Blizzcon 2011 Day 1 Photos
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Shows and Expos | October 21, 2011 - 07:28 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: wow, starcraft, nvidia, LG, diablo iii, diablo, blizzcon 2011, blizzcon, asus, antec
Hey everyone! I am still busily collecting information at Blizzcon 2011 but I thought I would share with you some of the photos I took from the first half of the first day of the show. If you haven't experienced Blizzcon before (and I hadn't) this is one hell of a celebration of PC gamers. Even if you aren't a fan of StarCraft, World of Warcraft or Diablo, this is an impressive event with a main stage area seating 15,000!!!
Check out all the photos on our Facebook page here (available to public as well!) I'll have some coverage of the Antec, ASUS and NVIDIA booth as well later in the evening so be sure to check back.
Here are a couple more samples, but be sure you check out the link above for ALL of the the photos!!
Podcast #175 - NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 Launch, Intel Earnings, News of the week and more!
Subject: Editorial | October 20, 2011 - 09:17 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: podcast, nvidia, Intel, amd, 3dvision, 3d vision
PC Perspective Podcast #175 - 10/20/2011
Join us this week as we talk about the NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 Launch, Intel Earnings, News of the week and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, Allyn Malventano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:40 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:35 MSI Z68A-GD80 G3 LGA 1155 ATX Motherboard Review
- 0:07:02 3D Vision Gets Updated with LightBoost, Larger Panels and New Glasses
- 0:13:19 Corsair HX1050 Professional Series Power Supply Review
- 0:13:55 ASUS N55 Core i7 15.6-in Notebook Review: Can One Laptop Do It All?
- 0:15:44 Intel Reports Q3 2011 Earnings
- 0:26:15 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- 0:27:20 Overclocking the next generation of Intel CPUs
- 0:31:05 ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 Board Spotted with PCI Express 3.0 Support
- 0:32:45 Salt + electrons = 6x increase ialn HDD platter density?
- 0:37:38 AMD May Release 28nm 7000 HD Series GPU In December
- 0:41:35 EVGA Demos X79 Classified Motherboard at GeForce LAN 6
- 0:44:30 Not quite older than dirt; the microprocessor turns 40
- 0:48:05 Benchmarking Bulldozer and taking the GPU out of the picture
- 0:52:02 SandForce finally patches elusive 2200 series SSD controller bug. OCZ issues firmware, others soon to follow.
- 0:58:00 Jon Peddie sees IGPs dying in the next year
- 1:01:50 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: "Take Ownership" tool
- Jeremy: Beefing up your laptop’s gaming chops with an external GPU
- Josh: For Thief lovers out there: http://www.thedarkmod.com/main/
- Allyn: Siri (fan boy)
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
You don't have 3D Vision 2? Loser.
In conjunction with GeForce LAN 6 current taking place on the USS Hornet in Alameda, NVIDIA is announcing an upgrade to the lineup of 3D Vision technologies. Originally released back in January of 2009, 3D Vision was one of the company's grander attempts to change the way PC gamers, well, game. Unfortunately for NVIDIA and the gaming community, running a 3D Vision setup required a new, much more expensive display as well as some glasses that originally ran $199.
While many people, including myself, were enamored with 3D technology when we first got our hands on it, the novelty kind of wore off and I found myself quickly back on the standard panels for gaming. The reasons were difficult to discern at first but it definitely came down to some key points:
- Cost
- Panel resolution
- Panel size
- Image quality
The cost was obvious - having to pay nearly double for a 3D Vision capable display just didn't jive for most PC gamers and then the need to have to purchase $200 glasses made it even less likely that you would plop down the credit card. Initial 3D Vision ready displays, while also being hard to find, were limited to a resolution of 1680x1050 and were only available in 22-in form factors. Obviously if you were interested in 3D technology you were likely a discerning gamer and running at lower resolutions would be less than ideal.
The new glasses - less nerdy?
Yes, 24-in and 1080p panels did come in 2010 but by then much of the hype surrounding 3D Vision had worn off. To top it all off, even if you did adopt a 3D Vision kit of your own you realized that the brightness of the display was basically halved when operating in 3D mode - with one shutter of your glasses covered at any given time, you only receive half the total output from the screen leaving the image quality kind of drab and washed out.
Continue reading our preview of NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 technology!!
Podcast #173 - Battlefield 3 System Build Guide, RAGE Performance Testing and Issues, Bulldozer updates and more!
Subject: General Tech | October 6, 2011 - 02:22 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: rage, podcast, nvidia, kepler, Intel, bulldozer, bf3, amd
PC Perspective Podcast #173 - 10/06/2011
Join us this week as we talk about our Battlefield 3 System Build Guide, RAGE Performance Testing and Issues, Bulldozer updates and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, Allyn Malventano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:39 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:53 MSI X370 Review: Fusion Hardware, Ultraportable Chassis
- 0:03:05 Battlefield 3 (BF3) System Build Guide - What you need to succeed
- 0:16:10 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards! - 0:17:12 RAGE Performance and Image Quality Evaluation - Day 1
- 0:31:30 Panel Self Refresh; a new way to save power
- 0:36:11 AMD Bulldozer FX CPUs dated: October 12th. Shhh.
- 0:37:01 AMD Bulldozer FX Processor Benchmarks Leaked
- 0:41:15 More confirmation, NVIDIA is leading the 600 series with mobile chips
- 0:44:05 Just Delivered: Asus HD 6770 DirectCU Silent
- 0:47:38 OCZ Technology Acquires UK Design Team from PLX Technology
- 0:49:15 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: Join me at GeForce LAN in Oakland!!
- Jeremy: Buy RIM, please!
- Josh: I have one, and I like it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049
- Allyn: power-over-esata to (22 pin) sata cables, cheap: here
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
RAGE Peforms...well
RAGE is not as dependant on your graphics hardware as it is on your CPU and storage system (which may be an industry first); the reason for which we will discover when talking about the texture pop-up issue on the next page.
Introduction
The first id Software designed game since the release of Doom 3 in August of 2004, RAGE has a lot riding on it. Not only is this the introduction of the idTech 5 game engine but also culminates more than 4 years of development and the first new IP from the developer since the creation of Quake. And since the first discussions and demonstrations of Carmack's new MegaTexture technology, gamers have been expecting a lot as well.
Would this game be impressive enough on the visuals to warrant all the delays we have seen? Would it push today's GPUs in a way that few games are capable of? It looks like we have answers to both of those questions and you might be a bit disappointed.
Performance Characteristics
First, let's get to the heart of the performance question: will your hardware play RAGE? Chances are, very much so. I ran through some tests of RAGE on a variety of hardware including the GeForce GTX 580, 560 Ti, 460 1GB and the Radeon HD 6970, HD 6950, HD 6870 and HD 5850. The test bed included an Intel Core i7-965 Nehalem CPU, 6GB of DDR3-1333 memory running off of a 600GB VelociRaptor hard drive. Here are the results from our performance tests running at 1920x1080 resolution with 4x AA enabled in the game options:
Continue reading our initial look at RAGE performance and image quality!!
Gigabyte's new GTX 580 doesn't need SupaPipes, the whole card is Supa!
Subject: Graphics Cards | October 4, 2011 - 05:17 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: nvidia, GTX580, gigabyte, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 Super Overclock
Gigabyte's new GeForce GTX 580 Super Overclock card sports a custom cooler with three fans and frequencies that can be changed from 772MHz GPU and f 1544 MHz RAM (1.5GB) to 855MHz and 1710 MHz at the flip of a switch. Those used to AMD cards might be disappointed by the outputs, two DVI ports and one mini-HDMI output seem sparse compared to a Radeon. From X-bit Labs testing, the card proves faster than the HD6970 in all but one test by a range of 11% - 24%, however you are also looking at paying at least 30% more than an overclocked HD6970. See how your favourite games performed on the Gigabyte board in the full review.
"Today we are going to talk about features, functionality and performance of a very interesting and very fast graphics accelerator built on the most powerful GPU from Nvidia."
Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- ASUS GTX580 DirectCU II Graphics Card Review @ OCIA
- MSI X460DX Review @ TechReviewSource
- ASUS GeForce GTS 450 Direct CU Silent Video Card @ Tweaktown
- Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide @ TechARP
- Catalyst 11.9 Windows 7 Driver Analysis @ Tweaktown
- Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 DiRT 3 Edition Review @ Neoseeker
- Sapphire HD 6850 1GB Vapor-X Edition @ OCC
- Sapphire Radeon 6850 Vapor-X with Dirt 3 @ TechwareLabs
More confirmation, NVIDIA is leading the 600 series with mobile chips
Subject: General Tech | October 4, 2011 - 11:53 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, GK107, GeForce 610M, GT 630M
VR-Zone spotted a string in the newest beta drivers from NVIDIA listing two new models of GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce 610M and GT 630M. From other rumours that we have collected from a variety of sources around the web we are fairly certain that these chips will be based on GK107, the low power version of the chip everyone wants to see, the GK100. While we are used to seeing both AMD and Intel to lead with mid to low range chips to simultaneously start off a new process size and chip family, NVIDIA doing so raises some eyebrows. NVIDIA's mobile graphics chips have to compete directly with the graphics portion of AMD and Intel's APUs and do so in a market where like it or not, you have already paid for the GPU portion of your processor. There will not only have to be an increase in performance, it will also have to justify the extra investment. We shall see what the final answer is early in 2012.
"In the latest unreleased 285 BETA drivers, the expected GeForce 600 branding has surfaced. The marketing names leaked are NVIDIA GeForce 610M and NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M. The GeForce 610M is likely to be an entry level GPU while the GeForce GT 630M could very well be a GK107 SKU."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- The TR Podcast 97: Sweet spot SSDs and Amazon's new Kindles
- "Intelligent" nanofluids could cool computer chips @ nanotechweb
- Asustek will not compete with price in the tablet PC market, says CEO @ DigiTimes
- Check your machines for malware, Linux developers told @ The Register
- Win a Jabra Clipper Bluetooth Stereo Headset @ Tech-Reviews
The Basics
Introduction
If you have been visiting PC Perspective at all over the last week there is no doubt you have seen a lot of discussion about the currently running Battlefield 3 beta. We posted an article looking at performance of several different GPUs in the game and then followed it up with a look at older cards like the GeForce 9800 GT. We did a live stream of some PC Perspective staff playing BF3 with readers and fans, showed off and tested the locked Caspian Border map and even looked at multi-GPU scaling performance. It was a lot of testing and a lot of time, but now that we have completed it, we are ready to summarize our findings in a piece that many have been clamoring for - a Battlefield 3 system build guide.
The purpose of this article is simple: gather our many hours or testing and research and present the results in a way that simply says "here is the hardware we recommend." It is a the exact same philosophy that makes our PC Perspective Hardware Leaderboard so successful as it gives the reader all the information they need, all in one place.
Continue reading our guide for building a system for Battlefield 3!!
PCPer Live! Battlefield 3 Beta Party and Discussion @ 10:30pm EST
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards | September 29, 2011 - 06:51 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: radeon, pcper live, nvidia, geforce, bf3, battlefield 3, amd
Look, there isn't any football on tonight, so what else are you going to do? Rather than watch a rerun of Seinfeld, why not stop by here at http://pcper.com/live to hang out and not only watch us play some Battlefield 3 but also participate yourself by calling in on Skype, using Google+ Hangouts or even just chatting on our IRC server (welcome back to 1998, amiright?).
We are going to start the show at 10:30pm EST and plan on running until midnight at least, but it all depends on participation levels from YOU!
What all do we have on the agenda? Well, it is going to be pretty informal as we are still getting our feet wet with this whole "live" thing but here is what we are planning:
- Watch Ryan and Ken get destroyed over and over in Battlefield 3 and watch as we attempt to sneak our way into the password protected Caspian levels with vehicles, 64 players and a new game type (oh my!).
- Skype call ins from readers and gamers that want to talk about BF3 and their experiences with the game so far. How does it run on your hardware? Discussion like this will help others that might not have the beta figure out what they might want to upgrade in the near future. (Be prepared to give us your Skype handle in the chat so we can call you!)
- Trying some group games via our PC Perspective Platoon, the Fragging Frogs! (Head over and apply to join or become a fan!) You can also find me on EA Origin or in the Battlelog system as "ryanshrout".
- We will discuss our brainstorming sessions for what hardware we will recommend for certain gaming resolutions and specific image quality settings in a future article...all live!
- Maybe some surprise guests from the PC Perspective staff and beyond...??
We will be streaming the festivities live on our Justin.tv channel (embedded below) and will have a chat widget here as well for those of you that would rather use IRC than the integrated Justin.tv chat.
In short, we are planning on having a good time playing some games and talking hardware so if you are into that, then I think you should be sure to stop by and say hello!! Let us know in the comments if you have anything else you want to see or any more ideas for our live show. Thanks!!!
More Battlefield 3 Beta Performance Results: GTX 460, Radeon HD 5850 and 9800 GT!
Subject: Graphics Cards | September 29, 2011 - 05:54 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: bf3, battlefield 3, nvidia, amd, geforce, radeon, gtx 460, hd 5850, 9800 gt
I just wanted to drop a quick note here on the home page to let you know that we haven't been just playing around on Battlefield 3 all day - instead we have been playing around on BF3 all day in order to bring you some more information about performance in the game! Earlier this afternoon I updated my Battlefield 3 Beta Performance article with a new page that focuses on results from the GeForce GTX 460 1GB, the AMD Radeon HD 5850 1GB and the GeForce 9800 GT 512MB card for those of you that are really behind the curve in the upgrade cycle.
What's this? The Caspian map? Performance results soon!
I would recommend you check out that new content to see where you hardware might fall and hopefully over the weekend we are going to be putitng together a system guide similar to our own Hardware Leaderboard but targetted at the BF3 gaming experience. Stay tuned!!
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