News

I do most of the hardware work on the weekends when I'm home from college. If you see an article popup during the week, It is most likely from Nivram. Speaking of weekend, I've got a Plextor 48x CDRW drive that I've done testing on. Tomorrow the review should be up!

Also, on the software side of things, I have thoughts about a PMS (Project Management System) ... (Now that I think about it, that's a stupid acronym) ... I don't know what exactly I'm thinking of, but uhh, I'll think of something...

Ohh yeah, if there is anything needing fixing tell me now!

CNN wants to get 2 million CDs sent back to AOL. CNN is also run by AOL Time Warner, that'd strange...

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"You're wasting a lot of natural resources," said landfill manager Janet Schnyder. "You're causing pollution and you're basically sending something that people don't want."

They launched their campaign after going to the video store one night and getting an AOL disc with their rental. Then when they got to Lierberman's house there was another disc waiting in the mailbox, complete with plastic wrap and additional packaging. All of it added up to a lot of garbage.

This guy has a few patents in the works describing how Palladium, the M$ answer for anti-piracy, can be used to enforce EULAs. What this guy is doing is PREVENTING this from happening! Since he will own the method, M$ can't use it!

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The twist is that Green has no intention of implementing these techniques himself -- and in an interview with Wired News, declared his intention to "aggressively enforce his patents," if granted, to prevent anyone else from doing so.

Green has not disclosed the specifics of his patents. However, even without those details, Dan Burk, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Law, says it is perfectly legal to patent any kind of automated technique, such as Amazon's One-Click patent and Priceline's reverse auction patent. Additionally, he says, "Improvements on known technologies are patentable."

Your shiny new 3G phone is already outdated. 19.2 is even faster than 802.11b, and a crapload faster than Bluetooth.

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BLAST uses multiple antennas at the terminal and base station to send and receive wireless signals at ultra-high speeds. It relies on innovative signal processing techniques to send and successfully decode several transmissions within the same frequency band. When utilised in base station equipment and mobile devices, this technology permits far higher transmission speeds to be achieved.

I saw this game in Maxim first, I thought it was a gag. Looks to be true though. It'll have girls flash you when you do a move and stuff.

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"We believe that there is a general, unfair characterization of the interactive entertainment industry and as a result, our product is being held to an entirely different standard than other entertainment media with comparable content, including movies, television and radio," said Greg Fischbach, co-chairman and CEO of Acclaim. "According to NPD's August report, more than 60 per cent of all next-generation hardware owners are men over the age of 18, and this combined with the fact that last year's number one selling game was mature rated, fully supports our belief in the demand for this type of content."

Boobies are good sellers!

The new nVidia graphics card will use 1Ghz DDR 2 memory. No word on when it'll be out. And it isn't called the Geforce 5.

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The fastest NV 30 will work on the nice round number of 1000MHz, bringing graphics memory to a 1GHz speed for the first time in history.

One of the key questions is, who has this kind of memory? And if you search the net for a while you will find that Samsung promised volume production of this DDR II memory capable of up to 1GHz speeds in Q1 2003.

All this on a 128-bit bus. This still gives the Radeon's 256-bit bus an edge. But things change fast.

AMD wants to get some more money, so make the company more efficient! Simple enough.

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Advanced Micro Devices intends to cut operating expenses $350 million in 2003 and plans to reach a break-even level in the second quarter of that year, President Hector Ruiz told financial analysts Wednesday on a conference call.

AMD's target break-even revenue point is $875 million, due to the reduced costs, said Bob Rivet, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Amazing! I want one of these. Think about it, perhaps in the next decade, games will be in full color 3-D! OMG! Yeah, yeah, medical and other people may have good use for it. But GAMES WILL ROCK!!

[QUOTE]Three-dimensional holographic video images will be generated by a computer rather than being fixed in a static medium; they will be shown in full-motion color and, with input from a user, changed on the fly. What’s more, viewers who move around a holographic video image will be able to see it moving from every side—a phenomenon important to realism and one that many conventional eyeglass-based systems cannot replicate.[/QUOTE:103492753

Another edition of the web goodies...

A real DESKtop PC.

Hexus has some TwinMOS PC3200 on the bench.
The TwinMOS PC3200 256MB DDR Memory Module exceeded its specification and achieved a maximum bus speed of 207 Mhz at its rated timings, and still managed to do 212Mhz at more relaxed timings. The Corsair XMS3200 outperformed it by a noticeable margin, but to be fair, the Corsair RAM is considerably more expensive and is rated for better memory timings. The TwinMOS PC3200 performed very well in the tests, even at its default timings. It's a pity it couldn't manage 200 Mhz bus full timings like the Corsair XMS3200, but still it's leaps and bounds over what you would be able to push the bus to with PC2100 or even high quality PC2700, and to be fair it is a lot cheaper. You can also win free stuff.

3DGM has a Crystalfontz LCD Display Kit Model 632 to show you.
And some GeIL PC3500 433MHz DDR Platinum.
The GeIL PC3500 433MHz DDR Platinum Series memory will not disappoint whether you are non-overclocker or hardcore overclocker who wants 433MHz DDR speeds and more. I was easily able to break the 433MHz DDR rated speed with excellent benchmark results. This memory is stable, fast, lifetime warranty and well priced. Watch the Video to find out more...

Monkey Review powers up an Antec True Blue PSU.
All in all, this power supply couldn’t produce a single flaw during testing. The great new technologies and the sweet looking LED’s add a lot to a generally bland PC part. Performance is way up there and the price isn’t too bad compared to the value you’re getting for your buck. I am giving this guy a perfect score and our editor’s choice award. If you’re looking for performance and a good looking power supply, I strongly suggest any of the Antec TrueBlue power supplies.

MTB has TT Volcano 9.
Active-Hardware has an Asus P4PE.
MrPcPro has a lighted fan.
3DVelocity has got a Chaintech 7VJL.
Beyond3D has a Herc R9700Pro.
Get your XP unlocking at OCI

Finally, this is too keep the use of desktop chips in notebooks low. As of now there is a large difference in price between the two CPUs at the same clock speed.

[QUOTE]Intel has decided to gradually narrow the price differential between its same-level Pentium 4 desktop and notebook processors to 10-15% to dissuade notebook clients from overly favoring desktop-use processors for their products.

Intel’s new pricing strategy is generally regarded as a move to reduce its inventories of P4-M processors and thus pave the way for the new Banias mobile platform, which is expected to be introduced in 2003.[/QUOTE

Haha! Some of their beta software was stolen. Let's all check KaZaA and see if it is ready for downloading.

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However, the system does contain yet-unreleased versions of Microsoft Windows products. In addition, the hacker would have had access to comments posted by beta testers, as well as the key used by beta testers to activate their software, said Miller.

While this story is about benchmarks, it also says that the Opteron is running at 2Ghz. This means that the Clawhammer will be pretty fast when it comes out next year.

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Opteron will appear in the first half of 2003, said Mark Bode, division marketing manager of the desktop products group at the company. Bode said the desktop version of Hammer will hit shelves in March or April and the notebook version, like Opteron, will publicly debut sometime in the first half.

Although Weber discussed a 2GHz Opteron, the company has not committed to releasing the chip at that speed. Analysts have said the first chip could run at speeds between 2GHz and 2.4GHz. AMD earlier said the chip would be marketed with a 3400+ performance number.

That's alot of transistors in there, over a billion. With a large cache and four cores, this chip will be something... If it comes out.

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Crawford did not disclose specific plans for such a processor, though he said Intel will be able to design and build a 1-billion-transistor microprocessor using 65-nanometer process technology by 2007.

Crawford went on to describe a hypothetical processor that would contain four Itanium 2 cores and 12 to 16 megabytes of shared cache memory, all connected through a leaf interconnect scheme. Each Itanium 2 processor would contain about 120 million transistors while the cache would carry 700 million to 950 million transistors, bringing the total transistor budget to well over 1 billion, he said.

And you'll try to play Quake on it...

Dual channel DDR that is. The P4 could use this type of enhancement, DDR can't keep up with the FSB speeds of the P4. This is the final nail that kills RDRam.

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Expected to be launched in November, the Granite Bay (E7205) and Placer chipsets are designed for workstations, while the Plumas 533 (E7501) chipset will be introduced for server products. All three chipsets adopt the new dual-channel DDR platform, instead of the RDRAM standard Intel previously used for its workstation and server lines.

Amazing stuff coming out of the mobile portion of Intel. I must applaude Intel for all the advances that they've done for mobile power, and power saving. They claim Banias will have 6 hours of battery life.

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The size of the cache bolsters Intel's claims that the chip will be one of the top performing mobile chips in the world when it debuts. More cache typically leads to higher performance. The chip will be introduced at speeds of 1.6GHz, 1.5GHz, 1.4GHz and 1.3GHz, slower than the Pentium 4. The larger cache, though, will likely narrow the performance gap created by the differences in speed.

I'd love to have that size... Monitor . With 5.2 million pixels, it won't be cheap.

[QUOTE]Japan-based International Display Technology (IDTech) announced on October 15 it has made available for OEM orders its IAQS80, a 21.3-inch TFT LCD of 5.2-million-pixel (2,560×2,048-pixel) resolution, currently the world’s highest resolution, for X-ray image viewing and other medical and industrial applications that require very high display resolution.

The IAQS80, which has other features, including 750-cd/m2 brightness, 600:1 contrast ratio and 170-degree viewing angle both vertically and horizontally, was developed using in-plane-switching (IPS) technology.

IDTech is a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO).[/QUOTE:103472832

Yeah, the stupid Dell comercials are being replaced... By more stupid Dell comercials. Interns are the new thang to hit Dell.

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Dell's new ads, which debuted last week, feature a group of interns at Dell's headquarters and factory. Steven will make an appearance in one of the ads, said Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman.

"We're looking at ways to convey the overall brand value with this new campaign and are really excited with tests we did with the new campaign," Kaufman said.

Ascully checks out some Vantec thermo fans.
They also do the SLK-800.
MTB reviews a small 4 inch cathode from PC mods.
TecCentral has a Gainward Ti4200 on the hot plate.
The Monsters got an Overclockers Hideout SLPR-2002 Complete Watercooling Setup for review.
[H] has a Sapphire Radeon 9700 Pro.

Pretty interesting, a new company will make its own x86 chip. This is targeted at the embedded market though.

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MemoryLogix's designs describe a chip that runs at only 400MHz but is energy efficient and incredibly small, said Kevin Krewell, executive editor of industry newsletter the Microprocessor Report, which sponsors the chip industry convention.

According to the program notes for the conference, MemoryLogix's new x86 core "supports advanced micro-architectural features typically found on Pentium-class processors, yet is no larger than some low-cost embedded CPU cores." MemoryLogix could not be reached for comment, and the company's Web site has yet to be unveiled.

There is a 4 part thing at News.com about what rivals Microsoft . The first topic is the open source movement.

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Microsoft has itself to blame at least in part for strengthening the hand of its rivals. A controversial new software licensing policy, which raises prices for some customers and asks them to pay in advance for future releases, has angered many Microsoft customers and driven them to seek cheaper alternatives such as Linux.

3D Gamers has some nice screenies of Sim City 4. SC3000 really sucked, but this one is looking good.

Tom has a review of this extremely small PC. It uses a P4 2400 and 512MB DDR. Not a gaming device though.

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Defining the target group is not so easy. In terms of performance, the Micro PC comes out ahead of the top group of high-end notebooks. After all, the Pentium 4/2400, in conjunction with 512 MB of DDR266 memory, takes care of performance. As far as equipment goes, it features all the most important interfaces, such as USB 2.0, FireWire, SP/DIF, modem and network functions - and the additional 1 GBit connection is currently in a class of its own. An S-Video output is available for presentations.

Wrapping up the end of the day...

3DGM reviews the Abit SR78X
The ABIT SR7-8X motherboard is one of the first AGP 8X products on the market sporting the SiS 648 chipset. This product has onboard audio, LAN and USB2 support at a fantastic price. Also, it's an excellent product for stability and performance; however, hardcore overclockers might be left wanting more! Watch the Video to find out more...

Hexus reviews a Crucial Radeon 9700 Pro
If you're seriously looking to purchase a Radeon 9700 Pro in the near future, do your research carefully and find out what each competing Radeon 9700 can offer you. In the case of the Crucial Radeon 9700 Pro, it would be a reference design backed by a competitive price and outstanding service. Whatever path you choose, I doubt you'll be disappointed with the product. They also have a forum user with a watercooled SS51.

Casetest has a Titan Active Alarm Kit on the testing bench
Today we want to present the Titan Active Alarm Kit to you. A meaningful addition for the PC. Fan have one life span of 50000 hours, the one on
average more other less. There it can happen already times that an fan falls out I dunno .

Cluboverclocker has some XMS3500 to play around with.
Another XMS3500 review from PCStats.
AMD3D reviews a Soltek SL75FRV.
Ti4400 from Leadtek at Boogletech.

More to come tomorrow!

This is funny. IBM received a patent for restroom queuing in an airplane. Then they decided it was stupid. The pantent office is really screwy these days.

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Earlier this year, for instance, the office was criticized for issuing a patent for a method of swinging sideways on a swing.

Originally filed in August 2000, IBM's restroom reservation patent describes a system that would determine who is next in line for using the facilities on an airplane, passenger train or boat. As envisioned in the patent, the system would be run by a computer that would assign customers a number based on a first-come, first-served basis. The system would give customers an estimate of their waiting time to use the restroom and would notify them when the restroom was available and allow them to cancel their reservations.

R&D must be board.

They are for the 9700 and the 8500 series of cards...

R8500 2k, XP.

R9700 2k, XP.

Thanks goes out to hazeldene from the forums.

ECS L4S8A SIS 648 P4 motherboard review.

Athalon XP 2700+ review (sw33t!).

tech-report.com's review of the Soyo KT400 DRAGON Ultra.

Supplies of the AMD Athlon XP 2400+ should begin reaching U.S. dealers by within the next two weeks, although enthusiasts will have to wait for the faster processors.
AMD announced the AMD Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+ on Aug. 21, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Athlon, according to an AMD spokeswoman. Unfortunately, buyers have had to wait almost two months for the 2400+, and the 2600+ still remains over the horizon for nearly all customers.

I'm holding off for Christmas and the 2700+, myself, if it's released on time, that is

Intergraph has one their suit with Intel. This paces the way for Intergraph to get liscensing from Intel on every Itanium chip they made/make.

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Years ago, a court threw out antitrust complaints filed by Intergraph, and this past April, Intel agreed to pay $300 million to settle claims that its Pentium lines of chips infringed on Intergraph patents.

As part of that settlement, the two companies agreed to limit damages in this final phase to $150 million. If Intel appeals the ruling and loses, Intel will pay Intergraph another $100 million.

This one will cause some flames. Newfactor is running this story.

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Linux, which is even newer than Windows and is not controlled by a single commercial entity, can be expected to have even more vulnerabilities than Windows. Hemmendinger commented, "I see a lot more stuff coming across BugTraq [about Linux] than any flavor of Unix or any Microsoft operating system." BugTraq is a popular forum for discussion of computer security vulnerabilities. It is moderated by SecurityFocus, now a division of security firm Symantec.

Are they on crack or something?