Content and news by Rob Williams

With the low pricing and rich feature set of ECS’s KN1-SLI Extreme, it’s hard to find something not to love. Apart from the cycling activity lights and the lack of a proper PCI lock, this motherboard is essentially without fault. While the ECS of the past may have had a poor reputation, their corporate image has nowhere to go but up.

Check out the full review at GamePyre.

While it’d be nice to see NVIDIA filling out the performance range with 7-series GeForce products, since the GPU at the basis of those will be that bit better performance and carry slightly better IQ features, the 6800 GS is a fine last-gasp for the NV4x GPU range that’ll keep many a gamer happy in front of the PC this holiday season.

Check out the full preview over at Hexus.

In this review, PCSTATS will be testing a bare bones small form factor PC that Shuttle Inc. has produced. As you’ll see, low noise operation is a priority, but not at the expense of computing performance. To reach this happy equilibrium, the Shuttle XPC SD11G5 is powered by a mobile Intel Pentium M processor (not included). Technically speaking, the Shuttle XPC SD11G5 SFF PC is based around the Intel 915GM and Intel ICH6M chipsets, and it supports socket 479 Intel Celeron M and Pentium M processors that operate with a 400MHz or 533MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). Owing to the small size of small form factor PCs, there just two DDR-2 memory slots within the Shuttle XPC SD11G5, so it can support a maximum of 2GB of unbuffered 240-pin DDR2-667 memory.

Check out the full review over at PC Stats.

The new DDR UltraX nForce4 Edition is now being added to GeIL’s DDR performance memory module lineup. This particular UltraX model is specially designed for nForce4 platform motherboards with the ultra low latency of 2-2-2-5 1T command.

Read the full Press Release.

The latest variant of the Sober worm caused havoc in November by duping users into executing it by masking itself as e-mails from the FBI and CIA. Antivirus companies were aware that the worm somehow knew how to update itself via the Web. The worm’s author programmed this functionality to control infected machines and, if required, change their behavior.

Check out the posting over at News.com and make sure that you are not infected with this bizarre worm.

We’re proud to announce that del.icio.us has joined the Yahoo! family. Together we’ll continue to improve how people discover, remember and share on the Internet, with a big emphasis on the power of community. We’re excited to be working with the Yahoo! Search team – they definitely get social systems and their potential to change the web. (We’re also excited to be joining our fraternal twin Flickr!)

It was only a matter of time.. Check out the full new posting here.

You can see that the company has stopped production of Sempr0n 2500+, 3100+ and Athlon 64 3000+, 3200+ and 3500+, all in Processor-In-Box (PIB) format. At the end of the list, all Opterons using Socket 939. Is this a preparation for early Socket M2 launch?

This sucks, as I know many people who are wanting to buy a 939 Optie but have been unable thus far. Too bad, because I considered these to be one of the finest values in CPU history. Oh well, we’ll see what AMD has up their sleeve I guess. Check out the posting at the Inq.

Intel doesn’t like rootkits any more than you or I do, and the chip maker hopes to do something about them. The company has begun research on the possibility of hardware-level rootkit detection. Known as the OS Independent Run-time System Integrity Services project, the rootkit detections system would consist of a small chip on the PC’s motherboard that would be dedicated to monitoring active processes.

It’s nice to see one chip maker already thinking about this, because it may become even more important in the future. Check out the posting here.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A record label uses DRM to sort of keep its customers from copying the music. It turns out that the software poses a threat to the user’s PC. So the label issues a patch… which opens up another security hole. If you guessed that the label in question is Sony, you’d be correct. If you guessed that I’m recapping last month’s rootkit debacle, you’d be wrong.

I can’t say that this is surprising, really. Luckily I don’t own any of the CD’s that are affected, but you may want to check the list to see if you are. Check out the full posting at Ars Technica.

For being a Friday, it doesn’t seem to be overly busy around the web. As always though, there are some great reviews available today. If you need a 1GB kit, then head over to Extensive Mods today. They are taking a look at some Mushkin DDR400 modules which are not overly fast, but would be great for a modest rig. For some faster modules that envy overclocking, TweakNews is reviewing the Corsair PC4000 Platinum 2GB. They offer a lot of bandwidth and speed, no doubt.

PC Stats is evaluating the Gigabyte dual 6600GT card, despite it’s G8GT name which would lead you to believe that it’s a dual 6800GT. It’s a solid card, but why buy an oddball card like this when you can pay a little bit more for a 7800GT? Speaking of oddball, if you enjoy using the not so usual Linux distros, you may want to check out the pictorial that Phoronix has released today of the newest Helix release. It’s security based and looks to offer all the basics plus some cool extras.

Cases & Enclosures
• GlobalWin YCC-S27 HTPC – Tech-Mods

Cooling
• Arctic-Cooling Freezer 7 Pro – Legion Hardware

Memory & Storage
• Corsair PC4000 DDR500 TWINX2048-4000PT 2Gig – TweakNews
• Mushkin 1GB Redline PC3200 Memory Kit – Extensive Mods
• OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Gold GX XTC Dual Channel – OCIA
• OCZ PC-3200 Gold Voltage eXtreme Dual Channel – Rojak Pot
• X-Micro DisGo – Overclockers Online

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe Intel nForce4 SLI Motherboard Overclocking – Madshrimps

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Logisys Remote Multifunction Panel – Hardware-Review
• Logitech G5 – Think Computers
• QPADR Gamer LowSense AIM & The LowSense Masterpad – Hardware XL
• Razer Diamondback (Salamander Red) – Case Mod God
• Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit – Trusted Reviews
• Vantec AVOX Jukebox Multimedia Player – Big Bruin

Video Cards & Monitor
• Gigabyte Geforce 6600 GT Silent-Pipe II GV-NX66T256DE – InsaneTek
• Gigabyte GV-3D1-68GT Dual-GPU – PC Stats

Etcetera & Contests
• Alienware Area-51 m5500 Laptop – Trusted Reviews
• Helix Linux v1.7 – Phoronix
• We’re the Word of the Year! Yay Us! – Design Technica

t’s a USB drive with hundreds of DVD test patterns on it. You plug this into your CPU, then use a VGA- or DVI-out to get it on the HDTV screen. The keyfob version is $129, and there’s a $149 version that includes a knife for gouging the eyes out of that clerk who screwed up the signal in the first place.

Now this is a cool gadget. They should really be using things like this in the stores anyway.. it only makes sense. Check it out at Gizmondo.

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 7, 2005—NCsoft® North America has released a new feature-packed game time card package for Lineage® II: The Chaotic Chronicle™, the market’s premier player-versus-player (PvP) massively multiplayer online PC game. The new Lineage II game time card package is available at retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

The package includes a 60-day pre-paid Lineage II game time card and a game pack with the full version of Lineage II, including the latest content expansions: Chronicle 1: Harbingers of Warâ„¢; Chronicle 2: Age of Splendorâ„¢ and Chronicle 3: Rise of Darknessâ„¢.

Additionally, players will find a 14-day free trial game code for purchasers to share with a friend.

“This new Lineage II game time package is an outstanding value for the more than 70,000 North American Lineage II subscribers,” said Adam Davidson, Lineage II’s North American producer. “Lineage II has created a very strong and extremely loyal following among PvP fans and this game time package will allow them to share their adventures with friends.”

Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage II delivers. Since the launch of the game in 2004, NCsoft has added more than 1.5 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers. The next expansion, Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny is expected to be released in early 2006.

The new Lineage II sixty-day game time card packages are available at many North American retailers and at the NCsoft online store for a suggested retail price of US$29.99. To purchase the game or other Lineage II merchandise, go to the NCsoft store at: https://store.plaync.com.

For more information about Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, go to: http://www.lineage2.com.

The game is rated Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

About NCsoft

NCsoft – North American is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company launched two massively multiplayer titles on the same day last year: Lineage II and City of Heroes®, and in 2005 the hit games Guild Wars® and City of Villains® were released. In 2006, NCsoft is poised to launch two more massively multiplayer titles: Auto Assaultâ„¢ and Tabula Rasaâ„¢. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.

The Register, never averse to poking a hornet’s nest, stirred up a swarm of of activity yesterday when it ran an editorial piece bashing the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF is a non-profit group that promotes digital civil rights, but the Register argues that their work is, er, less than effective. The EFF has recently agreed to argue one of the legal cases against Sony over their “rootkit” software, and the Register ain’t happy.

The Register certainly isn’t giving any credit where it’s due, but Ars sets some of the record straight. Check out the posting here.

With HDTVs in 16 million homes by the end of the year, one would hope that the people putting these new sets into their homes have an understanding of the reason why they’ve just paid a premium over a normal television. Well, apparently confusion still abounds. HD programming still has a long way to go, so while it’s not that surprising that 49% of HDTV owners don’t utilize their HD functions, what is surprising (and a little scary) is that a quarter thought they were watching HDTV all along. Consumers clearly need to be educated more. If people are so easily duped, why are engineers working so hard to solve the world’s problems? Just slap on a sticker that says what you want your product to do, head home and crack open that beer.

I can relate to this, since HD is hardly widespread where I live. Check out the posting and comments at TechDirt.

About 35 percent of the world’s software is pirated, coming down only 1 percent a year, research group IDC found in a study commissioned by the Business Software Alliance, which represents about 50 software companies. The study, covering 70 countries representing 99 percent of the world’s information technology spending, said a worldwide reduction of software piracy by 10 percentage points to 25 percent could generate 2.4 million jobs and $400 billion of economic growth.

Read all about it here.

The NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series has been around for a while now and there’s no denying that these are among the most powerful cards available right now. Only recently has ATI released a graphics card that could compete with the mighty 7800 GTX, and though the X1800 XT does compete, current prices still favor NVIDIA over ATI parts in terms of value. This is especially significant given the time of year, as sales, obviously, will be high for both companies, but it’s value that will ultimately determine which parts the average consumer will buy.

I love my 7800GT and certainly don’t regret choosing the eVGA. They also take a look at XFX and ASUS as well. Check out the full mini-roundup at AnandTech.

4GB is provided for game ‘caching’ or other hard drive-specific experiences developers want to build for their game,” said a Microsoft spokesperson, referring to the need for games to copy certain files from the game disc – which can be read only slowly – to the hard drive, where they can be accessed quickly.

The article goes on to explain what the other gigabytes are used for, such as the OS and other system use. I don’t mind having 13GB, it’s still a hefty amount for what we use it for. Check out the posting at Games Radar.

There is not too much going on in terms of reviews today. If you are thinking of using a RAID and have S-ATA drives, then you will want to read the in-depth article at Tech Report today. They take a look at the performance on various chipsets, to help with your buying decisions. PC Stats reviews the latest DFI board as well today, which is basically an upgraded SLi-DR. They are so hard to come by right now, but it is definitely the enthusiasts board if you can manage one.

Cooling
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 – Red & Blackness
• Gigabyte G-Power Pro GH-PDU21-MF Heatsink – FrostyTech
• PrimeCooler AMD & Intel Water Heatsink – A1 Electronics
• Thermalright V1 Ultra – techPowerUp!

Memory & Storage
• Chipset Serial ATA and RAID Performance Compared – Tech Report

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Albatron K8SLI – Mod The Box
• DFI Ultra LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D – Viper Lair
• DFI LANParty UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert – PC Stats
• Foxconn NF4SK8AA – Hard|OCP

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• FUNC sUrface 1030 Archetype Series – CyberWizardPit
• Logitech G15 – Metku
• Logitech G5 Laser – Driver Heaven
• Raptoxx RT-450w v2.PSU – Xtreme Computing
• Razer Copperhead – Pro-Clockers

Video Cards & Monitor
• ASUS Extreme Dual N7800GT 512MB – Digit-Life
• Gigabyte X1800XL – Motherboards.org
• MSI NX7800GT-VT2D256E – NvNews
• XFX GeForce 6800 GS XXX Edition – Guru3D

Etcetera & Contests
• HP F2105 LCD Monitor – Design Technica
• Keynesis Lockngo and Lockngo Professional Software – Think Computers
• LG LRM-519 Digital Media Recorder – Design Technica
• Samsung HP-R4252 42 Inch Plasma TV – TweakNews

It’s been a little over two weeks since I’ve gotten my Xbox 360, and I’m here to give my experiences with the system so far. This console certainly has it’s issues, but do the pros make up for the cons?

Hynix Semiconductor announced the availability of its 512Mbit GDDR4 DRAM for graphics applications on December 2. Hynix will soon begin to sample its GDDR4 products to leading graphic chipset suppliers and the company plans to start mass production in early 2006.

Graphics memory seems to be way ahead of the game lately, because we still don’t see DDR3 for desktops, or even DDR2 for AMD processors yet. Check out the full posting here.