NVIDIA Launches a new website: SLIzone.com

Subject: Graphics Cards | April 5, 2005 - 02:50 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

It looks like NVIDIA is taking the community's comments about the state of SLI to heart, launching a new website to help the enthusiast find information on reviews, tutorials and more.  It's the information like the list of supported games though, that will be the best information source on here, I think.

To kick off the webiste, they are having a contest to win the following prizes:

To kick off the new site, MSI is spon

NVIDIA Starts Memory Certification Program For Chipsets

Subject: Memory | April 5, 2005 - 09:00 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

NVIDIA has started what seems to be a memory certification program for memory modules to work perfectly on their new nForce4 SLI Intel Edition chipset motherboards.  You can read my review of this chipset today here. 

NVIDIA BRINGS LEADING-EDGE DDR2 MEMORY TO INTEL GAMERS

New NVIDIA Memory Program Helps Vendors Promote Special Overclocked Memory DIMMs in Retail Channels for Users of NVIDIA nForce®4 SLI™ Intel® Edition MCPs

NVIDIA Announces nForce4 SLI Intel Edition

Subject: Chipsets | April 5, 2005 - 09:00 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

Here's the official PR on the new Intel-based NVIDIA chipset.  You can read my chipset preview here.

Done for the night, see you in the morning

Subject: Editorial | April 5, 2005 - 01:49 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: blog

Just finished up an article that is going live at 9am EST tomorrow (can you guess which?).  Turned out to be a fairly good product for the targetted platform, though you'll have to get the full details in the morning.  I just feel lucky this is the first time I have gotten an NDA'd article done before 3am or so in a long time!

Another long day for me to catch up on those reviews I promised you, but for now good night!

Worn out from the Weekend

Subject: Editorial | April 4, 2005 - 07:32 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: blog

Over this past weekend, actually from Wednesday until Sunday night, I have done nothing except move people.  One of my good friends bought a condo, and we moved what few things he had furnture-wise on Wednesday in what turned out ot be only a single day job.  My mom also moved this weekend, and that was quite a different story.  I started organizing a somewhat-packed 4 bedroom house on Thursday morning, into Friday and to Saturday afternoon.  Then the heavy lifting starting Saturday evening and went on until Sunday at about 6pm.  A big hearty thanks goes out to my f

Another Intel Dual Core Preview

Subject: Processors | April 4, 2005 - 03:19 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

Just caught another Intel dual core processor preview, this time at Anandtech. 

- When it comes to dual core vs. single core with Hyper Threading, there's a huge difference.  While both improve system response time, dual core improves it more while also guaranteeing better overall system performance.  Hyper Threading lets you multitask, dual core lets you actually get work done while multitasking. 

Intel Extreme Edition Dual Core Processor Previews

Subject: Processors | April 4, 2005 - 03:08 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

All the rage on the Internet today is the supposed "release" of the Intel Extreme Edition 840 processor.  The reviews are few and far between, pointing to either a very rushed release or difficulty getting the amount of parts ready. 

HardOCP gives you the quick and important information on the new XE 840 processor, without a lot of techy-fluff.  They sum it up pretty nicely.

There are also articles from such sites as He

AMD gleeful about Sin City

Subject: General Tech | April 4, 2005 - 02:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

The big-screen Sin City was shot almost entirely against green screen, with all the stylised backgrounds added in virtually. AMD is cooing, because Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios used a setup entirely of AMD64 machines to create and edit the film and its special effects.

Case with an attitude & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 4, 2005 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

With an 80mm in the front, a 120mm in the rear, and intake scoops that make it look turbo charged, the ASUS Vento is a unique looking case and PCStats has one to review.  If it's a not the case you are looking for, then keep scrolling, because there is more.

"What used to be the solitary pastime of a few geeks with Dremels and too much free time is now a full scale modding industry, and even major computer retail chains are selling 'enthusiast' parts like.

X-treme cooling, Hydro cooling & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 1, 2005 - 11:46 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Wanna buy a case that could give you a 1.2Ghz overclock?  The new Asetek Vapochill X-treme Edition II did it for Extreme Overclocking, it may not be silent, but it sure is cool.  If that's a little too much power for you, then keep scrolling down for some of the newest watercooling products.

"In the constant quest for better cooling, Asetek has released their VapoChill Extreme Edition II offering 180 watts of cooling at sub-zero temperatures.

Overclocking the Athlon 64 3500+

Subject: Processors | March 31, 2005 - 10:30 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

Want to read about one sites experiences overclocking the 3500+ Newcastle core processor?  They say that buying a CPU is luck of the draw on whether you get Newcastle or Winchester, or any core, but if you look around at most online sites like Newegg, they specify for you.

There's little doubt that the AMD Athlon64 3500+ is the processor that most enthusiasts will go with as it offers a higher multiplier than lower end models but does not break the bank either.

Interview with AMD's Fred Weber

Subject: Processors | March 31, 2005 - 10:28 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

I was some how left out of this endeavor to AMD this week, but no matter.  Anandtech has a good quality article up on what comments they got from Fred Weber, who was the lead architect on the K8 core.

We also asked Weber about his thoughts on wafer and die stacking; he sounded particularly interested in them, but added that for a microprocessor it's far too early to count on die stacking because of yield concerns.  He said that the time for the technology to be used on microprocessors would only exis

Seagate's Barracuda 7200.8 hard drive

Subject: Storage | March 31, 2005 - 10:26 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

The guys at The Tech Report are reviewing the new Seagate 7200.8 HDD with 400 GB capacity.  Seem a bit much?  They don't think so.  But what about performance?

Our benchmark results were mixed, making it hard to unreservedly recommend the Barracuda 7200.8 over the other drives in the test group.

Power up your aircooling & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | March 30, 2005 - 12:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged:

Thermaltake just keeps the innovations coming, not only a new heatsink, but a new 'toolless' retention clip.  Feast your eyes on the K450, brought to you by the folks at Techtastic.  This cooler performs, but as with most targeted at the A64, it is huge, weighing in at 438g, and with a fan it's over 100mm tall.  If you have a tight fit in your case right now, maybe you should think about cutting out a blower!

"Today we take a look at Thermaltake's K450 which is part of a new line of heat sinks developed by

MSI NX6800GT-T2D256E Review

Subject: Graphics Cards | March 29, 2005 - 01:45 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

Man, that model name looks like something Gainward would think up!  [H]ardOCP is out with yet another review today, only this time featuring the 6800GT GPU from NVIDIA. 

Honestly, you have to put in context what we are testing here. The MSI NX6800GT is based on the GeForce 6800 GT GPU, which is only second to the fastest GPU available from NVIDIA at this time. It really isn't that much slower than a 6800 Ultra considering the only difference is that it is clocked at a lower speed.

Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra Review

Subject: Motherboards | March 29, 2005 - 01:39 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

HardOCP has reviewed the Epox 9NPA+ motherboard based on the nForce4 Ultra chipset.  I actually had a review of this board ready for print this morning, and it should go live tomorrow some time.

However, there was one strange thing I encountered with the 9NPA+ ULTRA — its lack of overclocking ability. In testing the board, I only was able to get it to a 250MHz FSB and at that speed, the board wasn't as stable as I would've liked.

Corsair Explains Memory Latencies

Subject: Memory | March 29, 2005 - 01:33 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

Today Corsair has posted a PDF document on their website that explains the magic of memory latencies and how they affect performance.  You can find it llsted under the "RAM Guy's Topics" section on their homepage. 

It takes a sequence of instructions to read the RAM. First, the ACTIVE command must be issued to the row containing the desired data. Then, READ commands can be issued to read data from the active row.

Gigabyte K8VT890 Review at Tech Report

Subject: Motherboards | March 29, 2005 - 01:30 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged:

The Tech Report has reviewed a Gigabyte VIA K8T890 motherboard with PCI Express support for under $90.

Despite the fact that GA-K8VT890-9 offers a fair bit of value at its bargain-basement price point, enthusiasts will no doubt be frustrated by the BIOS's lack of a PCI Express clock lock and temperature-driven fan speed control. Those features could perhaps be added in a BIOS update, as Gigabyte has done with more extensive memory timings, but they're not available yet.