Content and news by Rob Williams

We are not positive if Artificial Studios will require a PPU when the games are released; the Cell Factor demo currently requires it, but does it really need it, technically? With some creative help from the gaming community, we tested the game with and without acceleration by the PhysX processor. As you will see, the results are very interesting.

I think we all know where this article is going. While some of the effects are eye pleasing, there’s just not that much that the card can offer. It’s interesting to watch the videos taken without the PPU card, to see how the entire game lags when you are looking at a highly rendered object. I think we have a long way to go yet.

Over the course of this article, we’re going to cover the bases of memory timings at DDR2-800 using our favoured Core 2 Duo processors: the E6400 and E6600. Both the E6400 and E6600 look to be right in the sweetspot of Intel’s line up at £182 and £252 respectively. They also represent both the 2MB and 4MB L2 cache versions of Core 2 Duo too, so it should give you an idea of what to expect from tweaking memory timings on all of the current Core 2 Duo processors.

This is a pretty in-depth look at timings on the Conroe specifically. The results are nothing amazing, but timings do indeed seem to make some minor differences in some tests. Will it be worth the extra cash to splurge for memory with tighter timings? Maybe not.

The BWU-100A is a standard 5.25″ PATA disc drive with playback and recording support for Blu-ray discs. Playback of Blu-ray movies will be supported with the BWU-100A, however, an HDCP compliant graphics card and display is required to playback protected AACS content. A high definition display is also required to experience the full 1080 lines of high definition goodness.

It’s hard to believe that even at $750US, this recorder is cheaper than the competition. The requirements for HDCP and a 1080p monitor are not going to make anyone jump at a Blu-Ray recorder anytime soon.

The one-third highest performing companies paid their chief executives an average of $7.12 million–while the bottom third paid their CEOs $9.29 million. The study compared direct compensation, which includes base salary, bonus and value of stock grants. Why the disconnect? Jack Dolmat-Connell, founder and president of the firm, cites the phenomenon of ‘chasing the median’: Companies benchmark their executive compensation figures on peers instead of looking at factors related to performance.

This can’t be that surprising. I personally know many people who do nothing and get paid for it, and others who work far too hard and earn less. Nice guys finish last? Probably.

Researchers at Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec examined the new networking technology in recent test releases of Vista, Microsoft’s next major operating system release, according to the report. They found several security bugs and determined that Vista’s networking technology will be less stable, at least in the short run, than Windows XP’s, the report said.

This is obviously not a good thing, since Microsoft is promising the most secure version of Windows yet. This will not likely affect the Jan 2006 release date, but it isn’t going to look good on Microsoft to release with this knowledge.

Microsoft on Tuesday said it has bought Winternals Software, a small maker of Windows utility programs, in a deal that the software maker hopes will add key technical talent to its operating system development team. Terms of the deal to acquire the Austin, Texas-based company were not announced. Among the software that Winternals offers is a set of freely downloadable tools known as Sysinternals.

Winternals is a great company with some extremely talented people, so it’s actually a wonder why it took so long for someone to snatch them up. The future is unclear, but this may just be one step forward in helping future versions of Windows become more secure. I think many are all for that.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 18, 2006 – Intel Corporation today unveiled five new products in the Dual-Core Intel® Itanium® 2 Processor 9000 series. Previously codenamed “Montecito,” the new processors are designed for the most sophisticated high-end computing platforms in the world. They double the performance and lower energy requirements, improving performance per watt by 2.5 times compared to existing, single-core versions. All server-maker members of the Itanium Solutions Alliance (ISA) will launch new Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2 Processor 9000 series-based products.

You can read the full press release right here.

Cases & Enclosures
• Coolermaster Xcraft HDD Enclosure – Red & Blackness
• NZXT Apollo – Technic3D (German)
• Shuttle SD37P2 – SFF Tech
• Tuniq 2 – Big Bruin
• Tuniq 2 – Hi-Tech Reviews

Cooling
• Asetek VapoChill LS – Guru3D
• NMediaPC ICECONE CPU Cooler – ModTheBox
• Tt Mini Typhoon Cooler – Overclocker Cafe

Memory & Storage
• abit AW8-D Max 975x – Xtreme Computing
• AM2: Single Channel or Dual Channel? Does dual channel makes any good? – MadBox PC (Spanish)
• Corsair 2GB PC2-6400 C3 – Legit Reviews

Motherboards & Processors
• ECS KA3 MVP Extreme – HardOCP
• ECS KA3-MVP AM2 – Virtual-Hideout
• Foxconn C51XEM2AA – Hardware Logic
• Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core Duo Processor – Motherboards.org
• Intel Core Duo E6700 Overclocking Performance – Legion Hardware
• Tyan Tempest i5000XL – Phoronix

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Corepad Eyepads, Corepad XXXL Deskpad – BurnoutPC
• iRiver PMC-120 20GB Portable Multimedia Player – Think Computers
• LG USB 512MB MP3 Player – BytePress
• Thermaltake Toughpower 750W – Bjorn3D
• WolfClaw Devour Game Board – XS Review

Displays & Video Cards
• ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 4-vendor Roundup – Hexus
• BFG GeForce 7950 GX2 – Digit-Life
• Sapphire Technology Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI – Hexus

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Dell Dimension 3100C – BIOS Magazine
• Has Rod Savlon exposed Matrox spurning soft-core? – Hexus

If you are thinking of jumping onto the PC2-8000 bandwagon, there is surprisingly much more choice now than there was just two months ago. Like other PC2-8000 kits we have tested, A-Datas is seriously fast, but is it worth your hard earned cash?

The dual-core 65nm Yonah-based U2400 features a 1.06GHz clock frequency, a 533MHz front-side bus and 2MB of shared L2 cache. Intel has not released TDP specifics of the new processor, but the TDP of the 1.2GHz Core Duo U2500 was a mere 9 Watts. During normal operation the U2500 uses less than a Watt.

It’s incredible that the chip operates at only one watt during normal use. It’s not going to deliver world records in terms of speed but it should offer better battery life for whatever notebook they happen to be thrown in.

DailyTech reports that a few Intel CPU’s will be receiving price cuts, most notably the 805, 820, 915 and 945.

Single-core Intel Pentium 4 6xx and 5xx series will receive drastic price cuts on July 23rd, 2006. Pentium 4 models 661, 651, 641 and 631 will drop to $163. Previous pricing on the Pentium 4 661, 651, 641 and 631 were $401, $273, $218 and $178 respectively. Pentium 4 541and 531 will drop to $84 and $74 from the previous $218 and $178 prices. At the bottom of the Pentium 4 chain is the Pentium 4 524 clocked at 3.06 GHz with a 533 MHz front-side bus. The Pentium 4 524 price will drop to a mere $69 which is bordering Celeron D territory.

While these are great prices, it’s hard to not justify the wait for Conroe. Although, if you have an ‘old’ 775 box lying around that needs some new life, this will be the perfect opportunity to upgrade it.

OCZ has announced a distribution agreement with the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, which operates over 1,100 Wal-Mart stores, over 2,000 Supercenters and nearly 600 Sam’s Clubs, marks OCZ’s second large-scale agreement with a US retailer in less than a month — in late June, OCZ signed a two-year agreement with Buy.com.

OCZ are mostly known by PC enthusiasts, so this should prove a great way to get their name out there. If you think it would be odd to see Wal-Mart selling performance modules, remember that this is e-tailer only and that OCZ offers performance thumb drives also which are more apt to be picked up by the regular consumer.

Los Angeles News Service and its owner and operator, Robert Tur, assert in the lawsuit that in one week’s time, one version of the Denny beating uploaded by a YouTube user was viewed and downloaded 1,000 times via the site.

Another day, another greedy company sues a company over something foolish. Ok yes, it -is- copyrighted material that has been viewed a staggering 1,000 times, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out their gameplan. This will no doubt not be the last lawsuit for YouTube to be sure though.

Everyone knows that Apple’s Intel powered portable lineup gets hot, but this is insane! An enterprising fellow figured out that it would be possible to actually fry an egg on the bottom of his black MacBook. Granted, it probably took something like 3 times as long than if he had used a stove, but thats obviously not the point. For bonus points, keep your coffee warm by placing it on top of your MacBook power adapter.

If you were wondering why nobody calls notebooks ‘laptops’ anymore, here’s your answer. This is not necessarily Apples fault though, as it’s Intels CPU. Either Apples cooling solution is poor, or other Intel mobile notebooks will display the same problem. Just as long as they don’t explode, we’ll be fine.

Linux and BSD users unite for “Windows Refund Day”. They visit Microsoft, hoping to return the unused Windows licenses that they were forced to acquire when they purchased a computer system bundled with the OS.

As the title suggests, this is not a quick read, but it’s a goodie. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since Linux 0.01 was first released. So much has happened in that time, but Linux in general still has a ways to go..

Worrying about dead pixels in portables is so 2005. This year, all the kids fret about cracked hinges. Multiple forum members at game site MaxConsole are stepping forward, saying that their DS Lites have been breaking. Hinge cracks have been reported in Lites from the US, Japan and Europe.

I haven’t used my DS Lite to a great extent, but have not noticed signs of this happening. Some refute that the problem is a big deal, but it could easily lead to larger problems if it persists. It’s actually quite rare to see a Nintendo product with such problems, so that’s strange in itself.

Las Vegas, Nev., July 18, 2006 – MALIBAL, LLC, a world leader in innovative laptop design and development, today unveiled two new powerful, lightweight notebooks featuring Intel’s Core Duo processors. “In today’s fast paced world, on-the-go professionals are looking for a notebook that can handle their work loads whether at home or on the road. The new Lotus and Bodhi Series notebooks are designed to meet these needs with a powerful CPU, great battery life, durable casing and fully integrated wireless connectivity,” said Matthew Plott, founder, MALIBAL.

You can read the full press release here.

Cases & Enclosures
• Cooler Master Mystique 631 – 3D Gameman
• Logisys HD-Silencer – DragonSteel Mods
• NZXT Apollo – Overclocker Cafe

Cooling
• Corsair Nautilus 500 Overclocking – Madshrimps
• Enermax UC-12EB 120mm Enlobal Case Fan – Big Bruin
• Thermaltake Aquabay M6 – techPowerUp!

Memory & Storage
• Buffalo RUF2-S4G-BS USB Drive – Overclockers Online
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA II – A1-Electronics

Motherboards & Processors
• Abit and Foxconn: Opposite approaches to the nForce 590 SLI – Tech Report
• EPoX EP-9U1697 GLI – TechARP
• Intel Xeon 5150 and 5160 – GamePC

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Jabra JX10 Headset – Digital Trends
• OCZ GameXStream 700W PSU – XYZ Computing
• Silverstone FP54 Vacuum Fluorescent Display – Hardware-Review
• Silverstone SST-ST75ZF 750W PSU – Madshrimps
• Silverstone ST50EF 500w PSU – Virtual-Hideout
• Thermaltake Toughpower 600W PSU – Elite Bastards
• Thermaltake Toughpower 750W PSU – TechSpot

Displays & Video Cards
• Galaxy 7300 GT – Technic3D (German)
• Sapphire TOXIC Radeon X1900XTX – TweakTown

Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
• Freespire Beta 1 (Linux) – Phoronix
• Q3 Innovations Alcohawk Slim Personal Breath Alcohol Analyzer – TweakNews
• Realm Systems BlackDog Linux Server – Extensive Mods
• Sony VAIO VGN-S72VP – BIOS Magazine

Those expecting AMD to announce another price cut in time for the holiday season will be disappointed. DailyTech has received an updated price list for October 23rd, 2006 that shows AMD has no plans to reduce prices on its Athlon 64 and Sempron desktop product lineups anytime soon. Pricing on Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 X2 EE and Sempron will stay the same well into 2007 which may disappoint users expecting a sub-$100 dual-core AMD offering in time for the holidays to compete with Intel’s $95 Pentium D 805.

I don’t think anyone will mind the lack of a holiday price cut when they can buy a 5000+ for around $300US! If you are one of the few who held off for these cuts, you will certainly not be disappointed.

A lovely hat! Just what is needed for the summer season. Batteries and control board are in the ear-flaps. The programing interface is still available if needed. Why a hat? Easy to spot in front of a packed stage at night. Front and rear displays are provided. All wiring is hidden in the lining.

So you think you’ve seen it all? You’ve probably not seen Pong in a hat. The entire project no doubt took quite a while to complete, but imagine the fun of walking down the street at night with it on!