Latest hardware reviews.

Ati Radeon X300SE Pci-Express review. AMD Sempron 2800+ and 3100+ and Celeron D Review Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4PRO DDR2 memory nForce4 Ultra & SLI Preview ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition Graphics Card Review

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 10:04PM GMT +10 by BenSW

DOOM 3 Expansion Date?

Activision apparently announced today that the first quarter of 2005 will be the release of DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil add-on pack, though of course, as always, id Software has the final say on the release dates of their projects. Q1 2005 was also listed as the projected release date for the Xbox version of DOOM 3, and both of those dates are now reflected on this Activision Investor Relations Release Calendar.

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 03:25PM GMT +10 by erock

No Online/LAN Co-Op for Halo 2

It has now been confirmed that Halo 2 will not include support for co-op mode on Xbox LIVE or LAN play. The co-op mode will remain for offline play only. Bungie made all attempts to implement it however with the complexity of the game it was simply impossible to have a worthwhile co-op experience." Source: GameConnect

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 08:55AM GMT +10 by erock

Major Milestone with Battery Life

The Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group (EBL-WG) today announced a major milestone for its low power display panel initiative, confirming an average annual shipment of more than 6 million low power 12.1/14.1/15.0 XGA display panels at 3 watts or less, about 12 per cent of total estimated notebook shipments for 2004.1 Since establishing the initiative a year ago, average display panel power has dropped from 4.3-4.5 watts to 3 watts or less - power savings equivalent to 60 minutes of extra battery life in notebooks.2 The EBL-WG is targeting an annual rate of 10 million units at 3W or less by early next year, about 20 per cent of estimated total notebook shipments for 2005.3 Press release @ Intel

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 08:50AM GMT +10 by erock

New PC Platform | AMD

AMD, the world’s second largest maker of PC microprocessors, is preparing to roll-out a reference design of a computer that will serve for people in emerging markets and cannot afford even entry-level computers. The Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) initiative proposed by AMD and code-named Emma is based on AMD Geode GX500 366MHz processor that consumes about 1W of power, equipped with 128MB of memory, 10GB HDD, 4xUSB, 56K Modem and integrated audio, according to AMDBoard.com web-site. The machine runs a special version of Microsoft Windows CE with XP extender for Windows XP applications compatibility and is also bundled with Internet Explorer, Messenger, Spreadsheet and some other software. AMD wants such computers to sell for $185 with keyboard, but with no display, or, with keyboard and display, for $249. AMD’s PIC will allow customers to type texts, browse the Internet, use email, listen to music, watch multimedia files, view various presentations and perform some other simple tasks. AMD will not make or sell the PIC. Instead, it will sell licenses to make such computers along with certain components. The first maker of the PIC is Solectron, a contract manufacturer. Read More

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 08:48AM GMT +10 by erock

AMD Press Release

SUNNYVALE, CA -- October 26, 2004 --AMD announced today that the AMD Athlon™ 64 processor received “Product of the Year” honors in Computer Shopper magazine’s list of “The Best in Tech 2004.” Computer Shopper placed the AMD Athlon 64 processor atop its annual roundup of outstanding technology products in the magazine’s November issue which is currently available online and on newsstands. Computer Shopper’s annual list of the top 100 products of the year showcases the best desktops, notebooks, hardware and software as well as the most useful Web services. “Each year, the magazine’s editors select the best technology and the best buys from a year’s worth of reviews and first-hand experience,” Rik Fairlie, Editor of Computer Shopper. “This stamp of approval from one of the most trusted product guides in the industry is awarded to products that demonstrate the most effective combination of performance, features and value.” Read More

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 08:44AM GMT +10 by erock

Apple Releases iPod Special U2 Edition

Apple just released two new iPOD versions. One is a special U2 edition of the latest iPOD generation. The other one is a iPOD with color display an photo functions. To start off with the special U2 edition. This iPod is black with red controls. So it really does stand out of the white iPod crowd! The Apple website has this to say about the U2 Edition: Like no other, iPod U2 Special Edition stands out. Jet black, it bears a prominent red Apple Click Wheel and, on the flip side, the autographs of each U2 band member. Available for just $349, it comes with an exclusive U2 poster and, of course, the signature white iPod earbuds But where the U2 edition is just the same iPod in different colours, the iPod photo is a new big step in the world of iPods This Colour Displayed (65,536 colors) iPod is availabe in 40 or brand new 60 GB version and can hold up to 15.000 songs or 25.000 photo's! It has a slideshow feature and you can listen to your music while browsing your photo's. The Apple website has the following to say about the iPod Photo: Like its famous siblings, iPod Photo features the touch-sensitive Apple Click Wheel that’s the envy of the industry. You’ll use it to navigate iPod Photo’s new menu. Now in living color, its easier to read than ever. That’s thanks in part to the clarity of the display — it offers 220x176-pixel resolution — and in part to the new Myriad typeface. Spin the wheel to Music, and you can scroll effortlessly through dozens of playlists, hundreds of albums or thousand of songs. Or highlight Photos. iPod Photo displays 25 full-color thumbnails at a time. And you can scroll through them the same way you scroll through song titles. Quickly. Just spin the wheel to see more. And when you see a photo you’d like displayed all by its lonesome, just click the center button and voila. No one will have to say “cheese” as long as you have iPod Photo around. Whether you’re listening to tunes or checking out photos, you’re sure to be all smiles. More Info

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 08:41AM GMT +10 by erock

Need for Speed Underground 2 demo!

Uncover the tuner underground in a massive, free-roaming metropolis. Get behind the wheel in one of 30 of the hottest cars and own the streets from dusk-til-dawn. Explore the city, encountering underground races, hidden hideouts, secret shops and unexpected challengers With comprehensive performance tuning options, all-new game modes, and the most sought-after cars on the circuit, Need for Speed Underground 2 delivers the most authentic tuner experience ever. Download it here

Posted: October. 27, 2004 @ 06:54AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Annoyed at copy protections?

This my first post on the news poster team here at Ausfx.com so you may be seeing a little to me in the future. On to the news post then: Have you ever annoyed yourself over copy protections? Especially on music CD's and DVD's? Like you cannot take your favourite music that you bought LEGALLY and play it in your car? Well, I have been there, and we all know that is a pain and you feel like taking a gun and just walk over to the makers of the company and shoot them? Well I don't recommend doing that, lately there is a much better alternative to telling them "I AM FED UP WITH THIS! FIX IT!" And that solution is here at Consumers Against Copy Control, they are running a WORLD wide campaign where the collect signatures against this type of control, which they will send to the bigger companies. While it may be based in Norway, they have to change the looks on it from an international point of view and thats where you got your chance. Here is the link for you to sign if you like: CACC, Consumers Against Copy Control

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 11:33PM GMT +10 by Sweeper

NVIDIA Press Release

NVIDIA Announces Preliminary Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended October 24, 2004 SANTA CLARA, CA – OCTOBER 25, 2004 – NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors, today announced preliminary financial results for the quarter ended October 24, 2004. A product mix shift to and share gains in the GeForce™ 6 GPU family contributed to strong revenue growth in the DX9 performance segment. In the third quarter, NVIDIA delivered two new GPUs, the GeForce 6600 and 6200, in addition to its award-winning GeForce 6800, and is now the industry’s only top-to-bottom GPU family to support Microsoft DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0. The Company expects to report total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2005 to be between $510 million to $515 million, as compared to the previous range of $470 million to $502 million. Third quarter gross margin percentage is expected to be between 31.7 percent and 32.7 percent. NVIDIA will host a conference call to discuss its final financial results for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2005 and the outlook for its fourth quarter on November 4, 2004 at 2:00 PM, Pacific Time. The Company's prepared remarks will be followed by a question and answer period, which will be limited to questions from analysts and institutional investors. Read More

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 02:52PM GMT +10 by erock

Doom III expansion announced!

Keeping the press releases rollin', id Software has announced an expansion pack for their hit first person shooter, Doom III. Entitled Resurrection of Evil, the expansion will be co-developed with Nerve Software and will include new locations, characters and weapons! Read more about it here.. Source:http://www.futuremark.com/news/?newsarticle=200410/#200410/

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 02:13PM GMT +10 by BenSW

New Forceware 70.41 beta's unveiled

But not leaked! We have managed to get our hands on some new NVIDIA drivers that will eventually become what is known as Rel7 and while we will not be releasing these drivers I have decided to take some screenshots of how things are different since the Rel6 and Rel65 releases. Read more here.. Source: OSNN.net Download Here

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 12:43PM GMT +10 by BenSW

Half Life 2 interview with Gabe Newell.

PC Games (German magazine) Half-Life 2 review came along with an interview with Valve´s Gabe Newell. Here is a link to the english translation of the interview. http://www.gengamers.com/html/oct252004-5.html

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 12:30PM GMT +10 by BenSW

Far Cry 1.3 Patch

Crytek have released the 1.3 patch for FarCry: Fixed a crash with the ForkLift when loading some levels. Fixed a bug that prevented levels from loading after saving in a previous level. Returned surround 5.1 sound option to the menu. Fixed a mounted weapon traverse problem. Fixed problems related to shaders1.pak and scripts1.pak not being removed on installation of the patch. Fixed a delay relating to tagging enemies in binocular mode. Normal Map Compression. SM 3.0 and SM 2.0x are now enabled by default when graphics settings are set to ‘Very High’. Improved tangent-space calculation to improve bumpmap quality. Improved syncronization in multiplayer. Fixed bug in leaning with different player classes. Fixed an invisible wall exploit in mp_freighter.

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 09:15AM GMT +10 by erock

Latest Hardware Reviews

Epox 9NDA3+ nForce3 Motherboard Review at Anandtech Albatron's PX915P-AGPe Motherboard Review at Tech Report Tyan Transport GX28 B2881 Dual Opteron 1U Barebones Server Review at AMDZone Kingston DDR2 Modules Analysed at Digit-life Mushkin Hi Perf LII V2 1GB PC3200 Review at Systemcooling Mushkin PC3200 L2V2 Dual Channel Kit Review at Bytesector Albatron Trinity PCX5750 Graphics Card Review at Viperlair ATI Radeon X700 XT / PRO Review at Beyond3D ASUS Radeon X600 XT Extreme Review at VR-Zone NVIDIA GeForce 6200 Soft Mod to 6600

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 01:41AM GMT +10 by erock

HL2 wallpapers!

KingRolo created these sweet wallpapers! Check them out! here Thanks Neo for the heads up

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 01:15AM GMT +10 by erock

HL2 Possibly Banned In Australia?

The Pan European Games Information (PEGI) age rating system has given Half Life 2 an R(18+) rating.This means that minors are unable to purchase the game in numerous countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. What's really interesting about this is how the game fairs in Australia. The Australian Office of Film & Literature Classification (OFLC) has yet to classify Half Life 2, but if the board follows suit from their European counterparts, it'll mean that one of this years highly anticipated titles is banned outright from sales here. Currently, Australia has no R rating for games, so game titles need to meet the highest rating (MA 15+) or they will be refused classification. Chat about this

Posted: October. 26, 2004 @ 01:12AM GMT +10 by erock

Abit launches the new NF8 Motherboard.

Introducing the follow up to the nForce juggernaut – the NF8 motherboard, powered by the NVIDIA nForce 3 250Gb chipset for support for the latest AMD Athlon 64 and Sempron CPUs, the NF8 combines the power of nForce3 with ABIT Engineering for unparalleled overclocking performance. For more details and full specs, see the link below. http://www2.abit.com.tw/page/en/news/newspop.php?pDOCNO=en_0410154

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 08:28PM GMT +10 by BenSW

Athlon FX-55/A64 4000+ reviews

AMD's brand new FX-55 and 4000+ cpu's have hit the shelves, and the FX-55's are going for $870 @ Newegg and the A64 4000+ (939 pin) goes for $715 @ Newegg These cpu's are proving to be serious competition for Intel, read the full review of these new processors here

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 05:50PM GMT +10 by BenSW

AMD’s 90nm Chips Dissipate 67W, Claims A

In contrast to Intel Corp.’s 90nm desktop chips, AMD’s microprocessors made using 90nm process technology consume less power than their 130nm counterparts, according to recently revealed data from Advanced Micro Devices. While the current products use less energy compared to today’s flagship chips, future central processing units are expected to be in the same power envelope as today’s top 130nm parts. Source: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/.html

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 05:47PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Corsair Twin2X XMS2 Pro Series 675MHz DD

XMS2 Pro is Corsairs flagship series, offering intelligent design, performance, speed and stability. Utilizing the next generation DDR2 standards, Corsair has introduced the 240-pin XMS2 DDR2 Pro Series modules for the next generation of standards now being deployed on modern hardware. Source: http://www.nvplanet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3352

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 05:46PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Elder Scrolls IV Preview

Check out the The Elder Scrolls IV Preview on Gamespy: It boasts a groundbreaking AI system along with cutting-edge graphics

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 05:22PM GMT +10 by erock

AusFX Main Backup

Well the AusFX.com main page is finally back up after moving hosts. Enjoy the upcoming news storys. Theres always plenty going on in the forums check them out here

Posted: October. 25, 2004 @ 05:14PM GMT +10 by erock

3DMark05?

Click here to read this interesting interview: When we started designing 3DMark05, we wanted to take a big step forward in using shaders, and decided only to use SM2.0 or better. By making that decision, we have been able to produce some amazing looking stuff which is not even possible with SM1.x, not to mention using fixed function! I am not sure when we will see the first games which will require SM2.0 (or better), but I personally hope to see that happening already by the end of next year! There are some really amazing things you can do using the new shaders, and if the developers would be able put more resources on creating incredible stuff for SM2.0+, instead of fallbacks to SM1.x or fixed functions, we would have even more stunning stuff in real-time.

Posted: September. 03, 2004 @ 10:16PM GMT +10 by erock

News not on the main page?

If you've missed the last few days of news and want to catch up. Please check out the archive section and handy search system.

Posted: September. 03, 2004 @ 10:15PM GMT +10 by erock

Please Donate

AusFX is supported by its users. We would like to encourage you to donate via Paypals secure system. Even if its only $5 or so. Click the Make a donation paypal link below. Thanks AusFX.com team

Posted: September. 03, 2004 @ 10:13PM GMT +10 by erock

NV40 & NV43

As seen on nVnews x-bit labs have a review a Leadtek A400 Ultra TDH. This card has a huge copper block with a low RPM fan slapped unto the GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU and memory. While not asthetically pleasing, the Leadtek solution enables it to be a silent cooling solution over reference NVIDIA cooling design. x-bit labs have utilized a wide range of games and synthetics to measure the cards performance against the likes of an ATI x800 XT PE or, even the GeForce 6800 Ultra's bretherens, like the GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800.

Posted: September. 03, 2004 @ 10:10PM GMT +10 by erock

Join the forums

If you've been around AusFX lately you would of noticed that the forums are booming.. Why don't you be apart of a growing community? Join the forums

Posted: September. 03, 2004 @ 10:08PM GMT +10 by erock

Doom 3 vs. Half Life 2....

Doom 3 vs. Half Life 2: Regardless of Which is Better, We All Lose Joel Hruska from sudhian.com wrote an article about gaming today, and expresses his concerns about the possible future of gaming. While most of you guys will say "Joel who?", his views are interesting and the article is well worth a read: sudhian.com Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 02:08AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Jarad's Guide to Overclocking at El

Forum member uberl33tjarad (aka Jarad) has created a rather nifty beginners guide to overclocking, and has very kindly allowed us to host it here at Elite Bastards. The guide is packed full of useful hints and tips, so is well worth a read for anyone wanting to take a plunge into the world of overclocking. You can check out the guide here: www.elitebastards.com Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 02:04AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

NVIDIA ForceWare /XP

Follow this link for the NVIDIA ForceWare /XP Download!. There is a new NVIDIA ForceWare driver available for Windows 2000 and XP. This driver is not WHQL certified, and are considerd beta! Release date: 08/12/2004 Note: Install the drivers via device manager! No setup executable! Use it at your own risk! Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 02:02AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GPU Preview

NVIDIA and ATI, long time rivals to each other in the graphics card market, are in a constant struggle to be at the top. ATI managed to hold the winning crown for more than a year with their GPUs while NVIDIA always lacked one step behind them, however, it seems as if the positions have changed with the introduction of ATI's X800 series and NVIDIA's 6800 series of cards. As of right now, NVIDIA seems to be in a better position than ATI considering how the launch of Doom III is better supported on NVIDIA hardware than ATI hardware. To complicate matters, game developers such as id and Valve are now favoring one or the other GPU maker by introducing two of the most popular and long-awaited titles of 2004 (Doom III and Half-Life 2) for a specific GPU - so to speak. id's Doom III works better on NVIDIA hardware while ATI takes the lead in Valve's upcoming Half-Life 2, according to the preliminary (Half-Life 2) benchmarks. As if it is not difficult enough to keep track of all variants of a specific GPU family (X800 and 6800 series), the user will now have to keep track of the games that he wants to play and purchase the video card accordingly. CoolTechZone.com Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 02:00AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

GeIL Ultra-X Series PC

3dvelocity.com got a review up fo some very fast and very affordable new memoryfrom GeIL, namely the GeIL Ultra-X Series PC. It is almost as fast as the Corsair XL Pro at about half the price, not to mention that it overclocks well. Check it out over at 3DV. review Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 01:58AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

ATI Catalyst 4.8 and 4.9 BETA Doom 3 Ana

Last week ATI caused a stir in the enthusiast community by releasing a "Doom 3 Hotfix" driver labeled 4.9 BETA for users of Radeon graphics cards which promised increasedL performance for the new game. They also released their official Catalyst 4.8 drivers which promise even more performance increases. TweakTown benchmarks all the new drivers, see all the results for yourself. Read More Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 01:56AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

The Complete BIOS Optimization Guide Rev

Adrian has updated his premier BIOS optimization guide to 8.0 Final! This will bring the FREE BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.0 up to the same number of BIOS features covered in the soon-to-be-released BIOS Optimization Guide book. With the completion of the BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.0, we will being posting the translated versions of the guide. The BIOS Optimization Guide book will also be released soon. So, yeah, plenty of exciting developments on the horizon! This final release features 25 new or updated BIOS options. Here is the list :- # Clock Throttle # CPU Latency Timer # CPU Thermal Throttling # CPU/DRAM CLK Synch CTL # DOS Flat Mode # DRAM Page-Mode # Fast Write-to-Read Turnaround # Frame Buffer Size # Graphic Window WR Combin # Graphics Aperture Size # LD-Off Dram RD/WR Cycles # MP Capable Bit Identify # Multi-Sector Transfers # OnChip VGA Mode Select # SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay # SDRAM Command Leadoff Time # SDRAM Leadoff Command # SDRAM Page Closing Policy # SDRAM Page Hit Limit # SDRAM PH Limit # SDRAM Precharge Control # SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay # Share Memory Size # USB Keyboard Support # Watchdog Timer Finally, a reminder that the BIOS Optimization Guide is protected by an anti-leeching mechanism so please check your firewall settings. If you are using Norton Firewall, please turn off Browser Privacy. If you are using ZoneAlarm, please turn off Cookie Control and Ad Blocking. Otherwise, the page will keep reloading itself. The Complete BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 8.0 Final Posted

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 01:53AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Hardware: Chilled Inno3D GeForce 6800 Co

Well there haven't been any updates for a long time.. but here we go. Inno3D and Cooler Master has signed as agreement to allow solitary rights for Inno3D high end graphics cards to include the advance thermal system supplied by Cooler Master. The Inno3D 6800 CoolViva Premium Edition is born and can now reach up to 350-core speed and 800MHZ memory clock. Source: Warp2search

Posted: August. 24, 2004 @ 01:49AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Windows XP SP2 - Download

Microsoft released it's Windows XP Service Pack 2 finally. The thing is, right now you have to get it on CD or simply hit the Automatic/Windows update. A few sites have mirrored the file and it's 266 MB ! REDMOND, Wash. - Aug. 6, 2004 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing of Windows® XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies. This free service pack delivers the latest security updates and innovations from Microsoft, establishes strong default security settings, and adds new proactive protection features that will help better safeguard computers from hackers, viruses and other security risks. "Service Pack 2 is a significant step in delivering on our goal to help customers make their PCs better isolated and more resilient in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks," said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft. "It is the result of sustained investments in innovation and extensive industry collaboration. It also reflects a broad recognition that as the security environment changes, the industry needs to work together to respond." Service Pack 2 Provides Proactive Protection for Windows XP Customers Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies was designed by Microsoft explicitly to provide proactive protection for Windows XP. The updates and enhancements in Service Pack 2 focus on three main areas: * Stronger security settings. Service Pack 2 establishes stronger default security settings and includes updates with new features and tools designed to help customers better defend their systems and information from hackers, viruses and other security threats. This means safer browsing and communications for consumers plus an improved security infrastructure for businesses. * Increased manageability and control. Service Pack 2 makes it easier to configure and manage security resources with new functionality, more accessible and intuitive security tools, and the new Windows Security Center. * Improved and more-secure experiences. Service Pack 2 includes updates for key drivers, updated support for new technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® - especially around security - and security updates for other key features, all of which provide a safer end-user experience and thus enable more productive and enjoyable computing. Downloads: The MD5 you should get for the exe is : 59a98f181fe383907e520a391d75b5a7

Posted: August. 11, 2004 @ 07:58PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Enabling 16 Pipelines On GeForce 6800

Alexey Nikolaychuk, the author of RivaTuner, has found the mechanism, which NVIDIA cards use to set 12 or 16 pipelines on GeForce 6800 and 6800GT/Ultra, respectively. Of course, if a card has 4 offline pipelines defective, it will produce artefacts and we can't guarantee that any GeForce 6800 can be remade into a 6800GT. Read more Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 08, 2004 @ 12:53AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Thermaltake Fanless 103 Review

Teschke.de has reviewed a sample of the Thermaltake Fanless 103 cooler. Here´s a blurb: The computer runs without any problem. The air design case offers all the passiv cooled components a good natural convection. But without a the case it wasn´t possible , because during Performance Benchmarks the CPU and the graphic card showed here and there a few instabillitys. The Noiseblocker S2 Fan caused in Idleuse between 11 and 19 dB, because of the very efficient MSI CorelCell Technology and you could call this system “silent”. Read the whole review over here Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 08, 2004 @ 12:52AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Dell Dimension XPS - Gaming PC

Dell has launched it first PCI Express system and TrustedReviews has got hold of one of the first review units. With a 3.6GHz P4, a Radeon X800XT and no less than 800GB of storage space this is one mutta of a PC. Check it out!

Posted: August. 08, 2004 @ 12:49AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Doom 3 Exploit

This was spotted over at Guru 3D's Forum posted by Tidus. I run #doom3 on the IRC network Gamesurge and something occured yesterday that I thought I'd alert you all of so it doesn't happen to you. A user, posted a link that showed how to play co-op mode. I didn't think anything of it. I went afk for a while to do some work and I came back to a channel going nuts. Apparently this link led to website that claimed you needed to have a special .pak in order to play co-op. People downloaded it and joined this server this kid pasted. Upon joining, their game crashed and when they tried to log back in they got "CD key in use". Source:Warp2search

Posted: August. 08, 2004 @ 12:47AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Official Unattended XP CD Guide XP SP2 @

Have you ever wanted a Windows XP CD that would install Windows XP by automatically putting in your name, product key, timezone and regional settings? Followed by silently installing all your favourite applications along with DirectX 9, .Net Framework and then all the Pre-SP2 hotfixes, updated drivers, registry tweaks, and a readily patched UXTheme.dll without any user interaction whatsoever? Then this guide will show you how you can do just that! http://unattended.msfn.org/

Posted: August. 08, 2004 @ 12:44AM GMT +10 by S.T.x

nVidia 0wnz DOOM 3 Benchmarks!

As ST posted earlier: The bro's from HardOCP posted a bunch of benchmarks done with the final version of DOOM 3. One thing is a sure fact, NVIDIA's GeForce 6800 series has a serious advantage over the x800 series from ATi. Even the 300 USD GeForce 6800 GT seems to be a quite a bit faster than a 500 USD x800 XT. Then again, when you place a GeForce 5950 Ultra against a Radeon 9800 XT, the XT wins. Interesting read for sure: As John Carmack said of DOOM 3 in our introduction, "all of the modern cards play the game very well." The NVIDIA 6800Ultra and 6800GT video cards along with the Radeon X800XT-PE are going to be stellar DOOM 3 performers probably giving the gamer better Image Quality and framerate performance than we ever thought would be possible at the launch of DOOM 3. These three GPUs are simply going to deliver a level of visual gameplay immersion in DOOM 3 that will likely blow away even the most hardened game player or hardware enthusiast. That said, it looks as if ATI's decision to scale their current line of flagship video cards by crippling the Radeon X800Pro's graphics pipelines to 12 pipes, instead of the 16 pipes of the Radeon X800XT-PE might have been a bad move, at least in terms of satisfying DOOM 3 players. NVIDIA on the other hand chose to scale from their Ultra to GT models by only decreasing the clock speed of the GPUs. The NVIDIA 6800GT certainly stood out among the crowd as its DOOM 3 framerates continually outpaced the Radeon X800XT-PE that currently has a list price that is $100 more than the GeForce 6800GT. NVIDIA has told us more than once that the 6800 series was "designed to play DOOM 3," and the truth of that statement is now glaringly obvious. The older GeForceFX 5950 and Radeon 9800XT cards have also shown that they are going to deliver great performance in DOOM 3. Having a last-generation video card and playing DOOM 3 is simply going to provide a great gaming experience with all features turned on that make DOOM 3 what it is. So hardly think that you are going to be left behind. In fact if you are playing on a bit older hardware, you might be the envy of your block as you are probably coming away with more money left over to spend on games than your neighbor. What good is a $500 video card if you don't have money left over to purchase DOOM 3? For those of you that think you are not going to have the hardware that you need to play DOOM 3, the fact of the matter is that many of you will be just fine, although an upgrade may still be in your future. As of this afternoon we were playing DOOM 3 on a 1.5GHz Pentium 4 box with a GeForce 4 MX440 video card and having a surprisingly good gaming experience. Even a subtle jump to an AMD 2500+ with a GeForce 3 video card that is two years old will deliver a solid gaming experience that will let you enjoy the game the way id Software designed it to be. That fact alone should let many of you know that you will not be left behind in experiencing DOOM 3. On a similar note, while Activision revealed recently that Doom 3 would begin shipping to retailers around the world from 2 August, they failed to confirm an actual on-sale date for the game. But, via a carefully worded statement, they have today revealed that the official UK release date for the PC version of the gruesome first-person shooter is set to be ... Friday the 13th of August. I just love it how they picked that date for this particular game ..Well i wonder when its going to be released in Australia! Source:hardocp

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 05:00PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

16 Days to Half Life 2 Completion ?

An HL2World forum member(JB55) took the took the time to email Gabe about HL2’s Release date. Here is the info he got back: jb55The super-intelligent over at hl2central are saying hl2 is being delayed once again. Please give me a quote of some kind so I can prove them wrong and get the news corrected. Just give me a simple yes or no, is it delayed again? Thank you for your time. Gabe Right now we are looking at our bug numbers. Each day you fix some bugs and you find some new bugs. The net number tells you how quickly you will get to zero. At our current rate of find/fix bugs, we'll be down to zero bugs in 16 days. I'm betting it'll be the end of Aug. before a gold copy is even out. Source:halflife world

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:51PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Call of Duty 2 and True Crime 2 confirme

It was rumored already last week, Activison, CEO Ron Doornink revealed a massive slate of titles for the following 12 months adn indeed we can expect COD II, yippeeeh!: For fiscal year 2006 (April 2005 to March 2006), Doornink said Activision will release "sequels to True Crime, Call of Duty, Spider-Man, Tony Hawk, Shrek, and Quake." Doornink did not mention what platforms these sequels would appear on, sparking speculation that the titles could be released on next-generation consoles. However, Doornik only obliquely mentioned that Activision will be "committed at launch to next-generation consoles." In addition to its formidable assortment of sequels, Activision will have several new titles in its fiscal-year-2006 arsenal. Games based on the comic-book-inspired Fantastic Four and Iron Man films are planned, as is a tie-in with DreamWorks' computer-animated film Madagascar. All three films are scheduled for release in 2005. Source:Gamespot

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:49PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Hot Web Downloads!

Guru3d has posted a list of the latest web downloads !!! [Here]

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:47PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Autumn's the time for 512MB grap

ATI and Nvidia will deliver whatever it thinks the market demands and now it thinks that's cards with more memory. It's called marketing, designed to encourage consumers to buy more, more and yet more, and takes advantage of human nature. nature. We just can't help ourselves. An Nvidia and ATI Autumn refresh will bring you 512MB of memory and we remember that ATI actually said something about delivering 512MB cards by the end of this year. More graphics memory means larger textures but then again our beloved game developers cannot resist the pressure of the source of their money, the publishers and have to optimise for more standard cards with a smaller amount of frame buffer memory. It’s sad that even years after people learned that the graphic chip is the heart of the graphic card responsible for performance, people still measure cards by the quantity of memory. The majority of people seem to want a slower card with 256MB than a faster card with 128MB. So, after years with 256MB cards it's time for 512MB and ultimately to 1024MB in about a year, I expect. The Nvidia NV48 and the ATI R480 are very likely candidates for 512MB but it all depends on availability at the time of launch. Source: The Inquirer

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:36PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Drivers: ForceWare 62.20

Neowin send news that they've snagged a new set of Forceware Drivers in the shape of 62.20 for Windows 2000/XP! All Cards Supported: Nvidia released their highly anticipated WHQL drivers(61.76) on Tuesday. We're expecting a 62.xx or 63.xx driver in WHQL form to be released in early September ready for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Since the WHQL drivers released on Tuesday simply aren't unstable enough and fun to play with we've decided to share some more with the world. Files are dated 07/15/2004 and will work with all ranges of Nvidia cards. Remember these drivers aren't WHQL and are beta. Have fun and play safe ForceWare 62.20

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:29PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

Nvidia Custom Resolutions

Just spotted this bit of Info posted over at Nvnews.net!: I've created a sticky thread on creating custom resolutions using NVIDIA's ForceWare drivers. Not only can you increase your desktop real estate, but you will find that some games will allow the custom resolutions to be offered as a selection.

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:24PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

id Software talks DOOM 3 and Beyond

GameSpy have thrown up their chat with id Software's Tim Willits, Todd Hollenshead and Marty Stratton as they talk about their highly anticipated return to Mars and what's next on the horizon: GameSpy: When did you actually wrap up development? Tim Willits: We code released about 45 minutes before Todd (Hollenshead) told the rest of the world. GameSpy: How many CDs is the game shipping on? Todd Hollenshead: Three. GameSpy: Can you give us any idea how much hard drive space everyone will need? Todd Hollenshead: About 2 GB. Also, tell people to defrag their hard drive before they install! Read More

Posted: July. 23, 2004 @ 04:19PM GMT +10 by S.T.x

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