light touch of meta-physics.
Parallel & High Performance Computing
Most software applications have not been programmed for parallel computing despite the progress made in integrating multiple cores in a CPU (central processing unit). Do we need parallel computing at all then? The short answer is very much so. Do we want to spend 24 hours just to simulate 46ns of bio-molecular activities? Apart from poking into nature like the question above, we would like to produce our movies and vehicle designs in a shorter time frame than our competitors. In an average office, doing more in lesser time contributes to productivity and competitiveness. How fast are the most modern computer systems in the world and on our desktops? This session will provide a high level introduction to the area of parallel and high performance computing. It will address what the global computing industry has been trying to achieve in recent years. It will include a preview of the Pirates of the Caribbean, a glimpse of Andromeda running into Milky Way, and a demonstration of how the concept of Maximus works to speed up a design process.
Integrating CUDA Technology
Compucon has chosen to ride in the Nvidia CUDA bandwagon as a business decision made on 1 January 2011 after having a couple of direct contacts with Nvidia. The main basis for the decision is the trust in Nvidia being able to see the industry far ahead and to execute its technology visions. CUDA is both a parallel computing framework and a hardware implementation. The framework was first launched in 2007 and has now reached version 4.2 heading for version 5.0 at the end of this year. Hardware cores are in the 2nd generation called Fermi and the 3rd generation called Kepler is being rolled out progressively at present. CUDA is not a cult but is being taught in 500 universities around the world. This session will explain the CUDA framework (software and hardware), real world competitions, and the soon to be released K20 hardware capabilities. We will introduce a low cost CUDA machine for the desktop within the reach of small companies, as well as an entry level CUDA server with as many as 5000 cores for medium size organisations. We expect a sea change of high performance computing landscape in the industry from now on.
END
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