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 .:Latest Topics |
.:Latest News
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Red & Blackness Mods | Subject: Storage
The Lexar Gaming Edition 2GB SD Card and 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo is for console gamers looking for some extra space and a few cheats tossed in as a bonus. They will work with the PS3 and Wii, and with the Xploder Lite software you can even get some save games for a few popular titles. Check it out at Red & Blackness Mods.
"With flash memory getting cheaper and capacity getting larger, it makes more sense than ever to purchase a new card for your gaming system or for any other device that takes it. What makes these cards special is that they feature free downloadable Xploder Lite software, meaning that they essentially, and I quote, give "you the ability to skip levels, access secret characters, stock up on ammo, and more!". Lexar sent us these two cards to review, and today I will be finding out if they’re all that they’re cracked up to be." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Guru of 3D | Subject: General Tech
The Guru of 3D has decided to find out just what you get from gaming on a quad core processor. The games they use do cross a gamut of styles, and not all of them utilize the same parts of the PC as others, but you do see a pattern develop. While there is a clear verdict, it is not perfectly cut and dry.
Guru3D takes 10 modern dual & quad core processors and then fires off a dozen of games at them in combo with a high-end graphics card. Then they observe the raw differences in performance with the more modern games. They show & scale 8 AMD & Intel Quad-core processors and 2 dual-core processors in gaming resolutions from 1024x760 up-to 2560x1600. Processors used in this article:
The idea behind the article is to show you which processors offer the most bang for buck, and the ones who offer the best raw performance. You want to find out the core truth here ? Definitely check out this article then. Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
The XFX 790i Ultra is up for review at [H]ard|OCP, and they are impressed. The new MCP made overclocking a breeze, and totally changed their opinion on recent nVIDIA chipsets. If you are planning on a new system with DDR3 and support for 3 way SLI, this board will give Intel's newer chipsets a real run for their money.
"NVIDIA has released their highly anticipated DDR3 chipset, the 790i Ultra SLI and we take a look at this new piece of silicon from the green team in the form of the XFX 790i Ultra SLI." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: Processor
While this news has been anticipated, the fact that more and more details are emerging are still incredibly surprising and thought provoking. According to reports, TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, has started test runs of the SOI technology used by all of AMD's current processors. AMD and TSMC already have plenty of agreements in place for sharing technology since ATI was a big TSMC partner before it was purchased by AMD in 2006 so the relationship should be easy to continue. It seems more and more likely that we'll be getting AMD processors made by outside fabs as soon as early 2009.
What is still unknown, because AMD's CEO refuses to discuss the issue still, is HOW MUCH of the AMD production will move from their own fabs to TSMC and what the company plans to do with the excess fab space it has now once the transition is underway. The idea is for AMD to save money and return to profitability by having TSMC take over some or most of CPU production but without actually selling off the uber-expensive fab facilities I don't see how AMD is really going to be cutting corners. We still need more information...
If you wonder what that AMD/TSMC deal will mean for you, the effects of
this tie-up are very simple: TSMC has a massive output capacity. TSMC
manufactures more than two thirds of all chips sold by ATI, Nvidia,
VIA, Conexant, Marvell, FPGA manufacturers and FPU accelerators. TSMC
is considered the world's largest foundry today.
Even if AMD puts restrictions on the use of SOI, TSMC is likely to gain experience to develop and enhance its manufacturing technologies with SOI wafers, including lucrative "half-node die shrinks". One of the potential cash cows is the scaling of 45 nm SOI to 40 nm SOI. This also applies to the 32 nm process and its half-node shrink.
Ryan Shrout | Source: TG Daily | Subject: Graphics Card
While it's hard to really put faith in information when the provider openly admits their LAST article on these GPUs was dead wrong, why not just report it to you anyway?!? This article over at TGDaily details what they think are the specifications and launch periods for AMD's upcoming RV770 parts, commonly referred to as the Radeon 4800-series.
The dates have apparently moved to June 15th for the HD 4850 and to June 22nd for hte HD 4870 and 4870 X2 cards. There will be immediate availability on the HD 4850 while the 4870s won't see widespread dispertion until mid-July. There a lot more "details" over at the source article: In terms of performance, we heard some interesting claims. A 4870 should
perform on par with or better than a dual-chip 3870 X2. Our sources
explained to us that using a PCIe Gen1 controller 3870 X2 was a
mistake, since the board was hungry for data and didn't sync well with
this interface. Don’t expect the ATI team to repeat that mistake with
the 4870 X2. However, we admit that we have no idea what kind of
connection two RV770 GPUs will have.
As for the NVIDIA GT200, not much more is coming out other than the name:
It is
understood, GeForce GTX 200 family will be introduced early 2 models,
including the GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce GTX 280, but the price,
specifications have not yet announced.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: BCCHardware | Subject: Display
BCC Hardwares takes a look a pair of 24" monitors from Samsung, the (hard to find) ~$380 245B and the ~$560 245T. The price difference really jumps out at you, and the two monitors reflect that in their technology. The 245T has a 6ms response time, the 245B a 5ms, they both offer 1920 x 1200 resolution and can be calibrated to almost perfect colour. If you are looking at gaming, the 245B is your better choice, if you are looking for professional colour quality and a wide viewing angle, then pay a bit more for the 245T.
"We have just taken a look at a couple of 24" LCDs from Samsung and put them side-by-side for some comparison. We've got the affordable 245BW beside the feature-laden 245T and find out which one is better all around. The 245T has a ton of inputs, and a lot more features but it carries a much larger price tag as well. Check out our review for all the details." Here are some more Display articles from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: Digitimes | Subject: Processor
Sure, VIA may be a fabless CPU and chipset designer, but that isn't stopping them from one-upping AMD when it comes to process technology on their next CPU release. According to Digitimes, the new Isaiah core processors are set to transition to 45nm process technology by the end of 2009 with the move to dual-core products.
Also, Digitimes is claiming that the initial launch of Isaiah coming up this summer will bring a part with a core frequency of 2GHz, a V4 Bus speed from 800-1333MHz, and two 64KB L1 cache and 1MB L2 cache pairs with 16-way associatively. The initial part is built on 65nm technology. Taiwan-based VIA Technologies is planning to adopt a 45nm process for the manufacture of its processors, and expects to launch dual-core CPUs by the end of 2009, according to sources at the company. VIA has also revealed more details of its initial-launch Isaiah-based processor, which will feature a core frequency of 2GHz, a V4 Bus speed from 800-1333MHz, and two 64KB L1 cache and 1MB L2 cache pairs with 16-way associatively. The CPU will be manufactured by Fujitsu adopting a 65nm process. The CPU is pin compatible with the company's C7 processors. VIA has forecast CPU shipments in 2008 to have an annual increase of around 20-30%, with shipments in the first half of 2008 to equal total shipments in 2007.
Ryan Shrout | Source: engadget | Subject: Mobile
Even though its only an exterior image, apparently the new Eee PC 901 is being showcased as using the Intel Atom processor and platform. The exterior is slightly modified and spiffed up but don't expect too much.
It was just yesterday that the official announcement of the Atom-based MSI Wind's pricing prompted us to wonder where ASUS's promised Atom Eee 900was, and would you look at that -- here's the Eee 901, looking radiant
in white. Of course, the major changes are internal, so the exterior
looks pretty much the same -- apart from some extra buttons and the
relocation of the power jack -- but it's good to know this thing is
inching closer to release. Now if we could just get some benchmarks and
pricing info, we'd be all set. Check the read link for tons more pics.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: General Tech
In other news, Hanna Montana thinks computers should all be mauve and smell nice.
Tech news may be changing for a lot of people, as CNET just got bought by CBS. There is probably a small chance that CNET might still cover at least some IT related news, but Slashdot's cynics probably have this one right. CNET may not have been the best source of news for techies, but it did do a good job of aggregating a lot of disparate stories for the time-challenged geek. "According to an announcement made today by Neil Ashe, CEO of CNET Networks, CBS has acquired CNET Networks. "Today, CNET Networks announced that it has been acquired by US media company CBS, in a deal valued at $1.8bn. The agreement represents an important strategic step for both companies and should be completed by the third quarter of 2008." So guess we'll be seeing The Late Show with Dan Ackerman, Molly Wood in Hollywood and CSISpot." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
We are pleased to announce the beginning of a new contest here at PC Perspective that combines two things we are passionate about here: computers and our country. :) With that in mind we bring you a contest that should end just about all contests - our Memorial Day System Giveaway!!
(1) Grand Prize: Complete PC Gaming System from Smooth Creations
That is one HELL of a grand prize! But wait, there is more... First (and nearly as Grand) Prize:
Yes, thats right, the runner-up in this contest will get two of the upcoming generation of AMD graphics cards from Diamond Multimedia - no we are not referring to RV670 or anything in the Radeon 3000-series of parts, so just use your imagination! These will be two of the first cards available!! Second Prizes:
How to Enter ...head over to our official contest page for all the details!!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Pro-clockers.com | Subject: General Tech
The Cyber Snipa Warboard is not quite as cool looking as the box implies, but it still has some serious style to it. It has so many buttons it may feel overwhelming to first pick up, but Pro-Clockers ended up in love with it. There are even removable keys and a baggie of various non-standard keys you can put on the board, if you are so inclined.
"The Warboard looks to be the weapon you would like to take into battle with. Equipped with more keys than shells in a M16. Aimed with more programmable keys then most other keyboards on the market, the Warboard can be customized to your every command. There are many keyboards that come with customizable keys; well, Cyber Snipa did one up and added anti-ghosting as well as other features that you probably didn’t know were possible in a keyboard. Anti-ghosting? You have to read thru the review to find out." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: Memory
DDR2 is getting some rather oddly clocked modules as it matures, like Aeneon's newest XTune 2GB kit which is clocked at 1142MHz. It is built to DDR2-800 CL5 specs, but is able to go faster if your board can handle it. Big Bruin's could handle those speeds and more, the kit toped out at 1242MHz with the default 5-5-5-15 timings.
"Aeneon may be a newcomer to the enthusiast memory market, but they are quickly developing a name for themselves with their high performance modules. We have taken a look at a couple of their high speed DDR2 and DDR3 memory kits in reviews at Bigbruin.com and have not been disappointed yet. What we have this time around is another DDR2 kit from their XTune lineup which stands out in part due to its interesting specifications." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: OCZ Technology | Subject: Mobile
Sunnyvale, Calif.—May 14, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled their pioneering Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Gaming Notebook Program. Under this program, users ranging from hardware enthusiasts to mainstream gamers can partake in configuring and building their own gaming-grade mobile solution. The OCZ DIY program enables users to purchase an unconfigured notebook and ultimately customize the system to their needs with the help of guides and direct support.
Thanks to competitive performance and enhanced portability of today's notebooks, opting for a notebook as a serious gaming option has become increasingly the norm; the focus is also shifting in the DIY sector. OCZ has validated a complete range of components to ensure excellent component compatibility and quick and easy configuration the notebook, allowing consumers to configure the DIY gaming notebook in a shorter period of time than it actually takes to construct a regular desktop. Catering to these new demands of enthusiasts and gamers who have found benefits and enjoyment in building personal desktops, the OCZ DIY program is setting out to provide them the advantages of building their own gaming notebooks. "For years consumers have wanted to build their own mobile computing platforms, but the product offerings and market simply did not serve them as they did in the desktop do it yourself segment," said Eugene Chang, Product Manager for OCZ System Solutions. "With the OCZ Do-It-Yourself Notebook initiative, OCZ empowers with the resources like validated component guides, documentation, tech support, and a warranty to allow consumers to configure and build a true gaming notebook with the exact specification that matches their unique requirements."
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Club | Subject: Case and Cooling
The In Win Metal Suit GD has a lot of nifty things hidden inside it, at the cost of space. The pair of 120mm fans are placed normally, the swing arm with a pair of 80mm is not but they are intelligently placed to move air out of the case. Overclockers Club was a little disappointed with the cooling power of this case, but they did point out that the fans are almost silent, so replacing them with more powerful models will probably get your temperatures down, at the cost of added noise.
"When you drop down the black air duct, you are able to reveal the hard drive cage that is completely covered by the large air duct. This is so that the hard drives that you may have installed are able to receive fresh air to be cooled with. When you take a closer look at the hard drive cage, you can see that directly in front of it a fan measuring in at 120mm size and colored bright yellow like the other fans. There is a tab that you are able to lift up that will allow you to rotate the cage a little so that you are able to remove the 120mm front air intake fan, as well as allow for a more convenient way to run any wires you need to hide." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: VIA Arena | Subject: Mobile
The Sungju TangoX Nano is one of the first VIA Nanobooks that VIA Arena has had a chance to look at. It runs Windows XP Tablet edition, has a touch screen for those who have trouble with miniaturized keyboards and even comes with a Skype/VoIP phone. It is going to be available in Korea soon, no word on anywhere else.
"The Sungju TangoX Nano is an attractive new UMPC based on the VIA Nanobook reference design. Like other UMPCs, such as the Stone UMPC or the Belinea s.book 1, the Sungju TangoX Nano has a 7-inch (800 x 480 resolution) touch screen LCD display. It runs Windows XP Tablet edition with a stylus tucked in neatly at top of screen. The top part of the notebook cannot be rotated like a lot of tablet style devices. However, the orientation of the screen itself can be flipped so that you can lay the laptop upside down (with the keyboard facing away from you) and work directly with the touch screen interface." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: General Tech
Unreal Engine 3 has taken a lot of flak, especially for it's inability to handle anti-aliasing and lack of any DX10 support. In Rainbow Six Vegas 2, a way has been found to allow anti-aliasing with Unreal Engine 3, adding a nice look to the game. [H]ard|OCP tried the game out with a mix of AMD and nVIDIA cards to see what gives you the best performance. It turns out to have a similar outcome to UT3, where almost any newer card can handle the full settings.
"The PC version of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, has finally shipped a month after the console version. We've tested Vegas 2, backed by Unreal Engine 3 on six of today's best video cards. What kind of gameplay experience should you expect on which GPU!" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: VIA Technologies | Subject: System
Taipei, Taiwan, May 14 2008 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA PX5000EG Pico-ITX board that features the extremely power efficient 500MHz VIA Eden ULV processor, offering embedded developers an uncompromisingly compact, highly integrated board.
Building on the success of the VIA EPIA PX10000 Pico-ITX board, which took the embedded industry by storm last year as the world’s smallest mass production x86 board ever, the VIA EPIA PX5000EG adds the incredible heat and power efficiency of the 500MHz VIA Eden ULV processor with its maximum power draw of just one watt. System designers of embedded automation and industrial control devices can now take advantage of a full x86 system that fits neatly into the most extreme space constrained, heat sensitive environments. "The introduction of the VIA EPIA PX5000EG elevates the VIA EPIA range of innovative embedded solutions to new heights of thermal and energy efficiency in an extremely miniaturized form factor," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The VIA EPIA Pico-ITX form-factor continues to evolve, addressing the embedded industry’s needs for greater efficiency and miniaturization." Developed exclusively by VIA, the Pico-ITX form factor squeezes a full feature set into a mere 10cm x 7.2cm. A complete system in the palm of your hand, the VIA EPIA PX5000EG includes both LVDS/DVI and VGA support, integrated 5.1 channel audio, fast 100/10 Ethernet, both IDE and S-ATA drive support and up to six USB ports and a COM port.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: Graphics Card
* Note: Quad SLI technology with GeForce 9800 GX2, 3-way SLI technology, and Hybrid SLI technology are only supported on Windows Vista. ** Note: Users will require updated software from third-party movie players to experience the new Dual-Stream decode acceleration for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback featur
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MSI | Subject: Mobile
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – May 13 - MSI Computer, a
leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is
ready to clear up some of the questions surrounding the MSI Wind (Wi-Fi Network Device).
MSI Computer will offer both Linux and Windows (XP Home Edition) based
configurations, for under $500 starting in early June on www.msimobile.com.
The Wind weighs a mere 2.6 lbs, but offers many of the amenities customers would expect from a much larger notebook. Business travelers and students on the go will enjoy the Wind's comfortable keyboard, which is only 20% smaller than a full size layout, and the 5+ hours of battery life the Windows based units provide. The Wind also features a 1.3M webcam, up to a 1GB of RAM, a 4-in-1 card reader, 3 USB ports, and Bluetooth capabilities with the Windows version. "With Wind we struck the optimal balance of price, performance, and convenience" said Daniel Wang, General Manager of MSI US. "We designed the Wind to offer mobile consumers all the features of bulkier more expensive notebooks, but with a sleeker lightweight footprint and an affordable sub $500 price point." MSI WIND NOTEBOOK SPECIFICATIONS
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: TECHGAGE | Subject: General Tech
The Razer/THX Mako 2.1-Channel Speaker System has nothing to do with a performance gaming mouse, which may seem strange in a Razer product. The speakers are a rather odd orb shape, and they connect via Cat-5 cable. TECHGAGE gave this 2.1 system a thorough testing, which upholds the quality associated with Razer's products.
"Razer is well-known for producing high-quality peripherals, but audio can be an entirely different bag. Our concerns over their new found venture can be set aside though, as the tag team effort between them and THX helped build an amazing 2.1 system that's actually worth its $400 price tag." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
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