Voodoo pushes PC boat out, again

ONCE AGAIN, VOODOOPC has pushe the bounds a little further. This time, it has come out with the Voodoo RAGE f:5, a new water cooled high end gaming machine. The raw specs are an Athlon64 FX-55, Asus SLI Nforce4 motherboard and dual NVidia graphics cards. Add in a complete water cooling system for the CPU, both GPUs and the chipset, and it starts to get interesting. It didn't skimp at all on the case, it has all the bells and whistles, side window, chromed interior, lighted die cut aluminum frillwork, and it even has tubes filled with green goopy stuff. Does your PC have green goopy stuff filled tubes? If not, go buy an f:5 now. Read more [TheInquirer]

Posted: December. 15, 2004 @ 06:10AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Tuesday Evening Reviews

Video Cards XFX GeForce 6600GT AGP review by AmdReview VisionTek Radeon X800 XT review by Bjorn3D Leadtek GeForce 6800 Ultra review by nVNews Abit Radeon X300SE PCIe review by OcPrices Inno3D GeForce 6600 GT PCIe review by Guru3D

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 07:39PM GMT +10 by erock

nForce5 SoundStorm Info

The Inquirer reports that we might not get Soundstorm 2 as quick as hoped... Nforce 5 and MCP04 chipset will end up with HD audio, Azalia audio, nothing more. Sound wise Nvidia won't offer anything better than Intel, ATI and ULI some of the Azalia supporters. Azalia is good but it's still not enough to cope with Sound Storm. Soundstorm 2 will come back but not before roughly the "fall" of 2005. Until that time all future Nforce 4 and Nforce 5 chips will end up with Azalia HD audio. An Intel Azalia audio in Nforce 4 Athlon chipset. Isn't that at least intriguing.

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 07:30PM GMT +10 by erock

GeForce 6200TC 3DMark05 Scores

The GeForce 6200TC will be able to score 2300 in 3Dmark05 - just a little slower score than the X300 card which should perform at 2500+ 3DMark05. These cards will come in January and will definitely make ATI run for its money. ATI actually has an answer and it's called Hypermemory. It will be a very similar marchitecture and ATI will also have 32MB cards that will act as they have up to 256 MBs. Source: The Inquirer

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 07:26PM GMT +10 by erock

USB to VGA Adapter

Overclockers Australia review a great gadget that lets you connect an additional monitor to your PC, using only a USB port.

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 07:19PM GMT +10 by erock

ATI Catalyst 4.12 WHQL Official

Well here it is, to wrap up our CATALYST updates of the year we present the final update in the 4.xx series of CATALYST software. Next month we will kick off the 5.xx series (since our numbering scheme is based on calendar notation) with CATALYST 5.1. Click here for a list of fixes/new features in this driver. Click here to download the new driver.

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 09:43AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Retail X700 Pro roundup

t has been months down the road since the Radeon X700 launch, and still no X700 XT. At this point, it is very likely that the new mid-range X800 part will push the non-existent X700 XT off the map altogether, but we have other ideas about what ATI needs to do with it. If performance is lower than the newly announced X800 line, ATI have an opportunity to offer a greater variety of price points. What is shipping in volume now is the little brother of the X700 XT, the X700 Pro. The ATI Radeon X700 Pro, clocked at 425 MHz at the core and running 2ns GDDR3 at 432 MHz (864 effective data rate), is ATI's current $200 PCI Express graphics part. While ATI currently lacks an equivalent mid-range AGP part, we are hearing that they are working on a bridge chip that should be ready sometime next month. It is unclear what parts will make it onto the AGP platform. Read more [AnandTech]

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 09:35AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Club3D XGI Volari V3XT released

Club-3D is very proud to announce the first wave of new Volari products. The introduction of the V3XT, V5 and V8 creates a full line of products coming from XGI. XGI made some major improvements in the last year which is shown in the HOT new Volari V3XT processor based on XG42 architecture. We managed to keep the price of the V3XT extremely low to make it affordable for everyone interested in advanced desktop. The V3XT is introducing YPrPb signaling in entry level products by use of the XV301 Video Processor. The Club-3D Volari™ V3XT is a Low Profile Noiseless Powerhouse offering you a superior High Quality office desktop or HTPC. With up to 128MB of video memory and the Cipher Video Processor it will set new standards for video playback on PC systems. The Club-3D Volari™ V3XT is; DirectX 9 compliant for running modern applications, using dual RAMDAC technology for powerful dual monitor operation, displaying up to 1080i and 720p in HDTV format. Read more [Warp2Search]

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 09:32AM GMT +10 by BenSW

AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 MB Roundup

While the s754 platform might seem to lose its appeal with cheap s939 based A64 processors around the corner, the s754 platform is still good for a budget friendly overclocking thrill with just a minor performance loss compared to the newer s939 platform. The recent release of the some excellent OC boards have spiced up the s754 world, making the choice between going for s754 board now or to waiting for a good s939 setup even harder. AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 Motherboard Roundup

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 09:31AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Breaking NVIDIA's SLI Mould

You will have probably read about NVIDIA's new dual graphics implementation by the name of SLI . It makes use of the bandwidth provided by PCI-Express and requires that the paired up cards have an "Inter-GPU" link across the top of the cards to coordinate their frame processing efforts. In developing SLI, NVIDIA worked with the "big 3" motherboard manufacturers: MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte. However, it would seem some of the other motherboard manufacturers have their own ideas about how to implement NVIDIA's dual graphics technology, as HEXUS.net found out at the recently held NVIDIA Editors' day. Read more

Posted: December. 14, 2004 @ 09:29AM GMT +10 by BenSW

nForce5 almost ready to go!

The Inquirer reports that NVIDIA HAS made a big noise about its Nforce 5 chipset which suggests it is almost ready to roll. We guess Intel doesn’t want to take chances with imaginary chipset launches. The Nforce 5 or C19 SLI north bridge plus MCP0 south bridge are already sampled and they are in A01 phase. Nvidia plans to have A02 silicon ready in week 53. It's still in Q4 but it’s the last possible week available in 2004. It starts on December 27th and it ends on the 2nd of January meaning Nforce 5 will certainly be a 2005 thing. Documents we have seen indicate that we will see HD Audio but we're unsure whether it's Intel's Azalia or Nvidia's own Sound Storm 2. It's an SLI capable chipset but you don't have to use SLI capability if you don’t want to. Features such as DDR 2 support and RAID 5 are also confirmed. We are also told that this won't be Nvidia's only Intel chipset. We smell the odour of IGP.

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:24PM GMT +10 by erock

NVIDIA Expands Fab Partner List

NVIDIA Corp., a leading supplier of graphics processors and core-logic sets, is expanding its list of manufacturing partners among semiconductor makers rapidly, say the company’s detailed reports as well as reports from Nomura Securities, a Taipei, Taiwan-based equity research firm. Santa Clara, California-based NVIDIA Corp. historically made all of its graphics and multimedia processors at TSMC in Taiwan; however, in early 2003 the company inked a manufacturing deal with IBM to make some of its chips and then acquired MediaQ, a mobile logic company, which stipulated NVIDIA to make its products for handhelds at UMC, another Taiwan-based contract semiconductor maker. Nevertheless, the list of NVIDIA’s manufacturing partners is being rejigged even now, as the company and industry analysts report about certain potentially new projects of the firm. Read more @ X-Bit Labs

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:23PM GMT +10 by erock

Samsung eases SDRAM price

Digi-Times reports that Samsung has stopped cutting the prices of its SDRAM chips, which is good news for Taiwan-based Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology (ESMT) and Etron Technology, according to sources. According to the sources, Samsung recently raised prices for its 16- and 64Mbit SDRAM, the first time it has eased the aggressive pricing strategies it initiated in the second quarter of this year. The move is good news for ESMT and Etron; the revenues of both companies have been suffering since June. Read more

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:20PM GMT +10 by erock

Industry Update

t-break has some fresh info from Taiwan on a few upcoming technologies like nVidia's C19 chipset for the Pentium 4, and the 6200 with 'turbo cache' graphics core.

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:19PM GMT +10 by erock

ATI Rebuts Nvidia With Counter-Claims

Taking umbrage to Nvidia's recent campaign through direct mailers to channel partners and media, graphics manufacturer ATI has hit back saying it can point out hundred flaws in Nvidia chipsets. The Nvidia mailers, quoting a US-based review site, pointed out that ATI had problems with USB on its newest Radeon Xpress 200 chipsets. The USB controller in the Radeon Xpress 200 south bridge is about half the speed of Intel and VIA solutions, and it uses twice as much CPU time. Responding strongly, Suki Matharu, country manager, ATI India, said, "We can point out 100 flaws with Nvidia drivers and its cards. On the contrary, our products are far better." According to ATI, it enjoys a worldwide market share of 51 percent as compared to Nvidia's share of less than 45 percent. Read the entire story at ChannelTimes

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:15PM GMT +10 by erock

Digital camera buyers guide

FiringSquad have a great buyers guide for those on the hunt for the perfect digital camera. Check it out

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:08PM GMT +10 by erock

Dates for Dual Desktop Intel P4s

THE LATEST INTEL ROADMAPS seen by the INQUIRER indicate that the launch of its dual core desktop processors - the X20, the X30 and the X40 - will be launched in the third quarter of 2005, suggesting they won't proliferate in PCs until the fourth quarter. These chips will two Pentium 4 dies in one package, each with 1MB of L2 cache, and supporting Intel's EM64T 64-32 extensions. At the same time, it appears that Intel's 3.73MHz Pentium 4 is being pushed back to a February launch, will have 2MB of L2 rather than L3 cache, and will coincide with the introduction of the 6XX Pentium 4 series. These chips are numbered 630 (3GHz), 640 (3.20GHz), 650 (3.40GHz) and 660 (3.60GHz) but the 670 (3.80GHz) won't be introduced until the second quarter of next year. Read the entire article @ The Inquirer

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 11:03PM GMT +10 by erock

Fraps 2.5.0 Released

A new version of the very popular Fraps program has been released, version 2.5.0. Updates Added 40 fps, 50 fps, and 60 fps video capture options Added HDTV 1280x720 widescreen resolution support Additional lossless compression generates smaller video files Improved capture performance on native PCI-Express systems Improved load balancing on Hyperthreading and dual core CPUs Increased maximum full size video capture resolution to 1152x864 Added white overlay flash when screen capture performed Added option to automatically repeat screen capture every x seconds Added View Benchmarks, View Movies, and View Screenshots options to systray Detailed benchmark statistics can now be individually selected Download

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 10:59PM GMT +10 by erock

WinXP Performance Tweaking Guide

This guide has seen MANY revisions since it's original posting more than 3 years ago. Even after all this time I continue to add to this guide and revise it as needed. Please read this title very carefully because this guide is ONLY intended for Performance related tweaks. There's millions of other "tweaks" that other guides use but have nothing to do with performance. In this guide I'm ONLY including what actually has some kind of affect on performance. I am trying to keep this guide dedicated to tweaks that directly affect your performance. Full Article

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 10:57PM GMT +10 by erock

NFS Underground 2 Review

ByteSector reviews Underground 2: Building on the tremendous success of the original Need for Speed Underground, EA decided to walk the path of the sequel, and started work on the newest incarnation to their film-inspired arcade street racer. While NFSU2 is a great game for anyone with an itch to own the streets and pimp their rides in the process, it’s not without its share of problems that leave you scratching your head and wondering what could have been. Read Here

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 10:55PM GMT +10 by erock

Forceware 71.20 Performance Comparsion

TC Magazine have done some quick benchmarks with both Forceware drivers, version 66.93 and version 71.20. Forceware 66.93 is official and Forceware 71.20 has leaked to the internet today. Check out the article

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 10:49PM GMT +10 by erock

ForceWare 71.20

A new set of Forceware Drivers has been released in the shape of 71.20 for Windows 2000/XP! All Cards Supported including mobile based. Download

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 10:45PM GMT +10 by erock

AMD Tips Next-Generation Microprocessors

Advanced Micro Devices this week revealed some details about its future processors during its presentation at the Lehman Brothers T4 Conference. The company sees the future of central processing units in increasing count of processing engines, more advanced memory controllers and higher-bandwidth I/O busses. The Road Ahead The milestones of the road ahead are dual-core, quad-core and eight-core processors to allow highly-parallel tremendously efficient architecture; DDR2, DDR3 memory types as well as FB DIMMs to constantly drive unbelievable transfer rates of system memory to match the increased core-clocks and number of cores; HyperTransport 3 as well as PCI Express 2 interconnection busses; split power planes that allow CPU to reduce voltage when only memory controller operates, which decreases overall power consumption of chips; as well as Presidio and Pacifica technologies – advanced security and virtualization capabilities. Fred Weber, Chief Technology Officer at AMD, did not elaborate on timeframes for all the innovations his company is going to bring, but given that presentation did not elaborate on very long-term future, it is possible to expect all of the capabilities to be implemented within the next 3 – 4 years into AMD64 and AMD code-named K9 and K10 processors. Read more [XbitLabs]

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 06:54AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Microsoft MOOL Revealed

Something new is coming from Microsoft! Microsoft MOOL! In other words, Microsoft Office Outlook Live. A new add-on for Outlook 2003 or XP. Continue reading for more information. According to a flash presentation, Microsoft would start giving a service out called, Microsoft Outlook Service. The Outlook Service allows you to manage your MSN Hotmail account, MSN account or your MSN Personal account all under one program, Microsoft Outlook 2003 or XP. This will enable notes, calendar dates, contacts and tasks to be transferred to your Microsoft Outlook program. The full story and screenshot at TC Mag

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 06:16AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Forceware 66.93 VS Forceware 66.97

TC Mag have done some quick benchmarks with both Forceware drivers, version 66.93 and version 66.97. Forceware 66.93 is official and Forceware 66.97 has leaked to the internet today, as posted here. Both WHQL certified!

Posted: December. 13, 2004 @ 06:14AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Wintasks Pro 5

3DVelocity have been dabbling with Wintasks 5 Pro from LIUtilities, or Uniblue as they now call themselves. Wintasks Pro is a comprehensive program to track and trace and manipulate Windows processes and services. It’s a tool that allows more control over the processes running in Windows. With it you can monitor, disable, limit and remove harmful processes and much more. Based on years of research, it acts as a supplement to your anti-virus and firewall solution and with a little practise you can use it to increase your security and the performance of your system. " Read more here

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 08:10AM GMT +10 by BenSW

DirectX 9.0 SDK

The December 2004 Update of the Microsoft DirectX SDK is finally here. What’s New in this Release: New Samples Updated PRTDemo (formally known as PRTPerVertex) to support LDPRT and Transfer visualization LocalDeformablePRT Install on Demand for Games Gaming with Limited-User Accounts Tool Updates PIX A collection of countersets is provided as a starting point for you to record useful runtime data from your application. A new Key Combination trigger is provided. Options are available to display PIX information on top of your running application. You can set a call capture action on a single frame. Full stream capture performance is improved. You can launch experiment and log files, orimage files, simply by dragging them onto a PIX window.... View full list of new features here

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 08:09AM GMT +10 by BenSW

1 Terabyte email accounts..

Hriders.com gives unlimited free 1 Terabyte email accounts that include 500 Megabyte attachments. We have been asked why we would do such a thing. The answer is simple to help people store large amounts of information in a safe and secure environment. We live in a world where natural and un-natural events take place, that can destroy homes or offices, when that happens many people loose all of their family pictures, their furnishings, office equipment and more. We decided that Hriders.com should do something more than just provide a place to receive large quantities of emails. What we have done is provide our members with a place to store their family pictures or home videos as well as store pictures of their home or office furnishings, in case something might be lost to an unexpected event. Read more

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 08:07AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Sunday Morning Game Reviews

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within on ActionTrip Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell on 2404 Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell on GameZone Call of Duty: United Offensive on Fragland The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Developer's Cut on GameSpot World of Warcraft on IGN Sonic Heroes on IGN

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 07:51AM GMT +10 by erock

AMD Athlon 64 - Which One?

Five AMD Athlon 64 Models – Which One to Choose? Digit-Life has an article up that covers five AMD Athlon 64 Models, which one should you choose? Almost half of the year has passed since the announcement of the AMD platform with evolutionary Socket 939. New models for this platform have been recently announced – Athlon 64 4000+ and Athlon 64 FX-55. They differ from their predecessors primarily by the increased frequency. Effect of this parameter on the overall performance is obvious. Read Article

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 07:48AM GMT +10 by erock

Sunday Morning Video Card Reviews

VisionTek Radeon X800 XT preview by Bjorn3D nVidia GeForce 6600 GT preview by FiringSquad Inno3D GeForce 6600 GT PCIe review by Guru3D Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro review by Overclockers.co.nz Asus Radeon X600 XT review by XBitLabs XFX 6600GT 128Mb AGP 8x Video Card on AMD Review eVGA e-GeForce 6600 GT 128 MB DDR3 PCI-E on 3dGameMan

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 07:43AM GMT +10 by erock

Matrox announces new Parhelia

Matrox Graphics Inc., the leading manufacturer of professional graphics solutions, is pleased to announce the Parhelia™ APVe, a PCI Express (PCIe) graphics card designed specifically for creative professionals. Featuring the industry's first Dual-display plus HDTV output from a single graphics card, the Parhelia APVe lets users extend and place timelines, tracks, windows and menus across two displays while providing remarkable HDTV support for a truly immersive set-up. In addition, the Parhelia APVe features flexible Dual-DVI plus standard definition TV (SDTV) output, convenient video input1 and unique What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) video output plug-ins for the most comprehensive creative workstation support. "Matrox is thrilled to offer the Parhelia APVe to creative professionals migrating to PCI Express platforms requiring a dedicated graphics card for their audio, photo and video editing needs," says Caroline Injoyan, product manager, Matrox Graphics. "This forward-looking graphics solution lets customers take advantage of space-saving digital flat panel technology and the move to HDTV, all the while benefiting from Matrox's rock-solid driver stability and renowned image quality for truly dramatic results." Read more

Posted: December. 12, 2004 @ 07:06AM GMT +10 by BenSW

AMD in F1 Racing

"AMD announced their Opteron's involvement in Formula 1 racing. The 530 AMD Opteron processors, which run on a Linux operating system, will process a critical flow of robust CFD data. The new supercomputer is expected to allow Sauber to compile aerodynamic information faster and more efficiently through higher power calculations. This improved performance and optimized data analysis will enable better decisions and provide a competitive edge. More info in the press-release on their site." Source OCAU

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 12:39PM GMT +10 by Ps2

Half Life 2 Enhancer

Gameconnect have reported on a interesting tool for Half Life 2. Which allows the following features. - Special scripts and fixes - Apply Bullettime mode with "t" key - Apply elevator fix with "v" key - Disable auto-save feature - Enable cheats and unlock all chapters - Fix A.I. Disable - Fix sound stuttering problem - Force enable console (Shift+~) - Improve graphic or game performance scripts - Change game language - Run game with launcher wizard - Setup data transfer rate Download Half Life 2 Enhancer Gameconnect

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 12:30PM GMT +10 by Ps2

Half life 2 software updated

Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Source Dedicated Server updates are available and will be applied automatically when Steam is restarted. The changes include: Half-Life 2 # Solved disc in drive incompatibility error by removing Securom disc check routine Half-Life 2: Deathmatch # Fixed players entering the game with a score of -1 # Fixed combine ball tracking teammates # Fixed not being able to grab level designer placed combine balls with the physics cannon # Fixed players randomly spawning without physcannons # Fixed multishot pistol exploit # Fixed wrong footstep sounds while in team mode # Fixed last RPG shot not tracking # Added cl_defaultweapon -- defaults to weapon_physcannon but can be changed to any other weapon you spawn with # Added HUD string to print team name # Added model specific death sounds # Switching to the physcannon is now instantaneous # Toned down 357 damage # Updated dm_overwatch Source Dedicated Server # Fixed "failed to load server.dll" error with 3rd party mods # Fixed linux dedicated server crash on some GLIBC versions # Fixed dedicated server error in certain localized languages

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 11:47AM GMT +10 by BenSW

NVIDIA haved their own forums

If youve got any problems with your nvidia hardware or just want some good advice for your new video card then who better to talk to than the nvidia staff, head on over to the nvidia forums, you can find them right here. Enjoy. Edit: Yeh this is great, go check it out! - erock

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 11:45AM GMT +10 by BenSW

Google presents Suggest

Something new from Google:: As you type into the search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time. This is similar to Google's "Did you mean?" feature that offers alternative spellings for your query after you search, except that it works in real time. For example, if you type "bass," Google Suggest might offer a list of refinements that include "bass fishing" or "bass guitar." Similarly, if you type in only part of a word, like "progr," Google Suggest might offer you refinements like "programming," "programming languages," "progesterone," or "progressive." You can choose one by scrolling up or down the list with the arrow keys or mouse. Visit google suggest now

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 07:44AM GMT +10 by BenSW

MemTest 3.0

MemTest 3.0 has been released! MemTest is a RAM reliability tester. It evaluates the ability of your computer's memory to store and retrieve data. A correctly functioning computer should be able to do both these tasks with 100% accuracy day in and day out. By running MemTest, you can ensure that your computer's RAM is correctly functioning. You can assign a number of megabytes to test. Download Memtest 3.0 here

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 07:39AM GMT +10 by BenSW

ATI says it can kill Nvidia

GRAPHICS FIRMS Nvidia and ATI have taken their long standing battle to India in a scene more reminiscent of the Mahabharata than a dispute between two chip firms. The Channel Times quotes the country manager of ATI India as saying that Nvidia drivers and cards have 100 flaws and accused Nvidia of cheating consumers all the time. The language gets more lurid and immoderate, with Suki Matharu, the ATI country manager, saying his firm can kill them as its products are better, according to the newspaper. An unseemly row and a half, indeed. Read more [TheInquirer]

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 07:04AM GMT +10 by BenSW

11 GeForce 6600 GT's Reviewed

Anandtech check out 11 GeForce 6600GT's: Today, we'll be covering the performance of 11 different vendor's versions of the Geforce 6600GT. When that many of the same part get into the same room at the same time, you know that we're going to have a good cross-section of what the market should look like. If you're interested in buying a 6600GT, then this is the article for you. Review

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 05:31AM GMT +10 by erock

Athlon Nforce 4 IGP emerges

NVIDIA WILL INDEED have an integrated graphic core for its Athlon Nforce 4 supporters. We are not sure about the final name as it's too early for that, but the chipset itself comes under the codename of C51G. It's paired with a new south bridge codenamed MCP05. This means that if Nvidia wants to bring integrated graphics into Athlon 64 chipset segment it had to make a dual chip design. It will follow a traditional north bridge and south bridge design. Nvidia will sample these chips in February while multiple production is expected in April. I guess we should be able to see boards based on C51G+MCP05 chipset at CeBIT 2005. Read More & The Inquirer

Posted: December. 11, 2004 @ 05:24AM GMT +10 by erock

Speegle unleashed on internet

EDINBURGH BASED COMPANY CEC Systems has developed a brand new search engine which is surely set to revolutionise the way we browse the internet. CEC's Speegle.co.uk not only allows you to search for sites, but to hear your results. You can hear your search results in one of three voices, that is, a gentle female voice, a gruff, Scottish male voice and a frankly terrifying man's voice which sounds like a bizarre cross between a Dalek and a chartered accountant. Speegle's real purpose, beyond getting it to say "ovaries" for a giggle, isn't too clear at the moment. The site itself mentions that "there is a lot more behind our technology than is at first apparent," and that CEC will be "rolling out" some very exciting technology soon. Can't wait! Full story at TheInquirer

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 08:09PM GMT +10 by BenSW

ATI's R520 has eight Shader units

THE NEXT generation ATI graphic chip codenamed "Fudo" will increase the number of Shader units from previous generation. When it comes to Shaders, R520 will have quite some fuel to pump those little programs. We learned that R520 will have eight Shader units. The current R420/R423 generation that come under the X800 brand has six Shader units. These extra two units will certainly speed up shading operations and that's what developers need for endless shading loops. We also have to add that R520 comes with support for Shader Model 3.0+. We still stick to our original story that R520 "Fudo" will come in spring of 2005, let's say around Cebit 2005. Read more [TheInquirer]

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 08:07PM GMT +10 by BenSW

Join the AusFX Forums

Join the ever growing AusFX forums today! Loads of interesting discussions going on in there! Theres pretty much anything for everybody! Whether your an experienced hardware guru to a simple gamer, or just someone who loves to chat about random offtopic things. Rumor has it that there could be a giveaway soon! Might have to wait and see huh? hehe You can register here!

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:39PM GMT +10 by erock

Friday Video Card Reviews

ASUS Extreme AX600 XT/HTVD Graphics Card on XbitLabs ATI Radeon Mobility 9800 on Beyond3D ABIT RX600 Pro-Guru 256MB PCI-E on 3dGameMan PowerColor X600 XT vs. Albatron Trinity PCX 5750 on XbitLabs Inno3D GeForce 6600 GT (PCX) on Guru3D nVidia Geforce 6800GT PCI-E on OC-Zone Radeon X700PRO vs. GeForce 6600GT on Tweaktown

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:32PM GMT +10 by erock

Xbox Modders Arrested

Well you better think twice before buying a modded xbox on ebay, which usually come preloaded with games... Two guys get arrested for trying to sell $500 “Super Xbox” consoles... Authorities arrested two store employees on charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and conspiracy to traffic in a device that circumvents technological protection measures. Full Article

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:27PM GMT +10 by erock

ATi Catalyst Interview

Driverheaven had an interview with Terry Makedon and Andrew Dodd from ATi. The interview covers Catalyst driver development and future plans for driver developement.

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:24PM GMT +10 by erock

ATi To Drop The X700XT?

Its rumored that ATI will drop the X700 in favor of a scaled down X800. The strategy seems to be to replace its X700XT – a competitor to NVIDIA's well received GeForce 6600GT – with a 12-pipeline RADEON X800 (possibly a RADEON X800 XL variant) featuring a 400MHz GPU core and 500MHz memory clocks, and ship it at an aggressive price-point. More @ Hexus

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:22PM GMT +10 by erock

PS3 to arrive spring 2006 In Japan

NVIDIA HAS MADE A big noise about Playstation 3 deal but unfortunately you won't see this console any time soon. Nvidia stock holders definitely know about Sony and its Playstation 3 killer business and therefore Nvidia is recovering on the stock market. If Sony trusts in Nvidia, stockholders should too - that is the message. So the Sony Playstation 3 is due to get out in spring 2006 for Japanese market. North America will get its version even later than that as it's expected that Americans and Canadians should be able to get one in fall of 2006. Europeans will have to wait a lot longer. Sony will use its well known Cell processor, as we revealed here ages back. Nvidia will make a Playstation 3 chip but this cooperation could be much deeper than just Playstation 3 marchitecture. Time will tell. Whatever happens we still have quite some time to tap our fingers and watch the industry panic. Source: The Inquirer

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:20PM GMT +10 by erock

Friday Arvo Game Reviews

Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder on Warcry Football Manager 2005 on Pro-G Half-Life 2 on Video Game News Painkiller: Battle out of Hell on Action Trip Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines on FileFront Worms Forts: Under Siege on IGN

Posted: December. 10, 2004 @ 07:18PM GMT +10 by erock

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