Save me Barcelona, you're my only hope

Subject: General Tech | May 17, 2007 - 11:31 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Without much hard information about AMD's new chip, the speculation runs wild.  With the release of the 2900XT, we saw a card that may be poised to take a share of the mid-range graphics market away from nVIDIA, but not the high end range.

They fell off the back of the truck

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2007 - 04:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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GamePyre risks their money buying a Kirsch speaker set out of the back of a truck, just to see what they got for their money.  The set consisted of a subwoofer, 4 stand up speakers and 1 front speaker, plus assorted wires and a remote.   The setup was easy, and everything did work, although perhaps not perfectly.  Find out if you want to lay down the full $2500 to buy this set straight from Kirsch.

New DirectX, old accusations

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2007 - 11:52 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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With the release of the demo version of Lost Planet:Extreme Conditions, those who have Vista and bought one of nVIDIA's new generation of cards, or managed to get their hands on a 2900XT, will finally see DX10 for themselves.  It has also resurrected an issue that became huge during the release of 3DMark05, driver optimization.  It seems that nVIDIA has been working very closely with the developers of this console port, to make sure DX10 runs perfectly, and AMD hasn't had the same opportunity.  [H]a

The visible PCB

Subject: General Tech | May 16, 2007 - 11:40 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Hopefully this doesn't catch on as the newest procedure that must be completed before you are allowed to RMA a motherboard, because I don't think my dentist would let me use hers.  MAKE:Blog has linked to an animated X-Ray of a PCB, allowing you to see right inside the world below the tracings on the surface.  It really gives you an idea how 3 dimensional the circuitry is.

Give your cubicle some style

Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2007 - 02:42 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Razer Pro|Click and Pro|Type are both very white and would look at home in any office environment.  The inclusion of 10 programmable macro keys on the keyboard is a nice touch, but it is very large and will take up a lot of your desk space.  The mouse is a Razer Diamondback in disguise, so if you have the chance to do a little illicit gaming, you won't be hampered by a mouse with a lousy response rate.  Read on at TECHGAGE to see if your cubicle could use an upgrade.

Gimmie that new-time radio

Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2007 - 11:27 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Ultrawideband radio could be the most important thing you probably haven't heard of.  While WiFi and Bluetooth are the current stars of wireless data transmission, doing a much better job that a cell phone can, this may all change.  Right now the companies that are working on UWB claim speeds between 480Mbps to 1Gbps, and the technology is still fairly young. ExtremeTech has a very thorough look at UWB and what it could do to the way we transmit data.

FlashChat with your fellow PCPers!

Subject: General Tech | May 14, 2007 - 05:26 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Our ever industrious site admin, The Wise One, has implemented a new feature on the forums.  It is called FlashChat, and is a Flash based chat program allowing you to chat with any other members that are currently on, without leaving the forums or installing anything.  Give it a shot and see who's on right now.

Make sure you give him feedback and kudos too!

AMD drops the ON

Subject: General Tech | May 14, 2007 - 02:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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AMD has finally named Barcelona, as Phenom, breaking years of tradition by not ending the name in "on".  AnandTech has a close look at the layout of these new processors, and the 4 tiers that AMD will be launching.  There are no benchmarks as of yet, but there is a look at AMD's roadmap over the next few years, including Shanghai which is likely the core to support DDR3.

AMD talks about it's game plan

Subject: General Tech | May 14, 2007 - 10:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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[H]ard|OCP had the chance to attend AMD's CTO Summit and hear what they have planned, directly from Phil Hester; AMDs' CTO.  They answered a few of the questions [H] posed in their State of the Silicon Union address, as well as touching on the unification of the CPU and GPU.  You can also see some pictures of a 45nm wafer and a running Agena FX system.

If you haven't learned anything new yet today, now's the perfect time

Subject: General Tech | May 11, 2007 - 04:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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If you have never used HijackThis, it may seem to be a bit scary, especially with the warnings the program gives you about the damage you can do when removing processes.  In the Network and Security forum we have a few old hands around that are glad to give you a helping hand in getting rid of those nagging trojans.  In order to get to that position, it does help to have a PC that will boot for you.  The new Gigabye 965p DQ6 is giving one member a real problem, they can't even get Memtest to run with a pair of G.Skill

Make sure you talk the talk with the best

Subject: General Tech | May 11, 2007 - 02:10 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Gaming headsets are found in much greater variety, now that TeamSpeak or some type of in-game communication is expected with multiplayer titles.  ExtremeTech compares 2 of the top models that allow you to lay the verbal smackdown on your opponent while gibbing them with whatever weapon is close to hand. 

Hot gaming on a cold planet

Subject: General Tech | May 11, 2007 - 12:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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OQO Model 2, take 2

Subject: General Tech | May 11, 2007 - 11:52 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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In part 2 of VIA Arena's video review of the OQO Model 2, get the machine started up and then change focus to the abilities of the docking station.  The UMPC boots up into a full version of Windows XP, and the batteries will keep it going for up to 3 hours.  There is an optional super sized battery offering twice the charge, although it is also twice the size.  The docking station gives you HDMI output, so once you get home you can plug the OQO into your HDTV, and the 3 USB ports give you the ability to add a full-sized keyboard and mouse. 

A weighty mouse

Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2007 - 05:25 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Revoltec has jumped into the gaming mouse bandwagon with the Fightmouse.  With up to 2400dpi resolution and 5 buttons it has all the feature that gamers are now used to.  It also has a nice added bonus, 3 weights that can be added to the mouse to adjust it exactly to your preference, 10, 15 and 20g.  The back of the mouse also looks more rounded than most, which may be good news to many.

Conference, just in time

Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2007 - 11:45 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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In case you hadn't heard, the JavaOne conference is happening right now in San Francisco.  While it certainly doesn't get the attention that E3 or the IDF does, it is the place to be for those who work with Java.  Phoronix is there, and they have caught Oracle's slideshow and posted pictures up to the web.

The anticipation grows

Subject: General Tech | May 9, 2007 - 12:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Inquirer has heard that at least one of the voices in Fallout 3 will be done well, as it will be Liam Neeson.  There is no word on any other voice actors participating, nor on what the game will look like (or if it will be SPECIAL).  Follow their link for some nice mood music and 2 strange pictures.  For a look at a very dedicated fan base, click on the picture and head to the Fallout 3 forums ... and wear a flameproof suit.

Delaying an extinction event

Subject: General Tech | May 9, 2007 - 11:48 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Register has a story on RapidMind, a startup that claims to be able to allow coders who have always programed for single core processors to be able to take advantage of multiple core speed advantages without needing to relearn their trade.  If their promise holds true, it may significantly reduce the delay between Cell processors and GPGPU becoming commonly available and the arrival of software optimized to use them.

An almost disposable MP3 player

Subject: General Tech | May 8, 2007 - 01:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Hardware Zone reviews the new Creative Zen Stone.  At only 1GB, you won't be putting your entire music collection on it, but that really isn't what it is for.  It weighs only 18.5 ounces and is about the size of a Zippo lighter so it will go anywhere.  At an MSRP of less than $50 dollars, it certainly seems to put the iPod Nano in second place.