NVIDIA's PhysX Looks to Have Bright Future

For those of you who don't often look at the top of the page, you are missing out on some cool content. One of the most notable would be our in-depth look at NVIDIA's PhysX technology, which is now supported right off of NVIDIA top-end GPUs, with more to be supported next month. Is it worth getting excited over? If developers begin to pick up on the technology, then yes, definitely.

The problem when AGEIA owned the rights to the technology was that they were selling the technology to be tied to an add-in card, which no one wanted to buy. With support built for a GPU, it blows the doors open for support, since everyone has one. Of course, the bigger the card, the better the capabilities, but at least the option will be there. We'll be learning a lot more about this throughout the summer, so stay tuned as we'll keep you up to date.

For those looking for a new tuner, you might be interested in our look at AMD's brand-new All-In-Wonder HD card, which should be available in the weeks to come. It packs in HD 3650 performance and TV tuner functionality into the same card. Sounds great, but the proof of its value will be seen once we get one into our labs.

Lastly, you cannot miss Bill's exhaustive look at 22 different CPU coolers, which he pit against the ultra-hot QX6850 Quad-Core processor. You might be surprised which coolers come out on top, and which fail miserably. It's just too bad that we awarded an Editor's Choice award to a cooler that, as it turns out, has been discontinued even before it could launch. Crazy!

PhysX is getting a lot of attention right now, but the reasons vary wildly. Since we haven't taken a look at the technology in a while, this article's goal is to see where things stand. We'll also be taking an in-depth look at GPU PhysX performance, using both 3DMark Vantage and UT III.

Source: NVIDIA's PhysX: Performance and Status Report

PS3's Trophies System Explained

Playstation 3 gamers have been waiting a while for trophy functionality, like Xbox Live's accomplishments system, but the wait is finally almost over. On the official blog, they've just posted a video explaining everything you need to know about the new system, top to bottom.

Essentially, it's not far different from the Xbox Live accomplishments, but it seems more intuitive (and not so slow to navigate). You can accrue different trophies in supported games, and they will automatically be added to your profile. As you earn more, they will combine with your overall trophies: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The more you have, well, the better the person you are, of course!

In all seriousness, it looks like a great system, one that's a bit better designed than the accomplishments on Xbox Live, but the biggest downfall is the fact that it's only for certain games going forward, and it appears very few previously-launched games will add the functionality in. It would be possible with the help of a patch, but whether or not developers will care enough to release such a thing is yet to be seen.

No launch date announced for the new firmware that adds this functionality, but it should be very, very soon.

Super Stardust HD, a PLAYSTATION Network-exclusive released in June 2007, will be the first game to leverage Trophies and will offer a variety of trophies. Trophy support in Super Stardust HD will be available for first-time users who purchase the game soon after firmware v2.40 is released, while those who previously purchased and downloaded the title will be prompted to install a free patch.

Source: Playstation Blog

OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator On Sale

In my travels around the web, I continually see people inquiring about OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator and when it will be available. Well silly rabbit, it's been available for a while now. It's just that it's not available on many of the websites you regularly shop at.

Currently, the best place to purchase it is Buy.com, which is somewhat unfortunate as they don't have the cleanest track record when it comes to making customers happy. Amazon.com is also said to have been stocking it, but I couldn't find anything on their site.

Canadian e-tailer NCIX.com also sells it, but they are currently out of stock and are taking special orders. So while the NIA is a little difficult to acquire, it's not impossible. Hopefully the likes of NewEgg will take stock soon.

As a side note, Buy.com also stocks their barebone gaming notebook, for what seems like a great deal at $656. Bear in mind that you will need to purchase the CPU, hard drive and RAM on the side, but they are readily available on popular e-tailers. Finally, a gamers DIY done (seemingly) right! For my brief thoughts on both the notebook and NIA, please check out our Computex coverage.

It works by reading the pressure from your face/head and interpreting the signals to commands that a computer game can understand. Each time you play, you will need to run the calibrator for the most accurate control, and when done, you'll be able to configure certain aspects to your liking.

Source: Computex '08 Roundup

June 30th Tech Roundup

Motherboards & Processors
• MSI P45 Platinum - Overclockers Club

Displays & Video Cards
• ASUS EN9600GT TOP - Legit Reviews
• Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX - Digit-Life
• PowerColor HD 4870 - Overclockers Club
• Visiontek 4850 - Bjorn3D

Memory & Storage
• Crucial Ballistix PC3-16000 2000MHz - Pro-Clockers
• G.SKILL DDR2 PC2-8800 4GB - 3DGameman
• SanDisk Mobile Ultra 8GB microSDHC Card - i4u
• VelociRaptors In RAID 5, A Case Study In Speed - HotHardware

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Meridian F80 Audio System - The Tech Lounge
• Microsoft Wireless Mouse 7000 - Hardware Logic
• OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator - Tech Report
• Yuin PK1 Ear Buds - techPowerUp!

Cooling
• GlacialTech Igloo 5710 CPU Coolers - Modders-Inc
• Nexus XiR-2300 and XiR-3500 CPU Coolers - MikhailTech

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Antec Three Hundred Gamer Case - circuitREMIX
• Antec Twelve Hundred Case - Computer Shopper
• NZXT Tempest - Overclockers Online
• Vantec NexStar MX Dual Drive Enclosure - OC Modshop

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Pepcom Digital Experience June 2008 Coverage - DragonSteelMods
• Toshiba Qosmio x305 Gaming Notebook - Legit Reviews