Content and news by Rob Williams

NVIDIA’s new nForce 650i SLI and 680i SLI aren’t exactly new per se but rather a quasi-re-branding of the previously released nForce 570 SLI and 590 SLI Intel Editions. The new nForce 650i SLI SPP pairs with an nForce 430 SLI MCP to provide a total of 29 PCI Express lanes. In SLI mode the nForce 650i SLI delivers two half-speed PCI Express x16 slots.

Recipe: Take a 5 series chipset, chant randomly for a few minutes, and *poof* you will have a 6 series! This change could have been accomplished with a marker or pen, but at least this is a revision rather than nothing at all. Still, clever marketing as such is bothersome…

Some observers said that they doubt Intel would buy NVIDIA because it’s too expensive. The company has a stock market capitalization of about $10 billion, which means it would demand a far higher price than what AMD is paying for ATI.

Rumors have been around, but now they are starting to get serious. There’s no sense of even thinking “this will never happen”, because that’s exactly what most thought before AMD bought ATI. If Intel bought NVIDIA, that would bring an extreme twist to the CPU and GPU market.

A new study appearing in the October 2006 issue of Pediatrics suggests that any amount of video gaming and TV is too much, if it happens on a school night. The results come from a survey of 4,500 midle-school students in New Hampshire and Vermont.

I’m no parent, but I could have told people this without the effort of a study. I know what I was like in school, and clearly video games > all. Still, maybe this will help some to better understand why this is the case.

Yup. That’s right. Sony is holding off on rumble because they’re very concerned about offering you electronics that aren’t too expensive. I’m glad they’re looking out for our wallets. I’d really hate to have to break the bank so I could play their games.

Ok, before you laugh your ass off… Nevermind, feel free to laugh your ass off, then read this posting. So, they are keeping the motion sensing while ridding the rumble feature… something we’ve had since the original Playstation. Good move there.

Cases & Enclosures
• Thermaltake Soprano White Case – Think Computers
• Vantec Nexstar3 – Club OC

Cooling
• Cooler Master Mars CPU Cooler – DragonSteelMods
• CoolerMaster Mars CPU Cooler – Virtual-Hideout
• Silverstone Nitrogen NT06 – XS Reviews

Memory & Storage
• OCZ PC2-6400 Special Ops Edition Urban Elite – Big Bruin

Motherboards & Processors
• ABIT AW9D-MAX – TweakTown
• ECS KA3 MVP Extreme Crossfire Xpress 3200 – PC Stats
• Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H 30-day Test Drive – techFEAR

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Coolermaster eXtreme Power Duo RP-600-PCAP PSU – Technic3D
• NZXT Precise 650w Power Supply – OCIA
• Seasonic M12 Modular 700W – 3D Gameman
• SteelSound 5H v2 Headset – XS Reviews

Displays & Video Cards
• HIS X1650 Pro IceQ Turbo PCIe – XYZ Computing

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Building A Wooden PC – Bjorn3D
• Cooler Master Mystique 632 Case Give Away – Big Bruin
• LG KG800 “Chocolate” Phone – UK Gamer
• Power consumption and Vista’s Aero interface – Tech Report
• WIRED NextFest 2006 Wrap-up – Digital Trends

In the end, it’s all up to Microsoft to decide cut-or-no-cut. At the recent X06 event in Spain, Microsoft’s Peter Moore responded to the question of pending price drops with a succinct “Certainly not.” Microsoft’s explanation is that it still believes that the XBOX 360 offers great value to the consumer, which likely means that it is perfectly happy to sit right between Wii and PlayStation 3.

Good news: The above is true. Bad news: No price cut even still. This holiday season though, it will be either Wii or X360 at your disposal, or the still popular PS2 and Xbox. If only there would be a few more totally kick ass games released for the 360, then it would be an even easier sell.

If you’re new to Linux and intent on peering under the hood a bit to see what makes things work, then you’ve probably encountered a range of files which are compressed in various formats. This guide is meant to be a quick and easy way to distinguish what’s what in compressed files. It’s written on and for Ubuntu but will be very useful for other distributions as well.

Geez there is a lot of good Linux related news today… don’t think I am doing this on purpose in order to convert some of you. Fact is, Linux can be quite a learning curve, especially when dealing with compressed formats. This article will help enlighten you to make your visit or transition much smoother.

Codeweavers has just launched a free beta to their Crossover Linux and Mac software. What in Linux isn’t beta? The “trial” is for 60 days, and supposedly is quite good, especially when it comes to getting Half-Life 2 working. I plan on giving this a go in the next few days and if successful, will compose up an article about my experiences. Grab the beta here!

Wen it comes to advertising, videogames aren’t exactly like other forms of media. Television commercials are relatively rare. Outside of videogame magazines, print advertisements are pretty scarce. For uninformed customers, the first impression most shoppers get is from looking at the box cover. Because of this, creating an attractive image is one of the most important aspects of selling a game.

How true that statement is. 1UP once again does a good job of bringing us through memory lane, and giving a perspective on how game covers are designed and decided upon.

The final version of Mandriva Linux 2007 is now available for all, including 16 different Mandriva One CDs with more than 80 languages, a complete CD set and a dual arch DVD. The commercial versions with additional software and/or services are also available immediately for download from the Mandriva Store, and directly offered to select Mandriva Club members.

I plan to check out the new version and see what it offers, and you may want to do the same. Following that link will give you lots of info, including download links.

Mississauga, ON, October 3, 2006 – Nikon Canada today announced its 2006 holiday product line-up. This holiday season, digital photography lets users see and share the world from entirely new angles. Nikon Canada’s new compact and digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera offerings are reaching new heights of performance, making great gift ideas for photographers of any skill level.

You can read the full press release here.

Sunnyvale, CA—October 3, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the next addition to OCZ’s line of NVIDIA® certified Platinum DDR2 memory modules. The new PC2-8500 series is SLI™ certified ensuring ultimate breakthrough compatibility for advanced SLI platform performance.

You can read the full press release here.

Cooling
• Thermaltake Bigwater 735 Water Cooling System – TweakNews

Memory & Storage
• A-DATA FP1 Biometric Thumb Drive – TweakTown

Motherboards & Processors

Mli>Albatron KI51PV-754 – Tech Report

• Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H P965 Express Core 2 Duo – PC Stats
• Intel’s Quiet Investments – HotHardware

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• BFG Tech 650W PSU – Gideon Tech
• ICY Dock MB454SPF-B Multi-Bay Backplane Module – Bjorn3D
• Sharkoon 1337 Gaming Mat – techPowerUp!
• Ultra X-Connect 2 550W PSU – OC Mod Shop
• Vantec SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter – Virtual-Hideout

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI Radeon X1650 PRO 3-way shootout – Hexus
• Radeon X1950XTX Duel – Sapphire & Visiontek – Boot Daily

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Data Sharing Made Simple – Digital Trends
• Printer Sharing on a Home Network – PC Stats
• SmarThumb my.backup USB Drive Backup Software – Think Computers
• Sumo Lounge Omni Super-Sized Beanbag Chair Give Away – Big Bruin
• Vidabox Roommate HTPC Video Tour – Digital Trends
• Why Vista means “GetaMac” – Virtual-Hideout

Well, it turns out that a Zune employee by the name of David Caulton thought it’d be worth putting together a cogent explanation of what the Zune wireless connection can and can’t do.

At launch, the Zune will have basic interaction capabilities with other Zunes, but the unit cannot go online. It would be cool to see this integrated later on though. It would be great to log on and download new songs right through the device itself.

The first Slackware release more than a year in the making, this
edition of Slackware combines Slackware’s legendary simplicity,
stability, and security with some of the latest advances in Linux
technology. Expect no less than the best Slackware yet.

The long awaited release it here! If you are a Slackware user, you can read up on what’s new on the official site.

Electronic Arts announced today that it has officially completed the acquisition of Battlefield series developer Digital Illusions CE (DICE) after a long courtship. The agreement will have the Stockholm, Sweden-based DICE become a fully integrated EA Studio.

DICE was hardly bad off by themselves, but hopefully now under EA’s wing things could even get better. Now we just have to wait for the Mythic acquisition to complete.

We posted yesterday regarding a new client for Folding@Home that allowed for extreme pushing power by using your GPU. Well, the client has been made available and you can grab it here. It’s currently only for Windows XP, but hopefully there will be a Linux and Mac version soon.

FREMONT, Calif. — Oct. 3, 2006 — It’s more than a keyboard – it’s a minimalist work of high-technology art. Today, Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) unveiled the Logitech® diNovo™ Edge keyboard, a cutting-edge blend of refined design and breakthrough innovation. Following the design legacy of Logitech’s original, award-winning diNovo™ Media Desktop® (2003), the diNovo Edge reflects the growing importance and visibility of the PC in today’s home.

You can read the full press release here.

Sunnyvale, CA—October 22, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the Mega-Kart, a ultra-high capacity USB flash drive. With 8GBs of memory, the OCZ Mega-Kart series is the ultimate data storage solution for today’s computer enthusiasts and business professionals on the go. The beauty of the new Mega-Kart series is the unparalleled, ultra-slim architecture that is thin enough to carry in a wallet.

You can read the full press release here.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – October 3, 2006 – AGEIA™ Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced availability of the AGEIA PhysX™ SDK v2.6. The latest version of its acclaimed physics API and runtime engine dramatically enhances and accelerates the development of cutting edge games with complex physics-based environments that feature real-time dynamic motion and interaction on a massive, persistent scale.

You can read the full press release here.