- 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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Yet another future option for OS X gaming
Parallels announced this week that it is working on a new version of Parallels Desktop for Macs that will allow the virtualized guest operating system to use 3D acceleration hardware in real time. The company said that while it’s not available yet, it plans to introduce 3D acceleration so that those who want to run 3D applications in a virtualized Windows XP do not have to dual boot their Intel-Macs to do so. Best of all, Parallels said that 3D acceleration will be “fast.”
With TransGamings Cider on the horizon, it’s going to be a hard sell here. Although, both products use different schemes to get things done, so one is bound to be much more realible, and faster than the other.
Intel Open Sources Graphics Drivers
Intel’s Keith Packard announced earlier today that Intel was open sourcing graphics drivers for their new 965 Express Chipset family graphics controllers. From the announcement: ‘Designed to support advanced rendering features in modern graphics APIs, this chipset family includes support for programmable vertex, geometry, and fragment shaders. By open sourcing the drivers for this new technology, Intel enables the open source community to experiment, develop, and contribute to the continuing advancement of open source 3D graphics.
This is a very smart move by Intel. Early thoughts on the latest drivers don’t seem that impressive, but they are on the road to recovery. Now when is NVIDIA and ATI going to follow suit? ;-)
Eicon Networks to Purchase Intel’s Media and Signaling Business
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 9, 2006 – Eicon Networks Corporation (“Eicon”) and Intel Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement for Intel to sell the assets of its media and signaling business to Eicon. The acquisition is expected to allow Eicon to become a leading player in the media processing and signaling market segment. The sale will enable Intel to focus its investments on its core communications and embedded businesses, including Intel® Architecture and network processors, modular communications platforms and optical modules.
You can read the complete news release here.
Nikon Announces D80 Digital SLR
Mississauga, ON, August 9, 2006 – Nikon Canada Inc. today introduced the Nikon D80 Digital SLR. Incorporating Nikon’s latest digital and photographic technologies, this new high-performance digital SLR camera – including an interchangeable-lens with automated operation and advanced features — is designed to satisfy photographers’ passion for creating beautiful photographs and preserving special moments.
Well, here it is! If you have your reading glasses on, and a full cup of coffee, you can read the long press release right here.
Review Roundup for August 10
- Cooler Master Mystique 631 – Modders-Inc
- ENlight LP791 LCD PC Chassis – Hexus
- Tt Mozart Tx Case – Overclocker Cafe
Cases & Enclosures
- JetArt Thermo Eye – DragonSteelMods
- OCZ Tempest CPU Cooler – Red & Blackness
- Watercooling – Quick Install and Leak testing Guide – Overclock 3D
Cooling
- DFI Infinity NF UltraII-M2 – PC Modding Malaysia
- Overclocking The AMD 4200+ AM2 Processor Part 2 – Legit Reviews
- APPHIRE PURE CrossFire Advantage Motherboard – Virtual-Hideout
- Tyan Tomcat h1000S (S3950) AM2 – 3D Gameman
Motherboards & Processors
- Bluetake Bluetooth Audio – UK Gamer
- Cooler Master eXtreme Power Duo 650W PSU – Motherboards.org
- Joytech NeoS USB Gamepad – BytePress
- Mushkin Enhanced XP650 Power Supply – Motherboards.org
- Revoltec Lightboard Advanced Keyboard – Think Computers
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- eVGA e-GeForce 7950 GX2 Black Pearl Quad SLI – Hexus
- Galaxy GeForce 7300 GT GDDR3 – Hexus
- Intel 2006-08-09 Graphics Preview – Phoronix
Displays & Video Cards
- Alienware Aurora m9700 SLI laptop – Tech Spot
- Apple WWDC Minus Reality Distortion Field and the Sony MyLo – Digital Trends (MP3, Right-Click and Save As)
- August 2006 system guide – Tech Report
- Canon EOS 30D – BIOS Magazine
- MS-Tech LV-340 Webcam – Technic3D (German)
- QuakeCon 2006 id Software Q&A – techFEAR
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
DIY Quad-SLI L8r Ya Rly
Another major difference was that NVIDIA launched the GeForce 7950 GX2 at retail. On the day of launch, enthusiasts could finally buy dual-GPU powered GeForce 79050 GX2 video cards from their favorite e-tailers. But, at launch, NVIDIA wasn’t quite ready to endorse Quad-SLI for the Do-It-Yourself market. Quad-SLI was only supported when purchased in a full system built by an approved partner. NVIDIA took this route to ensure Quad-SLI owners had a good experience and didn’t have to contend with incompatibilities or other potential pitfalls.
You can read the full article over at HotHardware, and have a second opinion at Guru3D. It seems that Quad-SLI is better than Dual-SLI by a nice little margin, but is it really going to be worth the extra cash?
Microsoft shows off HD DVD drive for Xbox
The device–about the size of a hardback book–played “The Phantom of the Opera” as Collins pulled up a menu bar to display a few of its navigation and interactive features that can be called up on screen while a movie is playing. Collins said Microsoft’s HD DVD drive will be among the least expensive of the HD DVD players, but he declined to disclose the drive’s retail price.
If they are holding back a price, then it’s obvious it will still cost a fair bit. The player is actually larger than I personally believed it would be, but it can safely [at least I hope] sit on top of your 360 to save room.
Killer NIC Interview
GD: Why ping? Why did you feel this was an important enough thing to make a company and a product to address?
Bigfoot: Bigfoot Networks is dedicated to fighting Lag in online games, which we define as anything bad that happens in a game that is out of the gamer’s control. This could be their screen freezing, players jumping around on the screen, losing your connection to the game server, slow responses from the server, etc… Ping improvements can help all of these things, but is not the only feature of Killer.
This card seems like an even bigger gimmick than the AGEIA add-in Physics card. Even after reading the interview, I have to scratch my head. Whether or not gamers will actually ‘buy’ this, is yet to be seen. Without a doubt, this is going to prove a hard sell.
Duran Duran to Perform Virtual Gigs
The British band Duran Duran is to create a virtual island within the online world of Second Life, on which they will perform actual live concerts. Three-dimensional versions of the band members – called Avatars – have been commissioned and will be revealed in September. The band hopes to perform their first virtual concert in the coming months.
Ok, I admit I am a fan of old school Duran Duran, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt here. In a time when companies are trying to figure out unique ways to spice up an online experience, I think this is one of the craziest ideas yet. I can’t wait to see a video of this one online.
Nintendo, Microsoft due to patent infringement
In our lawsuit happy country, nothing is too surprising anymore. This time around, Microsoft and Nintendo have been hit with a lawsuit by Anascape, a small Texas-based company. Anascape claims that Microsoft and Nintendo have infringed on 12 of its patents relating to game controllers. The patents in question were issued between 1999 and 2005.
It certainly doesn’t take much to get sued anymore. The odd thing is how this unknown company managed these patents when the three leading console producers were using such technologies before the mentioned 1999 date. I hope to see Anascape lose this one quick.
Dell Confirms AMD Notebooks
“This is not a big deal. In order to remain competitive, we have to make sure that we have [a wide] enough variety of products to meet the market demand,” stated a Dell executive who chose to remain anonymous. “This is a sensitive topic, though we won’t deny the fact that we are working with Dell on desktop and notebook PCs,” said AMD’s general manager of Taiwanese operations.
The comment regarding the importance of a wide variety is laughable at best. If they cared so much about choice, why did it take them -this- long to finally accept AMD? Regardless, I have been waiting for this for a while, so I am happy as pie to see Dell AMD notebooks on the horizon.
Apple takes a bite out of prices
The price cuts are so significant in fact that Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display is now less expensive than Dell’s 30-inch 3007WFP which is selling for $2199. Dell’s 24-inch 2407WFP is still cheaper at $747.15 and is an inch larger. The 2407WFP also has better specifications than Apple’s 23-inch display: 450cd/m2 brightness and 1000:1 contrast ratio. Dell’s comparable 20.1-inch 2007WFP is currently priced at $459.00.
If you drool for a 30″ LCD and don’t like Dell, this could be your chance to finally pick one up.
Super Talent Introduces 2GB PC8000 Low Latency DDR2
San Jose, California – August 7, 2006 — Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of memory modules and flash products, today announced one of the world’s fastest 2GB DDR2 kits. The new T1000UX2G4 is tested in a motherboard and guaranteed to operate at DDR2-1000 at astonishing 4-5-4-15 latencies at 2.2 volts.
You can read the entire press release right here.
Review Roundup for August 9
- Enermax Chakra – Think Computers
- MSI mPC 915 Barebone SFF – Viper Lair
Cases & Enclosures
- Mushkin 2GB EM2-6400 DDR2-800 – Virtual-Hideout
- Scythe Kama Connect USB2.0 IDE & SATA External Adapter – Madshrimps
- Western Digital’s 500GB Caviar SE16 and RE2 – Tech Report
Memory & Storage
- Biostar TForce 550 – HardOCP
- MSI K9A Platinum – MadBoxPC
- Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor – Legit Reviews
Motherboards & Processors
- Cooler Master iGreen 500w PSU – Driver Heaven
- NZXT Precise 650W – Phoronix
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- GeForce 7600GT Round Up – Tech-Hounds
Displays & Video Cards
- Apple Mac Pro shows solution to Intel’s memory-cooling problem – Hexus
- HP dv2000t Notebook – Digital Trends
- Matt Fielder’s Predatron Project – Trusted Reviews
- Win a Set of 7900GT’s – Bjorn3D
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Google pays $900 Million for MySpace advertising
When Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought MySpace last year for almost $600 million, critics wondered how the company ever planned to recoup its investment on the site. Now we have the answer—it will show lots and lots of ads.
The deal includes more sites than just MySpace, and will result in search features and also text based advertising. Smart move by Google on this one.
id co-owner says piracy killing PC gaming
“Piracy is hard,” Cloud said, in a response to an audience member’s question about the issue. “It’s really, from my opinion, destroying the PC market.” He said concerns over piracy were the biggest factor in PC gaming’s shrinking presence in many retail stores. However, he maintained that he felt the PC gaming market as a whole was not in any danger. “I don’t think the PC market is shrinking at all,” he said. “I think there’re tons of people playing games on the PC. I think World of Warcraft is a good example.”
Some good points are made here. There’s no doubt that MMO’s by themselves will hurt other PC genres though, in addition to piracy.
Apple Previews OS X 10.5 Leopard
Leopard will be a true 64-bit operating system with 32-bit compatibility. Apple claims that 32-bit applications will run alongside 64-bit applications without conversion, emulation or virtualization. Users will be able to run both types of applications side by side in real time.
Other enhancements that come to the table include a file restore similar to what we will be seeing in Vista. There are more features to be announced, but it appears this will be a larger upgrade than compared to previous OS X versions.
ASUS and Gigabyte Form New Joint Venture
Gigabyte will own a 51% stake in the company, with Asustek picking up the other 49%. HKEPC (English) reports the deal is valued at approximately $244M USD, and that the new joint venture will become official January 1, 2007. Neither company would comment on the effect of the joint venture on existing manufacturing, claiming that only the legal proceedings to start the company have been publically announced at this time. The joint venture will also get a new name, but both companies are also tight lipped about that as well.
It’s not looking like this huge mergers are going to stop anytime soon. This will be an interesting one to watch though. Both companies bring a lot to the consumer table.
Intel Teams With Top Universities for Software-Related Research
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 7, 2006 – Intel Corporation today announced a global effort to prepare university students for a new paradigm of software development as Intel transitions its processors from single-processor engines to ones that will have multiple cores and threads. This evolution will transform software design and require entirely new thinking and innovation in order to leverage this kind of processing power.
You can read the complete press release here.
Review Roundup for August 8
Sorry for the lack of news over the weekend… I was out of town. Back to the regularly scheduled program…
- Antec 2U26ATX400XR-2 Rackmount Case – Think Computers
- Cooler Master Mystique 631 – Red & Blackness
- Cooler Master Mystique 632 Black – Hexus
- Sytrin Nextherm ICS 8200 Air-Conditioned Case – Tech Domain
- Ultra Aluminus Case – techPowerUp!
- Thermaltake Armor/Kandalf Side Panel Upgrade with 25cm Fan – Big Bruin
Cases & Enclosures
- Battle of the Goop – Thermal Paste Comparison – Overclock3D
- JetArt Nano-Silver – DragonSteelMods
- Revoltec Hard Drive Freezer – Think Computers
- SilverStone FM122 120mm Fan – DragonSteelMods
- Spire DiamondCool II CPU Cooler – Think Computers
- Thermaltake AquaBay M5 – Technic 3D
- Vantec NexStar LX NAS Hard Drive Enclosure – ModTheBox
- Xilence HDD Icebox Cooling – Technic3D
- Zalman CNPS-9500AT – Overclockers Online
- Zalman ZM-STG1 Super Thermal Grease – Cooling-Station
Cooling
- Corsair Twin2X2048-8500C5 – 3D Gameman
- Kingston HyperX 2GB PC2-6400 CL4 DDR2 – Virtual-Hideout
- OCZ 2GB PC2-7200 “Special Ops” DDR2 – Virtual-Hideout
- Old Skool Micron Fatbody D9 Reunion – PC Modding Malaysia
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750 GB – Overclock3D
- Super Talent T800UX2GC4 2GB DDR2 – XYZ Computing
Memory & Storage
- ABIT KN9 SLI – Motherboards.org
- Cool and cheap screamers from Intel and AMD – Tech Report
- MSI K9A Platinum CrossFire XPress 3200 for AM2 – Hot Hardware
- NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel sneak peak – Guru 3D
Motherboards & Processors
- Corepad Professional Gaming Gear Products Roundup – Virtual-Hideout
- Corepad Victory – Burnout PC
- Enermax Galaxy 1000 Watt Power Supply – Guru 3D
- Enermax Galaxy 1000 Watt Power Supply – Pro-Clockers
- ICYDOCK MB122 Docking Station – Pro-Clockers
- Nmedia Mute Power Series 500 Watt Power Supply – Think Computers
- NZXT Precise 650 Power Supply – XYZ Computing
- Razer Krait – Bjorn3D
- Samsung CLP-650N Network Color Laser Printer – Bona Fide Reviews
- Sysgration ASG-142 VoIP Mouse – UK Gamer
- Vizo Propeller Card Cooler and Mirrorbox Card Reader – Big Bruin
- Wacom’s Graphire4 Studio XL – BIOS Magazine
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- Albatron 6600 PCIE Video Card – 3D Gameman
- Asus PW191 Widescreen LCD Monitor – HotHardware
- MSI NX7900GT-VT256E-HD HDCP-enabled Geforce 7900GT – PC Stats
Displays & Video Cards
- Budget PC Buying Guide – Tech Spot
- Episodic Content and Online Distribution – Think Gaming
- Fedora Core 6 Test 2 – Phoronix
- Pioneer Inno – Digital Trends
- Slim Devices First Look – Digital Trends
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Vista hacked at Black Hat
“Microsoft is investigating solutions for the final release of Windows Vista to help protect against the attacks demonstrated,” a representative for the software maker said. “In addition, we are working with our hardware partners to investigate ways to help prevent the virtualization attack used by the Blue Pill.”
Well, it’s sure good to know that this has been discovered prior to launch. Now to hope they iron it out before then…
AMD Sempron 3400+ AM2 Review
The addition of the Sempron line to socket AM2 is good news to those people who are trying to build a budget overclocking system that will still provide good performance. Weighing in at a mere $76 USD at newegg.com, this processor is one worth looking at if dual core multitasking power is not needed for you.
If you think budget CPU’s are boring, think again. How does a $76 chip that does a 50% overclock with stock voltage sound?
Ziff Davis Shuts Down CGW, Opens Games For Windows
The Ziff Davis Game Group, which produces consumer game site 1UP and Electronic Gaming Monthly and Official PlayStation Magazine in North America, has announced that it is shutting down its US print magazine Computer Gaming World and replacing it with an officially Microsoft-branded ‘Games For Windows’ magazine and website.
Though I didn’t read CGW as much as I liked, it was a great magazine. I am surprised that they are switching this aroudn, because I thought the magazine performed well on the newstands. One thing is for sure, this new mag should prove mighty interesting.
RIAA Sues LimeWire Over Piracy
The company behind the file sharing program LimeWire was sued by the RIAA in federal court Friday, which is accusing the New York-based Lime Group LLC of facilitating the trade of illegal music files between its users. The labels are seeking damages, including $150,000 per occurrence of an illegally traded file.
Whoa! $150K for each song traded? That’s one gigantic overall fine! Is it just me, or is the RIAA actually getting worse?
MacBooks Get Hacked Within 60 Seconds
Two security researchers from Black Hat this week revealed a method in which a MacBook can be broken into and taken control of. In fact, the intrusion method is at such a low level that even firewalls and anti-virus applications can’t help. Based on flaws in wireless network driver design, Apple’s line of MacBooks — and MacBook Pros — allows an attacker to remotely bypass the security of the laptop and the operating system.
Good, it’s about time something like this happened. Put this in your commercials Apple… just do it.