If you want to find out how this new game will perform, this is your oportunity, Tom's Hardware has made a complete article showing the differences in performance between varios resolutions and settings on this Beta version of the already much awaited StarCraft II.
The guys over Gamespot has published an QA article about the upcoming PC, XBOX360 and PS3 title called "Monkey Island 2 Special Edition". At this point I will assume everyone here at least knows what this glorious game was all about and the remake really looks like a cartoon straight from the TV.
This is what the article has to say about it:
The band is back together. The upcoming release of Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge for the PC, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade features a special commentary mode where the creators--Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman--of the original game share their memories and behind-the-scenes information as you progress through the game
Core Temp is a compact, no fuss, small footprint program to monitor CPU temperature.
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HWiNFO32 is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tools supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. Both tools are targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes them suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical experts too.
Retrieved information's are presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports.
The new version of the HWiNFO32 hardware information and diagnostic tool and it features:
Changes
NVIDIA has been working hard on its 'Verde' drivers. Moving forward, the GPU maker will reportedly take things one step further, in a way unifying desktop and notebook drivers. This is to say that, starting with the 256 Series of drivers, both the desktop and notebook versions will be out on the same day.
In the case of laptops whose hardware did not go through significant changes at the hands of OEMs, the drivers should be compatible and, thus, will allow the discrete GPUs to work at their full potential. Of course, there is still the possibility of the drivers not working for everyone, but many users should benefit in the end. If this project evolves as it should, the graphics-solution developer's hardware for laptops may recover some of the appeal it lost in the wake of DirectX 11 mobile graphics from ATI (and AMD's one-per-month driver updates). All that remains is for mobile Fermi GPUs to show up, in which case the competition should reach a whole-new level [via soft-pedia]
The 890FX has overall higher capabilities than those of the 890GX, such as a faster RAM and broader feature set, but it lacks an integrated graphics solution. This is understandable, considering that it is an enthusiast platform and, thus, quite unlikely to be used in configurations without PCI Express x16 graphics adapters. In fact, the mainboard lays special emphasis on support for multi-GPU configurations, being equipped with five PCI Express x16 slots.
In addition to the five graphics slots, the MSI 890FXA-GD70 has four DDR3-2133 memory slots, six SATA 6.0Gbps ports, one SATA 3.0Gbps connector, dual Gigabit Ethernet, a pair of USB 3.0 connectors, an eSATA port and 7.1 channel audio. These specs are complemented by a number of MSI's own technologies.
The company used Military Class components, namely Hi-c CAPs, Solid CAPs, and Icy Chokes (low-temperature inductors) to improve stability and reliability. Secondly, there is support for core unlocking and overclocking via OC Genie. Finally, the product supports DrMOS, APS (Active Phase Switching) and features the company's instant-on OS known as Winki.
G.Skill International today launched the 2,000MHz CL7-9-7-24 1.65V 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3 kit with its latest Flare heatsinks, as a nice DIMM series partner for AMDs latest 6-core processors.
G.Skill
Patriot introduced three new Viper II Series Sector 5 Edition memory kits, these DDR3 modules are available with clockspeeds of 2133MHz, 2400MHz or 2500MHz. Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage and enthusiast computer products, today expanded their lineup of DDR3 memory solutions with the launch of its new ultra-high performance Viper II Series Sector 5 Edition Extreme Performance DDR3 memory for Intel
NVIDIA VP Dan Vivoli complained on a local San Francisco TV show that Intel is hindering the low-end graphics market:
An Nvidia executive appearing on a local San Francisco TV show on Friday said that Intel is denying consumers the chance to use Nvidia chips, likely presaging more verbal sparring and future legal wrangling between the two chip giants.
In a video posted on Nvidia's Web site, Daniel Vivoli, a senior vice president at the graphics chip supplier, said in response to a question from a panelist on the show that consumers shouldn't be "denied the ability" to use lower-end Nvidia graphics technology.
Phenom II X6 1055T and 1090T review
We test the AMD Phenom II X6 series processors today. A 289 USD Phenom II X6 1095T Black Edition processor all of the sudden can compete with say a quad-core Core i7 950 and 965 when it comes to multi-threaded applications. But AMD releases two six-core processors, the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T clocked at a base clock of 3.2 GHz and the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T at 2.8 GHz.
That second processor is in fact even more surprising as it is going to cost 199 USD. That's right, a six-core CPU clocked at 2800 MHz for less than 200 USD. Let's test them both and see what they bring to the table shall we ?
Have a look at this Guru3D review right here.
We test the AMD Phenom II X6 series processors today. A 289 USD Phenom II X6 1095T Black Edition processor all of the sudden can compete with say a quad-core Core i7 950 and 965 when it comes to multi-threaded applications. But AMD releases two six-core processors, the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T clocked at a base clock of 3.2 GHz and the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T at 2.8 GHz. That second processor is in fact even more surprising as it is going to cost 199 USD. That's right, a six-core CPU clocked at 2800 MHz for less than 200 USD. Let's test them both and see what they bring to the table shall we ?
Guru3D Rig of the Month - April 2010
Each month here at Guru3D.com we feature one of you guys, your PC, your DIY project. It is quite honestly amazing how much detail and dedication you put into an PC, and every now and then it really shows. We again had a LOT of entries coming in in the past five weeks, thank you very much for that. Out of the fifteen most original we in the end randomly picked one.
This rig of the month totally speaks for itself, an outstanding PC build, sheer beauty and then an excellent photo-shoot highlighting the craftsmanship you are about to see.
Pascal den Enting's PC is the the Rig of The Month April 2010. Meet the dude at the age of 37, he has been building a very interesting game PC .. well game room really. The end result is a beautiful looking PC, and an even more interesting environment.
Check out his creation right here ...
Following the launch of the ATI FirePro V8800, the industry's most powerful professional graphics card ever created, AMD today introduced new additions to its next-generation ATI FirePro family -- ATI FirePro V7800, ATI FirePro V5800, ATI FirePro V4800, and ATI FirePro V3800 -- offering professionals in the digital content creation (DCC) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) industries advanced performance and features at every price point. AMD also announced the ATI FirePro 2460 Multi-View, a low profile, quad display graphics solution designed for financial institutions. These latest ATI FirePro solutions are expected to be available from HP, CDW, Newegg, Tiger Direct and other online retailers.
"AMD's new ATI FirePro workstation graphics cards are the world's first workstation class graphics cards to support up to four monitors on a single card -- enabling increased productivity for professional graphics users," said Janet Matsuda, senior director, Professional Graphics, AMD. "Our new ATI FirePro family delivers new value at every price point."
"HP's workstation customers are professionals at the top of their games who demand the latest technologies with the best possible performance," said Jeff Wood, director, Worldwide Marketing, Workstations, HP. "HP recently expanded its workstation lineup to provide customers with an option for every need. Combined with our powerful HP Workstations, this new generation of ATI FirePro graphics cards delivers exceptional solutions that enable higher productivity levels for our customers at every stage of the game."
The next generation of the ATI FirePro family of professional graphics cards is designed to meet the specific needs of each market segment. The cards have been tested in real-world scenarios to help ensure compatibility and stability for certification with many leading software applications. Each card supports Microsoft DirectX11, OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL along with ATI Eyefinity technology -- providing professionals with the ability to expand their display resolution for increased productivity.
The ATI FirePro 2460 Multi-View is a low profile, quad display graphics solution designed to improve the visual experience for financial traders while simultaneously helping to reduce power and cooling costs for some of the world's largest financial institutions. With an average board power consumption of 13W, ATI FirePro 2460 is designed to meet the performance and productivity requirements of enterprise environments without increasing the power consumption needs of users while offering the capability to support multi-monitor ATI Eyefinity technology.
More info here.
Some video cards are offered in passively cooled editions to help reduce noise in the environment around you. Club 3D has unveiled just such a card called the ATI Radeon HD5550 Noiseless Edition. The video card uses the PCI-E 2.1 slot and has no fans. The GPU is clocked at 550MHz and the card uses 512MB of GDDR3 RAM.
The memory is clocked at 800MHz and the card has memory bandwidth of 128-bit and 320 stream processors. Club 3D uses a dual heat pipe passive cooler to keep the card running cool despite lacking fans. Too bad the R5550 GPU is luking on many many levels performance wise.
Mushkin's Redline series of desktop performance memory has long been the company's means of addressing the needs of gamers and enthusiasts, thanks to their high capacities, fast clocks and good latencies. Of course, when a product gets special recognition, it makes sense for its maker to refine it and even set it apart from the fold. As such, Mushkin has decided to start manufacturing a new kind of Redline Series memory kits, which use 8-layer, black PCBs.
The new printed circuit board shows the special status of the Redline memory solutions and will also be used in the making of future DDR3 modules. The two kits introduced now are a 4GB dual-channel kit, composed of two 2GB modules, and one triple-channel kit, made up of three 2GB modules. They are codenamed 996805BLACK and 998805BLACK, respectively.
Besides having different memory capacities, the two device sets are mostly similar. They have a maximum clock speed of 1600MHz, which makes them excellent options for gamers and good solutions for overclockers. Also, they have latencies of CL 6-8-6-24. The products achieve this performance level while operating on a voltage of 1.65V and because Red Frostbyte heatspreaders prevents each of the modules from overheating.
The 96805BLACK and 998805BLACK have only started being listed online and are accompanied by a lifetime warranty. As for the financial impact they will have on end-users, they carry price tags of 175 Euro and 225 Euro, respectively. Finally, according to Mushkin, there has been a large number of requests for black PCBs, which is why all upcoming Redline Series devices will be designed with them [via softpedia]
The VIERA VT25 are very large compared to other TVs on the market, with screen sizes of up to no less than 65 inches (TC-P65VT25). For those versed in such things, this size is larger than that of certain digital signage solutions, which means that those interested will have to free up an entire wall before they can set it up. Basically, Panasonic intends for these Full HD 3D TVs to cope with not just current media, but also 3D content that will emerge over the next few years.
The lineup is composed of four models whose Infinite Black Pro panels give them a native contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1. Known as the TC-P50VT25, TC-P54VT25, TC-P58VT25 and TC-P65VT25, they boast, as their names suggest, screen sizes of 50, 54, 58 and 65 inches, respectively. The first two will start selling in the week of May 3, at respective prices of $2,599.95 and $2,999.95. As for the other two, they will come in June, at prices of $3,399.95 for the 58-inch TV and $4,299.95 for the 65-inch model.
First announced at CES 2009 nearly 1.5 years ago, the 5.1 surround sound gaming cans from Psyko are now finally heading to retail stores across North America. This headset is radically different from other surround sound headsets as the five speakers are not placed in the ear cups, but above your head in the bridge of the headset to provide a more natural sound experience. Subwoofers are located in the ear cups, and the headset also features a removable microphone and a separate headphone amplifier box with volume and bass level controls. You can learn more about the technology behind this headset over here, it should be available in retail stores for around $299.99.
While the PsykoWave Technology sounds pretty impressive, arecent review indicates this headset isn't really worth its money. The headset does deliver pretty impressive positional accuracy, but the reviewer complains the sound quality is atrocious, and notes even his $33 Kos PortaPro headphones boast higher fidelity.
Psyko Audio Labs Inc., a leading innovator in PC Gaming headphone technology, is ecstatic to unleash the dawn of audio as a weapon through the immediate availability of the highly anticipated Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset System to USA and Canada. Psyko's patented PsykoWave Technology empowers PC Gamers with an unfair advantage over the competition through precise 3D sound that drastically heightens awareness of your gaming surroundings. Players can instantly identify and locate every gun shot, footstep, and explosion allowing for faster reaction times, higher player performance, and the most immersive gaming experience to date.
PsykoWave Technology
Geek.com reports about a new piece of art created by Kasey McMahon.
Take this provocative piece of modern art created by Kasey McMahon. Called
