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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 6/2009 )
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Benchmark Reviews | Subject: Motherboard
The ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 WiFi N
is a little different than most motherboards, in that it comes with Atom N330 CPU attached along with an onboard 9400M GPU all on a Mini-ITX board that supports up to 4GB of DDR2-800. Thanks to nVIDIA's 9400M it is capable of displaying Blu-Ray content up to 1920x1440 at 75MHz on an external HDMI display. If you are looking for a great base to build an HTPC off of, you could do much worse that this board. Benchmark Reviews has the whole story.
"We all want more for less. That's why enthusiasts overclock, and that's why we build HTPCs. The PlayStation 3 game console has sold millions of units because of its ability to delivery realistic video game performance, but Sony has sold more units because of the PS3's Blu-ray Disc player capability than any other factor. Bringing personal computer technology into the home theater environment has just come one step closer, thanks to the NVIDIA ION platform. The synergistic effect of an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and the dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom process have delivered true high-definition performance beyond any HTPC before it. The Zotac IONITX-A-U packages the Atom N330 CPU and 9400M GPU on a Mini-ITX DDR2 motherboard. Benchmark Reviews discovers how nice it is to have native HDMI connectivity from the HTPC into the HDTV in this article." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Frosty Tech | Subject: Case and Cooling
FrostyTech has just finished updating their misleadingly named Top 5 cooler list. There are not 5 coolers on the list, in total there are 40 representing the best of the air cooling solutions currently available. As some heatsinks are not compatible with both AMD and Intel, the lists are split into two rankings. As well there is a Top 10 list for both the best in controlling temperatures and a Top 10 list of the quietest coolers. More than enough coolers to make your choices for cooling that system in the summer.
"Charts for June 2009 - Frostytech's Top 5 Heatsinks Charts rank the best coolers by lowest temperature, lowest noise and low profile, and they've just been UPDATED! Don't go heatsink shopping without first looking at the Top 5 charts. Only heatsinks that Frostytech has tested in its labs are included in these Top 5 lists." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Graphics Card
AnandTech delves into the mysterious world of graphics buffering in this article. Not anisotropic filtering as is commonly discussed; instead they are looking at the difference between double buffering plus vsync
versus triple buffering. Using a clip of a horse running you can see the speed advantage that disabling vsync while using double buffering and the penalty you pay for that gain. That same clip is used to illustrate how triple buffering can offer you the best of both worlds. Head on over and see why you should change your graphics settings in games, if you don't already.
"We often neglect to get too involved in the discussion of what options people should always enable when they play games. Rather, we tend to focus on what we test with. Honestly, our recommended settings for playing the games we test would be very similar to the settings we use to benchmark with one very important exception: we would enable triple buffering (which implies vsync) whenever possible. While it's not an available option in all games, it really needs to be, and we are here to make the case for why gamers should use triple buffering and why developers need to support it." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: Processor
The AMD Phenom II 42 TWKR Black Edition does not have a native frequency, simply a default of 2GHz if you pop it in without changing anything in the BIOS. It is a limited edition run specifically designed to be overclocked, hence the tweaker portion of its name. So far Legit Reviews has the top overclock, 6.58GHz on LN and a bus speed of 209MHz. As an added bonus, the testing ended once something horrible happened to the motherboard, you can see a picture on the last page of the review.
"For our liquid nitrogen testing we insulated the motherboard with a combination of artist eraser and Vaseline and mounted our K|ngp|n F1EE liquid nitrogen pot on top of the CPU with a dab of Arctic Silver Ceramique for the thermal compound. After pulling the pot down to around -188 Celsius we began our runs starting with 3DMark 2006. We were using a Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P with two Corsair Dominator GT 1866C7 2GB modules, two AMD HD4870x2 video cards at 822MHz core 950MHz memory, and a single Corsair HX1000 PSU powering the entire system. We had to push the vcore up to 1.8v to achieve the following 6.6GHz screen shot on the AMD Phenom II 42 TWKR Black Edition processor..." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Wired News | Subject: General Tech
Drop by Wired for a look at some interesting search sites that are neither Google nor that new one from Microsoft. Some are simply a different twist, such as Good Search which donates money every time you search to ChaCha which is much faster than Google on a mobile device. Others are more specific, like IceRocket, OneRiot, Scoopler
and Collecta all of which search Twitter, blog posts and news stories. For the traveller there is Voyij and for the commuter Parkingspots.com will probably be a favourite. There are plenty of others in the full story.
"How do you find a new search engine if all you know is Google? Typing “search engine” into the usual box might lead you to Microsoft’s newly launched Bing, the combined search at Dogpile, or the former king of search, Altavista. But for those willing to dig around, searching for search engines can reveal a treasure trove: The net is rich with specialized search services, all trying to find a way to get their slice of the billions of dollars Google makes every year answering queries." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: General Tech
Tom Clancy's HAWX seems to be showing up in a lot of bundles, from graphics cards to joysticks. Perhaps they are hinting that with better hardware you will enjoy the game more. Think Computers, not usually into flight sims, decided that that bundleware would be the perfect way to test out the Thrustmaster T.16000M joystick. For the price of a usual game, you get a joystick with some serious stats as well as the game its self, not a bad deal at all.
"Joysticks aren't a common item around the reviewers circle, but there are those ones from time and time again, like the Thrustmaster T.16000M Joystick we got a chance to review. It offers a total of 16 buttons on four different axes. A high precision of 256 million dots resolution blows other pro joysticks out of the water at their 1 million dots resolution. This ambidextrous joystick is very comfortable and easy to use. It includes a free copy of Tom Clancy's HAWK PC, a combat style flight simulator. Read on further to see how well I did after eight years of not playing a flight simulator." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tweaknews | Subject: Mobile
On paper, the Cooler Master SNA 95 Slim Notebook Adapter sounds like a brilliant idea. A 95W power adaptor with 8 different plugs and a USB socket on the side that can provide a variety of Wattage and Amperage to charge all your USB and mobile devices, including phones. Unfortunately, the model shipped to Tweaknews for testing had some incompatibilities, some that could be overcome and others that could not. Along with the problems they had, they were also disappointed that there was no pricing information. You can see the charger in action here.
"The idea of a single adapter to charge and power your laptop and all your other mobile devices is very appealing and would be especially desirable by business travelers who depend on these devices for their livelihood. Cooler Master's release of the SNA 95 has garnered more than a little attention around the web and I was excited to get one for evaluation. However, after using the thing for a week or so, I'm a bit underwhelmed." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: NVIDIA | Subject: Mobile
We know very little about the Samsung ION notebook, apart from the fact that it could be a serious help to nVIDIA getting the ION platform recognition as a competitor to the Intel-made chipset for Atom, even with the sales incentives that Intel offers.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: OCMODSHOP | Subject: Storage
Now that Blu-Ray burners and re-writers are sitting near the $200 mark, the DVD seems to be on its way to extinction. It is not just the sheer size of storage on this optical media, the disks themselves are much more resistant to scratching and a rewriteable disk will not become useless after just a few uses. Even more attractive than the first generation of disks are the new single and dual-layer BluRay discs; which are the topic in this review at OCModShop. If you are interested in some fairly tough media that will hold 50GB then it may just be the right time to upgrade your optical storage drive.
"Let's face it: DVD is on the way out as a data storage medium. Don't believe me? Do you remember when writable CDs were all the rage? I do, and I have a receipt for the $1000 2x drive to prove it. Once writeable DVDs became affordable, they were the backup medium of choice, and only recently have dual-layer products become affordable. Scientists keep making the optical data bits smaller and smaller, which is the basic fundamental difference between a CD and today's BluRay medium. Sure, the technology has matured, and more features added to the discs, but its sheer capacity makes BluRay the storage king." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bjorn3D | Subject: Case and Cooling
PC Power & Cooling has expanded its lineup into UPSs with the Pro-Source 1500. As you might expect this is a pure sine wave UPS, and it provides up to 12 minutes of backup power at a 600W. Bjorn3D thought this was a perfect time to hook up an insanely powerful PC to see just how this UPS performed. They took a Corei7 965 running at 3.74 GHz and three GTX-285's all with a 50MHz GPU overclock for a grand total of 758W system draw. Find out how long the UPS managed to keep it up and running in the full review.
"PC Power & Cooling (Acquired by OCZ in 2007) has long been a serious player in the computer power supply arena. We were pleased and surprised when they contacted us about a Uninterpretable Power Supply (UPS) called the Pro-Source 1500. The UPS arena is new for PC Power & Cooling but given their reputation for rock solid large single rail power supplies we're betting that the Pro-Source 1500 is just as dependable as the PSU so many people have come to know and love. While many PSU companies ran with the crowd and went modular and multiple rail PC Power & Cooling staunchly insisted the modularity in a computer PSU, and the removable power cords, change the PSU's ability to deliver clean power and add resistance to the delivered power. As for multiple rail PSU, PC Power & Cooling doesn't manufacture those, they stuck with large single rail PSU insisting that a single large rail delivers cleaner more dependable power. A company that refused to profit from trends and insists on doing things the single best way might not have the profitability of trendy companies, but you can bet that their product will be top of the line and no compromises were made in the manufacture of any of their products." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: General Tech
We have been seeing demos of Microsoft Surface at most trade shows for the past while. Microsoft is rightly proud of this new multi-touch interface; they've come up with a complete replacement for the mouse and keyboard. This does present a lot of challenges when designing a GUI for the Surface if you intend to do more than just offer a virtual keyboard and mouse. Ars Technica has an interview with a design team that is using Surface and goes over some of the obstacles in a multi-user platform, like how to orient yourself so that those working with you don't have to see everything upside down. They also talk about the strengths of this new way to use a computer to design code, websites and other uses.
"Ditching the mouse and keyboard means a whole lot more than just doing without two common peripherals. As those who've worked with Microsoft Surface have found out, you have to jettison decades of GUI baggage and start with a whole new mindset." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
To get the most important forum thread out of the way first, PC Perspective is giving away a Smooth Creations system. You have 7 different ways to enter and Ryan has already disqualified Allyn, Josh and myself so you have no excuses not to enter and win even if you live in Outer Elbonia. This machine is not just pretty on the outside inside you will find a Phenom X4 955, a pair of HD4890s, 4GB DDR2 on a Foxconn 790FX, and dual VelociRaptors, all powered by a 1000w TopPower PSU.
Of course we all know that the contest is not the only reason to be posting in the PC Perspective Forums, you can also discuss and learn about everything from the best printers going to picking your favourite flavour of RAM. You can also drill down to more specific topics, like advice in the best way to deal with strange artifacting in games without having a panic attack or getting inspiration for your next HTPC build; you can find it on the forums. If you can find it, start a new thread and someone will be along shortly to help you. If hardware isn't your thing, then check out the OS forums, in both Linux and Windows varieties, or chill with the Fragging Frogs in the Gaming forum. There are distributed computing forums where you can contribute your unused cycles to curing cancer, finding aliens or any of the many other projects that PC Perspective team is a part of. As you are doing so, check out this weeks PC Perspective Podcast #62, the audio is here and the video will be up early next week. You can always try catching the reruns of both the Podcast and TWiCH on TWiT live if you can't wait.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bens Custom Cases | Subject: Case and Cooling
Using an LGA775 or AM2 chip in a case that doesn't allow you to have a 6" tall cooler? At only 47mm (1.8") tall, the Thermaltake MeOrb might be the perfect solution for you. As it is so small, the cooling that it provides does not beat the big boys, it does however beat the stock cooler which is the important goal. BCCHardware gave it an Editor's Choice which you can see here.
"We have just posted up a review of relatively little MeOrb cooler from Thermaltake. Even though this is the smallest Orb cooler we've seen in years, it still promises better-than-stock-cooling with lower noise. This cooler is especially handy in HTPC applications or other systems that require quiet, yet efficient cooling. Please check out our review for all the details." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
DFI's newest X58 boards is the DFI UT X58-T3eH8, packed with all the little extras that have earned DFI such a devoted following. It is becoming difficult to stand out with extra features, most motherboard manufacturers are including a lot of them, such as power and reset buttons on the motherboard that can also clear the CMOS or much more efficient onboard cooling systems. Perhaps one way that DFI distinguishes its self is that their products can be instantly recognized up to a distance of 8 miles thanks to their unique colour scheme. See if the newest LANParty motherboard can live up to its predecessors at [H]ard|OCP.
"The UT X58-T3eH8 is DFI’s answer to the current onslaught of Intel X58 chipset based motherboards. The board is part of DFI’s much vaunted LanParty line of boards, squarely aimed at the gaming and hardware enthusiast. It looks to be strong contender in this highly competitive space." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Techware Labs | Subject: General Tech
Monster Cable has been described in a lot of ways; bizarre, ridiculous, loony and just plain way too freakin' expensive.
Perhaps that is why they picked Ludacris
to be their big name at launches. This particular launch is for the Monster Turbine Headphones, in-ear buds that go for around $150, actually on the low end of the in-ear market. Check out their looks and get an idea as to their sound over at TechWareLabs
"If you like music but the standard headphones with your mp3 player or iPod just don't cut it for you then you must take a look at our review of the Monster Turbine headphones. Donning amazing headset is like strapping a high end stereo setup to your head. We compare the Turbines to headphones from Shure and Bose and bring you our take on the latest entry from Monster Cable." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
As we brought up on this week's PC Perspective Podcast, LucidLogix Technologies is finally back in the news after a long delay from their first impressive showing almost an entire year ago. The product that they are showing is not intended to try to displace AMD or nVIDIA, it has the exact opposite goal in mind, to work with them to provide better multi-GPU support. Whether you use Crossfire or SLI, your multiple board system depends on alternative frame rendering. Each card renders one frame, theoretically doubling the amount of frames that can be produced. The Achilles
Heel of this design is that you cannot simply create a completely independent frame, each frame produced depends on the previous frame to give reference points for proper rendering, so each card is looking 1 or 2 frames into the future and slowing the theoretical performance to the level we see in the real world. LucidLogix has a completely different way of doing this and from what we have heard, that method works equally well for AMD and nVIDIA cards. Read the story at The Inquirer to see what has changed in the year since Ryan wrote his article.
"AFTER A QUIET SPELL multi-GPU magician Lucid is making a noise again, this time bigged up by a report from Jon Peddie Research (JPR). The firm's impressive Hydra offering was shown off for the first time on the INQ at last year's IDF. Lack of news since then has resulted in some dismissing the firm and its products as vapourware: nice in theory, but nowhere in practice. Now Lucid, which counts Intel capital as an investor (and protector from AMD/Nvidia lawsuits), stands a good chance of scoring a big hit soon, according to JPR." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: Motherboard
A very interesting and detailed editorial over at The Inquirer seems to be shining some light on an internal, inside baseball type fight raging behind the scenes of the Intel motherboard market. The story can be summed up like this: Intel apparently isn't fond of how big ASUS has gotten in terms of OEM (to HP, Dell, etc) and ODM (ASUS-branded boards) sales and that the motherboard giant can push back when proded by Intel. Intel doesn't like being pushed at all - we should know that by now. The answer for Intel seems to be transferring the construction of Intel-branded motherboard to Foxconn, a company with very little brand equity and little ability to give headaches to Intel.
If true, the ramifications could be pretty big for ASUS - the company uses its sales and purchasing power, combined with the power of Pegatron, the OEM side of the company, to get better prices, combine R&D costs and just generally be a better overall business. If the OEM throughput of Pegatron is cut, then ASUS-branded products COULD see a decline in profitability and/or quality of the motherboards we have come to know and love. There is a LOT more to this debate, and we can tell you for now it's all still just conjecture. But we will definitely be keeping an eye on the issue!
Pegatron and Asus source their components jointly, giving them huge
leverage with Intel on pricing. If Pegatron no longer makes boards for
Intel, then the Asus group will have less bargaining power.
Asus and Pegatron have purportedly been a pain in Intel's side for a while now. Their size makes them resistant to Intel's control. By knocking Asus down a notch, Intel might have better luck persuading the firm to play by its rules (such as not breaking the P55 NDA and leaking pictures of the board online, for example.) So not only can Intel offload its R&D costs to Foxconn, it can also cosy up to the firm by making it a VC (validation and certification) partner, which typically get chipsets earlier than the rest of the market. Intel currently has three VC partners - HP, Dell and Asus - so the adding Foxconn changes the balance of power in Intel's favour.
Ryan Shrout | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: Processor
Do you overclock your CPU with any form of liquid gas? If not, this product isn't really for you. Which is good, because according to The Inquirer, these CPUs are going to be REALLY hard to get a hold of...
AMD has pushed out a very select few processors with the "TWKR" brand on them meant for the highly specialized art of extreme overclocking. We aren't talking a few hundred MHz here, we are talking about a couple GHz. 
Source: inquirer.net These CPUs are based on Phenom II X4 140w units but will have exceptional leakage - something that most users actually DON'T want for normal day-to-day computing. If you are going to be cooling these to well below 0 degree, then that is something to look for.
The chips certainly look set to be record smashers, but without any actual benchmarks, we can't tell you conclusively. But, if what we've heard is correct and from our knowledge that Phenoms prefer cold over high voltages, these chips should be able to handle higher voltage better under extreme cooling, even possibly topping the 7Ghz barrier.
We're looking forward to seeing what overclockers will be able to do with these mysterious offerings, especially since the Phenom has already hit 7ghz on all 4 cores, something Intel has yet to achieve. The highest an i7 has ever gone with all cores enabled is just a touch over 6Ghz, and it looks like AMD is about to deliver yet another smackdown. As you can see in this image, MainGear Computers seems to have at least one - the question remains will any of YOU be able to find one if you are even interested. And how much are you willing to pay for a CPU with such a specific use?
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Corsair Memory | Subject: Storage
Fremont, CA. June 25th, 2009. Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced two new products in its Performance Series SSD family: the P128 and P64 high-performance solid-state drives. Building on the success of the award-winning P256 SSD, the Corsair P128 delivers the same 220MB/sec read speeds and 200MB/sec write speeds as its higher capacity cousin, at a lower cost. The P64 is one of the best-performing, lower-density SSDs available, with read speeds of up to 220MB/sec and write speeds of up to 120MB/sec. Both drives utilize the same cutting-edge technology as the P256, including a sophisticated Samsung controller IC with 128MB of cache memory and NCQ support to deliver class-leading, stutter-free performance. "The high performance of the new Performance Series solid-state drives, combined with the inherent reliability and stability of flash technology, make them ideal for both new system builds and upgrades of desktops and notebooks," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair. "These drives have also been extensively validated in a wide range of popular notebook computers, which means that you can upgrade with absolute confidence." The Corsair P128 solid-state drive is available immediately from Corsair's authorized distributors and resellers worldwide, and is backed by a Two-Year Limited Warranty. The Corsair P64 solid-state drive will be available in early July. Complete customer support via telephone, email, forum and Tech Support Express is also available. 
Confused which letter means what? Allyn has your back! Check out his handy SSD Decoder Ring here.
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: General Tech
Good news for all those fans of Windows 7, bad news for haters that like to kiss up to Apple. Microsoft is learning how to impress us recently and this is the latest iteration of it. It looks like most any user will be able to upgrade to Windows 7 for only $50 - if you get in early. Preordering the operating system will be able in Home Premium form for $49.99 and in Ultimate form for $99.99. Normal prices are still going to less expensive than Vista, but not by much:
Vista and XP users will need to pony up $119.99, $199.99, or $219.99 on October 22 to score their Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate upgrade, and those of you who want a full retail disc will need to roll up with $199.99, $299.99, or $319.99 respectively.
The low-cost pre-order option starts TOMORROW - so if you know you will be moving to Windows 7, this is the time to get in cheap. You can get all the details here on this Windows blog post!
And for our retail software, we’ve made significant strides in terms of timing. Gone are the days when it could take months for all language versions to be available. In fact – we’ve narrowed the gap to just over ONE week!
On October 22nd, Windows 7 will be available in the following 14 languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Chinese (Hong Kong). Then on October 31st, the remaining 21 languages will become available: Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian, Arabic, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Slovenian, Hebrew, Thai, Croatian, Serbian Latin, and Latvian. Windows 7 truly is a global release and I’m excited to be able to tell my international friends that when I say Windows 7 will be available for the holidays – I mean everywhere in the world.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Phoronix | Subject: Mobile
The System76 Bonobo Professional
is a high end notebook, which can set you back almost $4000 fully equipped. That fully equipped 17" model uses an Intel X-25M SSD for storage, a GTX 280M, 8GB of DDR3 and an Intel QX9300 Extreme. Phoronix went with a slightly less expensive model for their test drive with Ubuntu. Check out how it stacks up against a ThinkPad T61.
"Back in March we reviewed the System76 Serval Professional notebook and found it to be an excellent contender at the time. This notebook, which shipped with Ubuntu 8.10, had packed an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor with a GeForce 9800M GTS graphics card and other great hardware, but since then System76 has rolled out notebooks with newer and better hardware. One of the new notebooks to recently leave the System76 facilities is the Bonobo Professional, which packs an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 processor and an impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M discrete graphics processor. In this article today we are seeing how this high-end notebook performs with Ubuntu 9.04." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Guru of 3D | Subject: System
It is not just a pretty face, the Guru of 3D's rig of the month also sports a Q9650 over clocked to 4.2GHz
thanks to some serious TEC cooling, and a GTX295 that has been pushed fairly hard as well. The case its self has not undergone any heavy modifications, you don't need to know how to drill out acrylic to make something this nice. Head to the Guru of 3D for some serious inspiration.
"It's time for a new update of the rig of the month, Like a jelly fish transparent on the outside, but fascinating on the inside sums up Art Reyna, Jr's PC really well, making it the Rig of The Month June 2009. At the age of 29 Art is a Call Center worker by day, graphic designer and drummer by night. Meet his rig and all inside info right here." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Storage
Looking nice in shiny white and standing all of 6.7" tall, 3.9" wide, and 6.3" deep, the Western Digital My Book World Edition II
might just help save your sanity. Since it is easy to use, looks relatively attractive and is small enough to hide if necessary, this NAS might be just the thing to get your friends and family members to actually do a back up of their important stuff. Just a few minutes of their time may save you hours, so wave the pictures from The Tech Report's review under their nose and maybe threaten not to fix anything ever again if they don't pick one up.
"While enthusiasts may be comfortable rolling their own home file servers, network-attached storage devices make more sense for mainstream users. We take WD's latest My Book NAS for a spin to see what it's like." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Shacknews | Subject: General Tech
BioWare and Mythic have been compressed into one big RPG/MMO studio group under the umbrella that is EA. BioWare's chiefs are staying to run the ship, it is Mythic's head that is being released to the wild. It is hard to say which directions this new merged gaming shop will head, but it is not the only big merger in the news right now. Also in the news is the purchase of id Software to the company that own Bethesda, ZeniMax; or as Romero put it "Fallout 3 bought DOOM." Somehow it seems as likely that Doom 4 will have Perks and levels for your character as it does that the next Morrowind game will have rocket launchers, but you never know.
"Electronic Arts subsidiaries BioWare (Mass Effect, Star Wars: The Old Republic) and Mythic Entertainment (Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online) are to be combined into a new "studio group" led by BioWare co-founder and general manager Ray Muzyka. Mythic revealed the restructuring today on its official website, with BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk serving as chief creative officer of the new group and Mythic co-founder Rob Denton now acting as general manager of the Mythic division. Denton will report to group general manager Muzyka, and BioWare's studios "remain unchanged." " Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Editorial
Every Wednesday you can watch the editors of PC Perspective host our weekly podcast on live streaming video. We should be starting it about 10pm ET or so! You can watch it at Leo's site of you can click here and watch it right here on PC Perspective!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: Case and Cooling
Thermaltake's new line of coolers all bear similar names, the ISGC-100, 200 and now the 300. That last model, the Thermaltake ISGC-300 is the subject in Think Computers testing today. At well over a pound and a bit over 6" tall, this cooler comes with the universal warning all Core i7 coolers seem to, make sure it is not to big for where you are trying to stick it. The extra bulk does prove effective on this cooler, as it does with them all, though perhaps Thermaltake has done a better job than some for at low fan speed this cooler still ends up in the top half of the coolers that Think Computers compares it to.
"Today we got a chance to check out the Thermaltake ISGC-300, the third of four Thermaltake ISGC CPU Coolers. Its tall, yet narrow design allows for plenty of airflow and an easy of installation. Supporting the latest CPU's, the ISGC-300 provides a powerful cooling method which can be easily adjusted between low and high speed settings. Read on further to see how well it performed in comparison with the ISGC-100 and ISGC-200." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
With the amount of hardware flowing through PC Perspective it is inevitable that the same product can end up on two different review benches, as was the case with the GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 790FXmotherboard. In this instance Steve got to do a lot of the initial hard work, with a Phenom X3 780 BE and 2x2GB of OCZ's DDR3-1600. The testing went well and covers storage, gaming, graphics and overall system performance. His overclocking saw almost a 1GHz gain in speed on the Phenom X3 which is more than a little impressive. Josh loved the board so much he just couldn't stop playing with it, and you can catch his commentary on the final page of the review.
"The appearance of the board is quite pleasing, and the layout again cause very few issues with me. The cooling system on the chips was also quite functional, and again was quite attractive in design. The Ultra Durable 3 features also seem to add a lot of value and security, and I believe that they actually add real engineering value to the product. It is simple physics that the thicker the copper, the less the resistance. Less resistance means lower heat produced and less energy expended as waste. Add into the equation that the board is less expensive than the slightly more limited Asus 790FX AM3 board, and users certainly have an attractive option at the high end for AM3 parts." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Silicon Madness | Subject: Processor
Drop by Silicon Madness for a look under the cover of the new Propus core, with no L3 cache which should hopefully be hitting the streets in the fall as the AMD Athlon II X4 600 series. You can also expect to see Rana, which will be a pared down Propus core and be sold as the AMD Athlon II X3 400 series.
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Gamepyre | Subject: General Tech
You can always find a fun web based game to while away the hours stuck in your chair, since doing actual work would just be silly no matter how bored you are. How about trying a persistent player versus player web based fighting game that goes by the name of Disciple. It is totally free apart from one small special area and even the quests are based around finding various players to slaughter. You can hunt NPCs if you wish, but all the quests can also be completed by killing other players. Take a peek at Gamepyre.
"The battles take place in an arena-like environment where the fights are one on one. So all you players who love to fight but are tired of getting ambushed by overwhelming numbers, you may want to really take a look at this game. Also, please keep in mind that this is web-browser style game so the graphics and the sound does not compare with what you might expect form the PS3 or the Xbox. For what it is and for being FREE, Resistor Productions did an outstanding job with Disciple. Not only that, but I have a strong feeling that the game will only improve with time. And here's the best part: you don't have to play the game for 80 hours just to gain a level or to raise enough gold for a new piece of armor. The programmers realized that most of us have jobs and a life outside the game, so the rewards are very timely balanced out." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digitimes | Subject: Case and Cooling
If what DigiTimes has heard from an unnamed source is correct, come September AMD will have a new open platform strategy for their mobile lineup. The introduction of Tigris will see Better By Design, the sticker that comes on AMD based mobile devices replaced by three tiers of Vision branding. There is a good chance you will see this new branding on Gateway mobile PCs as well as HP's products.
"AMD is scheduled to announce a new open platform strategy dubbed "AMD Vision Technology" in September, along with the launch of its next-generation notebook platform (Tigris), according to sources at notebook makers. AMD's current Better by Design strategy, which places a label with platform specifications on notebooks, will be phased out as the new strategy hits the market. AMD's Vision Technology strategy will separate notebook products into three levels based on their processor and GPU – AMD Vision Ultimate, AMD Vision Premium and AMD Vision – and each notebook will receive a label indicating the given level. AMD declined the opportunity to respond to this report saying it cannot comment on unannounced products." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
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