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 .:Latest Topics |
.:Latest News
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Show and Expo
Ryan published a summary of NVISION08 yesterday, covering the highlights of the show and going into much more depth that he had time to do while experimenting with liveblogging. There was one big announcement that didn't make it into that article, because nVIDIA had been keeping it under their hats, ready to be pulled out when everyone was getting ready to leave.
Intel's X58 chipset will natively support SLI, no special logic chips required. Suddenly the not so exciting update to Intel's chipset lineup just became the new hot item, supporting both Crossfire and SLI. You won't get a watered down version either, it will support 2, 3 and 4 graphics cards, beating even nVIDIA's chipset which will handle 3 graphics cards plus 1 that handles physics computation. There is a bit of bad news tied in with good, not every motherboard will support SLI. There will be certain models that can, and certain others that will be missing the required code in the BIOS. "NVIDIA decided to wait until the 11th hour to drop a bombshell on the media with information on the first non-NVIDIA chipset to natively support SLI multi-GPU technology. Come in and see all the details of 'how' and 'why' as well as what it means to the rest of the NVIDIA world." Here are some more Shows and Expos articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hexus | Subject: General Tech
Premature rumours of Universal abit's demise, as far as their motherboard business was concerned, were flying around earlier this year, and firmly denied by abit. The rumours turned out to be a dire warning, as this morning HEXUS has confirmed that abit is shutting down it's motherboard production at the end of the year. They will still support existing products, but all new production will cease at the close of 2008. You can still expect to see a mobile Internet device from them in the near future, so the company is not completely shutting down. This may spell trouble for other second teir motherboard makers.
On the other hand, Steve Jobs is still not dead. "HEXUS.channel can exclusively confirm that Taiwanese technology company abit, which is associated primarily with high-end and gaming mainboards, will stop producing all mainboards at the end of 2008. HEXUS.channel has confirmed this as fact from sources close to South East Asian distributors, all of which will be notified by their abit sales contacts from today onwards. Apparently abit will continue to deliver mainboards until the end of the year and will honour RMAs and warranties for three years subsequently. Rumours of abit's demise from mainboards were circulating widely last May, prompting an emphatic denial from abit. Our sources tell us that abit still intended to continue with mainboards at the time and that this decision was only made in the last couple of weeks." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Lounge | Subject: Graphics Card
nVIDIA has displayed a fondness for odd memory buses and sizes recently. It started with the 640Mb 8800GTS and now continues with the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB FTW, with a 448 bit memory bus. In the testing over at The Tech Lounge, they decided that this is their preferred card over the GTX 280, thanks to reduced power consumption, noise and heat as well as price. Read on and see if you agree.
"The GTX 260 is exceptionally powerful, quiet, even power-miserly. It too has dropped in price--you can find them for around $200 (!) with a rebate, anyway--although EVGA's FTW is... more. However, I believe that the price premium is totally fair with the Step-Up Program, warranty, and ridiculous overclocking potential. If the 280 is a heavyweight, then the 260 is a ninja. And everyone knows that ninjas are cooler." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclockers Online | Subject: Case and Cooling
If you have never heard of Topower, you are not alone. That didn't stop Overclockers Online from reviewing the PowerBird 900W. Buying a PSU, especially a high wattage model, from a company you've never heard of is not usually a good idea, but you can feel safe with Topower from the test results in the review. Six 12V lines of 20A each, modular cabling and a nice finish on the paint job add to an already solid product.
"For Topower's first showing here at Overclockers Online, they have done a great job. The PowerBird series combines the best of performance, features, and of course, affordability. For the $200 dollar range, Topower has its audience sorted out. While the PowerBird isn't a value oriented power supply, for the price, it's a solid contender in the high end power supply market." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Case and Cooling
Spotswood has a very interesting idea for a case, a kick drum. Available in three sizes, and with an optional kit that allows you to put drum skins on the case. Without the drum kit, you simply have a cylindrical casing for your PC, with included mounting brackets and such that will make it a little easier to install than a home made case. AnandTech
still doesn't recommend this case for anyone who is just getting into building their own PCs, this is a case for those with a bit more experience.
"In our search for something workable, we stumbled upon a very interesting oddity at Spotswood Custom Computers: a round, wooden PC case. It even looks like a kick drum. Hell, you can even get one with drumheads on it. How awesome is that for an extension of music room décor? Of course, with look taken care of, we do need to investigate functionality. This thing needs to be capable of everything any other computer case is able to handle and more. Can it meet your look-and-feel needs while also providing a robust computing solution?" Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: General Tech
As more information slowly bleeds out of Blizzard, we begin to get an idea of what StarCraft II is going to look like. The newest preview movie covers a Terran assault on a Zerg base (choose the HD version or it will look more like gameplay from the original Gauntlet). You can also follow links that discuss how the single player campaign will work, and why you will be limited in troop tech at the beginning and how to get the more expensive troops as you progress.
"Blizzard had a playable demo of StarCraft 2 running at Leipzig, and Kotaku's Michael McWhertor had a chance to sit down and spend some time playing the Zerg. The Zerg weren't available in previous demos; the Protoss and Terran campaigns were showcased earlier. GameSpy took the opportunity to interview two Blizzard employees about what people can expect from the game. Gameplay footage is also available which shows a Terran vs. Zerg battle." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: General Tech
nVIDIA has
no plans to get into the x86 CPU business according to one of their SVPs, Chris Malachowsky. They are quite happy to be the bigger fish in a pond with only two fish and a few minnows, as opposed to opening themselves up to the fierce competition in the CPU marketplace. See as how they are currently having trouble defending their place at the top of the GPU food chain from
AMD, that seems like a smart plan. Follow the link at Slashdot for more information on this as well as a few shots at Larrabee.
"A senior vice president of Nvidia has denied rumours that the company is planning an entry into the x86 CPU market. Speaking to PC Pro, Chris Malachowsky, another co-founder and senior vice president, was unequivocal. 'That's not our business,' he insisted. 'It's not our business to build a CPU. We're a visual computing company, and I think the reason we've survived the other 35 companies who were making graphics at the start is that we've stayed focused.' He also pointed out that such a move would expose the company to fierce competition. "Are we likely to build a CPU and take out Intel?" he asked."I don't think so, given their thirty-year head start and billions and billions of dollars invested in it. I think staying focused is our best strategy." He was also dismissive of the threat from Intel's Larrabee architecture, following Nvidia's chief architect calling it a 'GPU from 2006' at the weekend." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Josh Walrath | Source: 3DCenter | Subject: Processor
Yesterday AMD sent out a nice little email to their channel partners detailing some upcoming products that will be detailed more thoroughly on September 1. The first bit of info is that an updated version of the Phenom 9950 is going to be released, and the big news about this is that the TDP has been dropped from 140 watts to a much more palatable 125 watts. I have a sneaking suspicion that the 9950 that AMD sent me with the 790GX motherboard is one of these 125 watt processors, because at full bore it is approximately 64 watts higher in power at the socket than the 9350e (which is a 65 watt processor) on an identical system. This is good news for AMD, as their top end processor is now easier to get a motherboard for. It also should give a little bit more headroom for overclocking. AMD's 65 nm process has certainly had an interesting history, and they have certainly refined it enough to make their quad core parts a lot less power hungry than they initially were.
The second announcement is that a new Black Edition product will be hitting the streets, this time based on the Toliman core. The new Phenom 8750 BE will have the same 2.4 GHz clockspeed as the non-unlocked version, but considering AMD's progress in getting better performing Phenoms out the door as of late, it should be pretty easy to take these numbers to 3.0 GHz and above. Throw in a dose of ACC and it could be a pretty cost effective enthusiast part for the AMD side. This appears to still be a 95 watt part. While it is not exactly new and exciting, it is another good option for people working within a set budget who want multi-core performance and the ability to tweak their processors. The final announcement deals with the legendary "Kuma" processor. Originally AMD was going to release a dual core version based on the Phenom architecture shortly after Phenom came to market. This was not to be. Then came rumors that Kuma was cancelled and the first dual core part based on the Phenom architecture would be a 45 nm part and aimed at the budget arena. Apparently that was just a rumor, and Kuma is in fact coming to town. The first iterations of this product may not be mind-boggling though. Many had assumed that since it was a dual core version of Phenom, that it would be clocked significantly higher without breaking 65 watts. This does not appear to be the case though, as some leaked materials point to the fastest Kuma product being 2.3 GHz and possibly a 45 watt part. AMD is going to offer the high end Kuma as a Black Edition, so overclocking this part could be somewhat interesting. I would imagine that the upper end of the OC spectrum would be near the same as what the current Phenom Black Editions are able to do, but these still should pull less power at that speed and be slightly cooler. AMD is not sitting still while they are ramping up 45 nm production, and they certainly cannot afford to considering that the first 45 nm parts will all be aimed at the server market where margins are a whole lot fatter. Until enthusiasts can get their hands on desktop 45 nm parts at the end of this year, they will have to be content to continue playing with these more refined 65 nm Phenom parts. On September 1 we should be hearing a lot more about these upcoming parts.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Madshrimps | Subject: Memory
As watercooling becomes a more popular solution, we are seeing more components that are built with watercooling in mind. One of the more recent is the OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Flex II Water Cooled Memory, running at 2Ghz with 8-8-8-30 timings @ 2T. Not only did OCZ set these modules up to allow for watercooling, they include a full set of water-cooling adapters and tubing. Head to Madshrimps to see how these modules perform.
"Today we take a look at OCZ latest addition to the Flex series : the Flex II DDR3 kit. As a matter of fact, this is our first DDR3 review in the house - better late than never I suppose - so have a look what DDR3 water cooled at 2Ghz can bring to your doorstep." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: DriverHeaven | Subject: Motherboard
Over at DriverHeaven, you can get a quick look at the state of the motherboard market. They compare eight motherboards, from different manufacturers and using different chipsets to give anyone looking to upgrade a good idea what is on the marketplace. The range covers a lot of ground, from the $85 Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P to the $440 Asus Striker II Extreme. See which ones might find a home with you.
"Today we will be comparing eight motherboards for Intel processors and showing how each performs as well as looking at the features they have to offer. Tests include gaming, media playback, image manipulation and more, so by the end of the article we should be a bit better placed to know which chipset or board is ideal for consumers using Intel processors." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Mechanic | Subject: Mobile
One segment of the market that just hasn't grown the way enthusiasts would like is the ability to make your own laptop. The 15" laptop chassis that OZC provides is fairly customizable, except for one small component. You are stuck with a 8600M GT as your graphics chip, that is not customizable. Check out the full deal at PC Mechanic.
"If you usually build your own desktop PC, you may have toyed with the idea of building your own laptop? Unfortunately, laptop barebones are quite hard to get by, unless you put out an order for a few thousand from your favorite ODM. OCZ is looking to change this, by letting you customize – and build – your own 15-inch gaming laptop." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: Graphics Card
NVIDIA continues to offer consumers more choice with the addition today of the GeForce 9400 GT. The GeForce 9400 GT delivers unsurpassed value by enabling end users to enjoy gaming, HD video, enhanced visual effects, and smoother Vista performance for retail prices as low as $59.
So far there only seems to be one place to get it, we will keep you posted as others appear.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
On the second day of Ryan's second foray into live coverage of a show, new features have been added, along with new content. First off you enter your email for a reminder to arrive before his coverage starts, secondly we have been promised live video, to make it feel even more like you are there. If you missed yesterdays coverage of Jen-Hsun's keynote, it is still available.
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: General Tech
NVISION 08-SANTA CLARA, CA - AUGUST 26, 2008 - NVIDIA Corporation today announced that Futuremark Games Studio has selected NVIDIA PhysX technology for its upcoming first-person shooter game, Shattered Horizon, which was officially unveiled last week at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany. "Shattered Horizon has a real space setting that offers gameplay, tactics, and freedom of movement that cannot be found in any other shooter," said Jukka Mäkinen, Head of Futuremark Games Studio. "PhysX is essential in helping our game designers create a realistic and fun zero-gravity combat experience." Shattered Horizon is a multiplayer first-person shooter where players fight in zero gravity surrounded by rocky debris from a huge explosion on the Moon. With simple and intuitive controls players have complete freedom of movement to create gameplay and tactics impossible in games constrained by gravity. The game's stunning lighting effects and zero gravity physics give the look and feel of real space, bringing to life an extraordinary and epic vision of the future. NVIDIA PhysX technology is the world's most pervasive development platform for physics acceleration in interactive entertainment. Consisting of a robust physics engine, API, and middleware software, NVIDIA PhysX technology provides developers the ability to add additional levels of realism into their games across all major gaming platforms, including Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC. On the PC, PhysX technology harnesses the power of any CUDA-enabled general-purpose parallel computing processor, including any NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series or higher GPU, to handle 10-20 times more visual complexity than what's possible on today's traditional PC platforms. All of the 80 million plus GeForce 8 Series and higher GPUs in the field are CUDA-enabled, the largest installed base of general-purpose, parallel-computing processors ever created. "We are excited to be working with Futuremark on their first original game," said Roy Taylor, NVIDIA vice president of content relations. "By utilizing the advanced features that NVIDIA PhysX technology provides, Shattered Horizon will deliver a compelling, visual, and highly interactive experience to gamers." NVIDIA PhysX technology is already included in more than 140 shipping titles for Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the PC. For more information on NVIDIA PhysX technology, please visit: www.nzone.com/physx. For more information on Shattered Horizon, please visit: www.shatteredhorizon.com 
Crates ... in space!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: General Tech
ArcSoft, Inc. announced today that ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre, its universal multimedia player, now supports NVIDIA CUDA which provides DVD upscaling through Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Devising its SimHD post processing technology with NVIDIA CUDA, ArcSoft is accelerating TotalMedia Theatres DVD upscale performance on GPUs to deliver viewers a close-to-HD video from the standard definition multimedia files and DVDs, offering them a sharper and more vivid picture in real time. "The newly released, CUDA-powered SimHD technology is available in TotalMedia Theatre to allow viewers to obtain a HD-like viewing experience from not only DVDs, but also other standard definition multimedia files,"said George Tang, ArcSoft Vice President and General Manager of Video and Home Entertainment Group. "We are pleased to be partnering with NVIDIA to deliver excellence in high-definition video on the PC." "CUDA provides our software partners an environment to develop high-level applications utilizing NVIDIA GPU accelerations," said Patrick Beaulieu, NVIDIAs Product Marketing Manager, Multimedia Group. "ArcSoft SimHD technology in TotalMedia Theatre sets a great example which harnesses the power of NVIDIA GPUs for much-enhanced video processing." TotalMedia Theatre utilizes general purpose GPUs (GPGPU) to provide sufficient power for intensive post processing technology such as SimHD. The application is compatible for use with NVIDIA GeForce 8 and 9 series GPUs. ArcSoft will continue working to deploy other technologies on NVIDIA CUDA. ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre with SimHD technology will be available in Q4, 2008. For a live demonstration, visit NVIDIA (booth 220) at NVISION 08, taking place at the San Jos McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose, CA. For more information about the product, please visit http://www.arcsoft.com/intouch/totalmediatheatrepr.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Extremetech | Subject: General Tech
If you remember the original SideWinder, you have good idea what the new X5 model looks like. Otherwise, ExtremeTech's description of it being "loosely inspired by Master Chief from Halo and the Mazda Senku concept car" is fairly apt. The new model includes the ability to program macro buttons and higher DPI, but retains the originals extra large size. As a MMORPGer or FPSer you may like the idea of the "spin on a dime" button, and if you have hands that swallow smaller mice, you may want to invest in one of these.
"Though it looks like the SideWinder from a year ago, the X5 doesn't behave exactly the same. This "lite" version doesn't have
weight tuning options, removable Teflon pads, or an LCD screen. Microsoft felt these features were non-essential for a gaming
mouse, but they did leave in what is important: three on-the-fly dpi switching buttons, two vertical side buttons, and a fast
and accurate laser sensor. Dpi can be dipped as far down as 200dpi, and as high as 2000dpi, which is plenty fast, and slow,
for the versatile gamer."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Techware Labs | Subject: Case and Cooling
Thermaltake's DuOrb CPU cooler bears a resemblance to their DuOrb VGA cooler, save for the size. This cooler is large enough to fit a pair of fans and looks a little like a Chinook helicopter, if said helicopter had differnet coloured LEDs on it's blades. Techware Labs liked the performance they saw, though you may find some careful measurements of your motherboard, especially the RAM placement, before you pick up one of these coolers.
"Bigger is better right? Then it follows that two fans are better than one in which case the DuOrb not only has two but adds heatpipes and enough bling to satisfy even the most aggressive case modder. We stuck the DuOrb into our test rig for some overclocking and testing. Does the DuOrb cool as good as it looks?" Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Josh Walrath | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Show and Expo
It seems there are some cranky people just waiting to get the attention of attendee's to NVIDIA's NVISION 08 conference! We are not sure who is passing these leaflets out, but Ryan was accosted by them and forced to take pictures of their propaganda! Ok, maybe he wasn't forced, but Ryan does appreciate a bit of drama now and then!
The first obviously talks about the potentially large number of "flawed" chips that NVIDIA has sold to OEMs around the world. While these are mainly relegated to notebooks, accusations have surfaced that nearly all of NVIDIA's current chip inventories could be affected by this substrate flaw. 
The second is the Wall Street Journal article talking about the chip issues that NV is having, and I am guessing this was given out to give a bit of background to what is happening.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: bit-tech | Subject: System
mCubed has just released an HFX Mini HTPC case, which promises a cheap alternative to other passively cooled HTPC cases. Unfortunately, from bit-tech's testing it looks like they managed to get both meanings of the word cheap to apply. While certainly less expensive that other similar cases, the use of riser cards and the inconveniently tight design mean you should read through the article carefully before running out and buying one.
"If you compare it to other passively cooled HTPCs on the market, like the Hush PC UK-E1200 or the Hoojum Cubit PCs then it is undoubtedly cheaper -- if only by a few hundred pounds. Moreover by shopping around on eBay for the internal components you can knock off considerably more of that price. What you get in overall quality is not that much different from the competitors' machines. The case is well-built, all sorts of necessary bits and bobs are included, and some aspects of it are very cleverly and well designed indeed. On the other hand, I get the feeling that mCubed is not entirely honest with its customers. It is definitely not trying to rip people off, the price of most of its components being commensurate with their high quality. But the riser cards seem rather extravagantly priced, you need to buy a lot of "optional" extras to make for a complete kit which tots up the price, and while being squarely pitched at the consumer whose only previous experience has been to put together a generic PC, it becomes quite obvious that at least a medium level of modding skill is required to make a decent system." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Graphics Card
At [H]ard|OCP, you can catch two reviews of nVIDIA's best offerings, the ASUS ENGTX280 TOP and ASUS ENGTX260 TOP. The GTX280 will set you back about $500, the GTX260 is just over $300. The price is perhaps the biggest hurdle facing nVIDIA; certainly the GTX280 can beat an HD4870, but considering that AMD's card can be had for under $300, and the HD4870 X2 for $500, can the performance gap justify the price?
"Prices continue to drop on GeForce GTX 280 video cards, and the ASUS ENGTX280 TOP is now priced very competitively; but is it a great value? We'll compare it to a stock GeForce GTX 280, a Radeon HD 4870 X2 and a Radeon HD 4870 in real-world gaming scenarios to find out!" Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
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