- Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform
- AMD Launches Ryzen PRO 7000 Series Mobile & Desktop Platform
- Intel Launches Sleek Single-Slot Arc Pro A60 Workstation Graphics Card
- NVIDIA Announces Latest Ada Lovelace Additions: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti & RTX 4060
- Maxon Redshift With AMD Radeon GPU Rendering Support Now Available
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QuakeCon 2006 – John Carmack In 1000 Words or Less
John Carmack, Technical Director at id Software, presented a stream of technical consciousness at QuakeCon 2006. techFEAR pulls out some important points for review.
Check out the full article at techFEAR.
ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe Review
The ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe is an excellent example of NVIDIA’s nForce4 for Intel x16 SLI motherboards. The fact that I was able to install and run an X6800 Core 2 Extreme CPU on the board is a definite plus, as the new Intel CPUs are the fastest on the market today. If you want HDA and the new features of the nForce 590 series grab the 590 boards when they reach the market.
You can read the full review over at Motherboards.org.
ATI Releases Catalyst 6.8
ATI has released another new Catalyst driver package for its Radeon 9550 and higher graphics cards. The new Catalyst 6.8 driver package arrives less than a month after ATI released its previous Catalyst 6.7 driver package. This release brings a couple performance improvements due to improved compilers and optimizations. Certain OpenGL games receive performance boosts due to an improved shader compiler. ATI has also further optimized the transform engine to extract more performance. The release notes claim Doom 3, Quake 4, Chronicles of Riddick and Prey performance improve by 6.5%, 18%, 20% and 16% respectively.
Check out the full posting at DailyTech.
ATI Theater 650 Pro & Catalyst Media Center
Users in the market for a TV-Tuner will have another option soon, courtesy of ATI and their new Theater 650 Pro chip and Catalyst Media Center software. We’ve taken a look at a reference Theater 650 Pro card at HotHardware.com, alongside a build of the new Catalyst Media Center software. Head on over to the site and check them out…
Check out the full article at HotHardware.
600-700W PSU Shootout
What we’ll call workstation-class PCs are those on the market today that demand a PSU with outlandish output power, rail options and cabling runs to suit. You’ll know instantly if you need one, and the likely spec. of such a PC means that you have the money to spend to grab a supply like those on test today. So to help you choose one from many, we’ve nabbed over half-a-dozen PSUs with high-end aspirations and subjected them to our test equipment. Read on to see what we found out.
Check out the full round-up at Hexus.
Optimus Mini Three keyboard for sale?
Think Geek has the Optimus Mini Three for sale on their site, but it will not be available for another month. The most you can do is get an automated e-mail sent to you when they are actually in stock.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. We have this Optimus Mini Three Keyboard in our hot little hands, it is very real and very cool. You want one, trust us. And that’s not the salesman in us talking… this is the die-hard geeky friend who wants to see you get some amazing tech that no one you know will have.
Of course we want one, but are you willing to pay $160 for one?
Flash 9 for Linux in the near future?
I know this may sound simple, but there are problems that can crop up, which we have been dealing with one by one. This afternoon, I created a build and tried it across several Linux installations we have handy around the office.
According to the Adobe developer, they have successfully had Flash 9 working on four popular distros including Gentoo and Ubuntu. Even if this takes six months to deploy, it’s nice to finally know that it’s so far in production.
Google Talk getting upgrades for first birthday
Now that Google Talk is approaching its first birthday, the search engine giant has decided to unveil a upgrade to the application. The new Google Talk features avatars, file transfers, and voicemail features. Like many Google apps, it is described as simply being “in beta” and is available for free at Google’s site.
Even after upgrades, I cannot see a real purpose for using this app at all. It would be better if it supported other networks, like GAIM or Trillian does. If you happen to be a fan of the program though, you can grab the new beta on the official site.
Gaming when you are 64?
Will we still be playing video games when we are 50, 60 or even 80 years old? Will retirement homes around the world have to install Xbox’s and Playstation’s to keep its residents happy? Today you could not imagine walking into a retirement home and seeing a bunch of seniors gathered around a TV screaming “YOU GOT OWNED”, but more and more it looks inevitable!
Oddly enough, I’ve thought about this exact thing before, but never put it to words like they have here. If anything, I want to be alive when “Final Fantasy 78, The Denture Cream Chronicles” comes out.
AMD to be in Dell Dimensions starting next month
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Aug. 17, 2006 – AMD (NYSE: AMD) released the
following statement today regarding the Dell Inc. announcement that it
intends to expand its relationship with AMD. In addition to a 4P AMD
Opteron(tm) processor-based server, Dell plans to offer a 2P AMD Opteron
processor-based server later this year and deliver AMD processor-based
Dimension desktop PCs next month.
There you have it, another win for AMD. Now Dell users will actually have some choice! If they would only start selling systems without an OS…
Microsoft Finally Releases Hibernate Fix for XP SP2
For those that have been having issues with hibernate not working properly on Windows XP SP2 desktops and notebooks, your fix is finally here. Microsoft has had a fix available for quite some time, but customers could only receive the fix if they called Microsoft’s support line and explained their problem in detail.
This patch took forever! At least it’s finally here, so be sure to go download it if you want the problem fixed.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell Named ‘Best of Show’ at LinuxWorld
SAN FRANCISCO (LinuxWorld Conference & Expo) – Aug. 17, 2006 – SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell® was named “Best of Show” at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco this week. In addition, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop was named “Best Desktop Solution,” and Novell AppArmor earned “Best Security Solution” honours. Part of the Linux Journal Product Excellence Awards, the awards distinguish product and service innovations at LinuxWorld.
You can read the full press release right here.
Review Roundup for August 18
- ICY DOCK MB122 Removable HDD Enclosure – Red & Blackness
Cases & Enclosures
- Zalman ZM-RF1 Reserator Fan Kit – TweakNews
Cooling
- Corsair TWIN2X512-8500 Memory – Viper Lair
- Mushkin HP2 5300 (2x1GB) DDR2 667 – Overclockers Club
- OCZ PC2-7200 Platinum XTC SLI Ready Memory – PC Stats
- Super Talent PC2-6400 2x1GB – Neoseeker
- Super Talent T1066UX1G5 – MadBox PC
Memory & Storage
- Undervolting the AMD A64 X2 4200+ AM2 Processor – Legit Reviews
Motherboards & Processors
- Logitech G3 Laser Mouse – Virtual-Hideout
- WolfKing Warrior FPS Gaming Pad – DragonSteelMods
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- EVGA 7900 GT KO Superclocked – Pure Overclock
- Gigabyte 7600GT – Overclockers Club
- Sapphire Ultimate Radeon X1600 – HotHardware
Displays & Video Cards
- A Brief History of Apple Computers – Big Bruin
- Cooler Master Centurion 534 Give Away – Overclockers Online
- Globalsat GV-201 All-in-One Vehicle Navigation System – Think Computers
- Nokia 6280 3G Mobile Phone – UK Gamer
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Death to Caps Lock?
The Caps key is an abomination,” Hintjens writes on his blog. “It’s a huge key, stuck right there where the Ctrl used to be, and as far as I know, it’s only used by 419 scammers and Fortran programmers.
I can think of a couple instances where it’s appropriate to use the CAPS lock, such as while typing in long serial codes. It would be funny if this actually worked though. I am not to sure I would immediately miss it.
Sony Releases 50GB Dual Layer Blu-ray Discs
The 50GB discs can hold four hours of HD content, and transfers at 24Mbps. They’ve got a built in scratch guard and “archival reliability” to prevent bad burns. Which, at $48 a disc, would be the most expensive coaster you’ve ever made.
Ouch, $50 for a single disc is a painful thought. I think I’ll wait until they go down in price…
Microsoft Releases Get Genuine Kit and Windows Product Key Update Tool
The best and most cost-effective way for customers to acquire Windows software is preinstalled on a new PC. However, more customers are becoming aware that they are running non-genuine Windows on their PCs. The Get Genuine Kit gives you a cost-effective solution to help them get legal, deepen your customer relationship, and be there as a trusted advisor.
Well it is about time, really. Hacker tools like this have existed since well before XP was publically released, so you have to wonder what took Microsoft so long. Regardless, this will make things far easier for those who do want to go legal.
RealNetworks to support WMV on Linux
At LinuxWorld yesterday, RealNetworks and Novell announced a new partnership intended to bring improved multimedia support to the Linux desktop. The next version of RealPlayer for Linux will include codecs for Microsoft’s Windows Media format in addition to the multitude of currently supported formats. Due for release later this year, the upcoming version of RealPlayer will provide out-of-the-box support for the most common streaming video formats.
If it can play all WMV’s out there, then I will probably [not happy about it] jump on and give it a download. I still come across many WMV’s that do not function in Linux despite having all the codecs. This is also humourous in a way though, since Novell doesn’t even deliver an OS that supports WMV’s right off the bat…
Oh Gee, Wii Online Free!
When asked about the online strategy for the Wii, Fils-Aimes replied “It’s the same premise. We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They’ll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you’ll be able to plug it in and go. It won’t have hidden fees or costs.”
This is yet another reason to be psyched for the Wii. I have to hand it to Nintendo… they know what they are doing. This is going to help sell a lot more consoles no doubt, but chances are we will not have the mass amounts of content available like XB Live has. Either way, I’m in.
Creative Labs Releases 3 New Sound Cards
Creative Labs has launched three new E-MU professional sound cards. The new E-MU 1212M PCI, 1616 PCI and 1616M PCI are targeted towards creative musicians seeking multiple input/outputs, ASIO and high quality DACs and ADCs. At the lower end of the new E-MU product lineup is the 1212M PCI. It features 24-bit/192 KHz DAC and ADCs with a 120dB signal-to-noise-ratio. Audio I/O capabilities include 12 input and 12 outputs with MIDI I/O and Firewire. Two ¼” balanced inputs are also available too.
120db signal to noise should do it! Seriously, these are some great looking cards, and range between $150 and $450. If you are a serious musician, they may be worth a gander.
Tesla sells first 100 electric cars
Tesla, which has created an all-electric sports car, has already booked deposits for its first 100 cars, according to Martin Eberhard, Tesla’s CEO. The $100,000 deposits guarantee that the buyers will get the cars, which will come out next year.
This car… is incredibly gorgeous. It’s hard to believe that it’s electric. Big names are included in the down payments, including the two founders of Google and co-founder of eBay. You can read about the sales over at CNet.
Invites no longer needed for Google Analytics
The Google Analytics Blog has announced that you no longer need an invitation to receive the Website statistics tracking for free. Just head on over to the Google Analytics site and login with you Google account. It will then take you through the steps that are needed to setup your Website.
We use this service for our website stats, and I have to say I’ve been pretty impressed so far. Comparing some stats to Awstats usually winds up in fairly different results, but Googles designers did a great job of making their service look far more appealing than anything else out there. If they can only make it more accurate, I’d be happy as pie. You can read more about this here.
E3: RIP
Publishers needn’t drop small fortunes on skate ramps or celebrity midgets, letting companies pour much-needed dollars back into cash-starved software budgets, and, potentially, fuel the creation of additional, and more innovative, digital diversions.
I don’t really agree that E3 is indeed dead, but it’s certainly going to be far different than what we are used to. Digital Trends makes a lot of good points and speculation about what’s to come. Once again… it’s sad to see such a massive show be cut down drastically like this.
Review Roundup for August 17
- Cooler Master XCraft External Hard Drive Enclosure – PC Apex
- ICY DOCK Modiflash 722 Removable HDD Enclosure – DragonSteelMods
- Spire Pininfarina – Legion Hardware
- Thermaltake Mini Typhoon Value Pack – Clockers Cooler? – Xtreme Computing
Cases & Enclosures
- Corsair Nautilus 500 External Water Cooling Kit – Hard|OCP
- Thermaltake Watercooling – Technic3D
Cooling
- Corsair Twin2X 2048-8500C5 – Overclockers Online
- OCZ Mini Kart USB – Overclocker Cafe
Memory & Storage
- ASRock AM2V890-VSTA VIA K8T890 Socket AM2 – PC Stats
- Intel Core 2 Duo – ByteSizedReviews
- MSI K9N SLI Platinum – Tech Report
Motherboards & Processors
- Auzentech’s HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS-Connect – Guru3D
- HT Omega Striker 7.1 Sound Card – Think Computers
- Silverstone Element 500W PSU – XS Reviews
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- Casio EX-S600 Exilim Card 6 MP Digital Camera – Bona Fide Reviews
- OpenSuSE 10.2 Alpha 3 – Phoronix
- Safer Surfing Through Virtualization – XYZ Computing
- Switt To Do List Version 5.10 – Bjorn3D
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
New DAOC Expansion!
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today Labyrinth of the Minotaur, the seventh expansion to the epic fantasy MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot. Currently in development at EA Mythic (formerly Mythic Entertainment), the expansion is scheduled to ship in the US in late 2006 for the PC.
It’s so great to see these classic MMO’s continue to have such great support!
Sony’s 1080p Support on PS3 is all Hype
Andre Vrignaud, Microsoft’s Director of Technical Strategy for XBOX Live says that 1080p is mostly hype with the PlayStation 3. He goes on to say that 99% of the PS3 games released will be rendered at 720p while the only ones with 1080x native support will be arcade ports or games that sacrifice in-game effects.
This is one thing I actually agree with, for the sake of knowing that not many TV’s out there have 1080p. The ones that do cost a -lot- of money. Still, it’s nice to a degree that Sony is trying to future-proof the PS3.