Tech News

• NL: Review Block - Feb 15 2k11

  Published: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Coolers
  - Deepcool Killer Whale Premium CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
  - Evercool Transformer 4 @ Rbmods
  
  Mice (Input Devices)
  - Cooler Master Storm Spawn 3500 DPI Gaming Mouse Review @ ThinkComputers
  - Roccat Kova & Kone Gaming Mice Review @ OCIA
  
  Video Cards
  - HIS HD 6970 Review @ XSReviews
  - Palit GTX 560 Ti Sonic @ Bjorn3D
  - MSI Radeon HD 6870 1GB HAWK Overclocked Video Card Review
  
  Fans
  - Thermaltake Blue-Eye LED Case Fan Review @ BayReviews
  
  Sound Cards
  - Asus Xonar DG Headphone Amp Sound Card Review @ Tweaknews
  
  Web Cams
  - Logitech HD Webcam C270 & Wireless Mouse M305 Review @ Real World Labs

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Serious Sam 3 Due This Summer!

  Published: Monday, February 14, 2011 | By: Dennis

  This is one of the classic shooters of all time.  It that took the normal path and puzzle based FPS experience and made it bigger and better with large maps and tons of things to shoot.  Episode 1 and 2 were great shooters and while Serious Sam 2 wasn't go great in my opinion I have high hopes they can pull it together for SS3.  If anything I hope it's not a shooter version of "Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude" like with SS2.

  There's still very little known about the next entry in the trigger-happy shooter series. While platforms have not yet been confirmed, PC is a given and Xbox 360 looks inevitable too. The recent revamps of the first two games, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, were built upon the same engine as Serious Sam 3 and released on both platforms. 

  It would seem that no opinions will be formed until it's ready for a monitor near you.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Sapphire PURE Black P67 Hydra Socket 1155 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers

  Published: Monday, February 14, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Here is a great find, a P67 from Sapphire with the Lucid chip to help keep things balanced.
  
  

  However, our Sapphire sample today is not the PURE Black X58. No sir, this beauty is none other but the PURE Black P67! Based on Intel's newest chipset, codenamed "Cougar Point", and is made for the Sandy Bridge processors. While it may not have the white PCB we liked so much about the PURE Crossfire 3200, the PURE Black P67 does offer something over most of the other P67 motherboard manufacturers: the LUCID Hydra technology onboard. If you haven't been up on the current board tech, what this does is gives the user a unique ability by being able to combine two different vendor's graphics accelerators and allow work in tandem for increased performance. Sapphire may not be the first company to the table with a P67-based board offering the Hydra chip, but they sure look to be doing  it better than the rest! So follow along as we put this beast through the gamut of tests and see if it passes with flying colors, or gets a Black mark...
  

  There are a couple things in the review that strike me as odd,  The biggest would be the debate on if the BIOS is UEFI or a standard BIOS.  Considering that the bios is almost exactly the same as the Foxconn P67A-S and says UEFI on the details page I'd have to say it is UEFI with a standard layout wrapper.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Crytek responds to Crysis 2 leak

  Published: Monday, February 14, 2011 | By: Dennis

  In case you are nowhere near the gaming pulse a BETA of Crysis 2 was leaked out to the interwebs as a single player only campaign.  I guess someone at EA felt like pulling a Sam Flynn and share their hard work.

  'Crytek has been alerted that an early incomplete, unfinished build of Crysis 2 has appeared on Torrent sites,' the statement reads.
  
  'Crytek and EA are deeply disappointed by the news. We encourage fans to support the game and the development team by waiting and purchasing the final, polished game on 22nd March.
  

  Leaks like this really damage the industry, not only from a financial standpoint but from a social one considering that most gaming developers are overworked and underpaid.  Then again that is a perfect recipe for disgruntled disaster.  

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Intel to Start Shipping B3 Stepping 6-Series Chipsets by February 14

  Published: Friday, February 11, 2011 | By: Dennis

  New B3 revision chipsets by mid Febuary, at least that is what this PDF says.  Here is a breakdown of what is in the PDF.

  • Revision ID will change from 04h to 05h
  • BIOS Update (Revision 1.1.4 of the BIOS Specification Update and Reference Code)
  • B3 stepping package is pin compatible with B2 stepping package
  • Minor metal layer change from B2 to B3 improving lifetime wear out with no changes to functionality or design specifications 

  This will be a good way to figure out what board you have once they go back on sale.  I wouldn't expect there to be product available until the March/April timeframe.  The actual time will depend on how mobo makers choose to resolve the issue, the rumor from Gigabyte is a full line of new SKUs.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Sapphire Pure Black P67 Hydra motherboard preview @ Hexus

  Published: Thursday, February 10, 2011 | By: Dennis

  As we reported shortly after CES Sapphire is getting into the enthusiast motherboard business and doing so using Intel technologies, namely X58 and P67.  This is exciting news for sure since it means we have another big player in the extremely small enthusiast board market.

  Unexpected problems with Intel's latest chipset may have stifled the momentum behind Sandy Bridge, but that admittedly major hitch is only temporary.
  
  Look forward a few months to late March or early April, and the introduction of Intel's revised B3 silicon will re-open the door for partners to unleash their take on the chip giant's latest desktop ecosystem.
  
  One of the surprise names hoping to do just that is Sapphire, a long-standing AMD partner that is hoping to also establish itself as a producer of high-quality, high-end Intel mainboards.
  

  We have some first thoughts about this board as well, but you'll have to wait for the review to know everything.  Until then check the forums for sample photos and performance number leaks.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Facebook and Google size up takeover of Twitter: report

  Published: Thursday, February 10, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Twitter became famous by not only providing a free service to its members but also allowing access into the API so that custom applications could be built specifically for it.  The best part is they did all of this without running ads on the site or begging its users for money.
  
  Makes you wonder how it can now be valued at $10 billion.
  

  (Reuters) - Google Inc and Facebook Inc, plus others, have held low level takeover talks with Twitter that give the Internet sensation a value as high as $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
  
  In December, Twitter raised $200 million in financing in a deal that valued it at $3.7 billion. The company, which allows users to broadcast 140-character messages to groups of followers, had 175 million users as of September.
  

  
  The value in Twitter is with its user base and how those users use the system.  It is a delicate balance that once disturbed could cause at least a few of its 175 million users to call foul and jump ship.

  The best part of this story? The fact that none of the principles involved were available for comment.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• WikiLeaks crippled by ex-associates, sources say

  Published: Thursday, February 10, 2011 | By: Dennis

  How about some real news for once?

  Anyone who has developed a web application knows that NOTHING on the web is totally anonymous, there is always a trail.  Now, while this trail does exist, the difficult part is linking it to a single person and is where authentication comes into play.  For instance when I login to Ninjalane to post news items my website knows it's me based on my credentials.  If I wanted I could choose not to store this information or change the code so it doesn't show my name or associated information.

  In the case of illegal activities a certain level of anonymity needs to be secured else you will not get many people participating in your operation.  This is the case with Wikileaks and it would seem the programmer responsible for "hiding" the source of the "leak" removed the feature from the website.

  (Reuters) - WikiLeaks's ability to receive new leaks has been crippled after a disaffected programer unplugged a component which guaranteed anonymity to would-be leakers, activists and journalists who have worked with the site say.
  
  Details of the breakdown are contained in a book by estranged Assange collaborator Daniel Domscheit-Berg which is due to be published on Friday, a source familiar with the contents of the book told Reuters.
  

  Is anyone the least bit surprised there is a book deal associated with this?  Ya, didn't think so.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Intel to unveil 22nm Ivy Bridge CPUs at Computex 2011

  Published: Tuesday, February 8, 2011 | By: Dennis

  Good news for those of us feeling the heat from Sandy! 

  Intel reportedly has completed the design of its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors and will showcase the new CPUs at Computex Taipei 2011 in June, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.
  
  Meanwhile, AMD has also accelerated the production of its Llano APUs and is expected to begin shipping the APUs to ODM/OEM makers in May at the earliest instead of the original schedule set in the third quarter, the paper noted.

  This is a rumor but seemed to be a well informed one.  Another rumor is that Ivy Bridge will work on P67 so when those new 6-Series chipsets come out we'll have an upgrade path.

  Full ArticleVisit Website

• Intel doesn't wait for fixed 6 Series chips, resumes some shipments

  Published: Tuesday, February 8, 2011 | By: Dennis

  TechConnect has a interesting 6-Series news post today claiming that Intel is resuming chipset sales, but with a condition.
  
  

  According to Intel, it will only deliver bugged chips to PC makers who will build systems that would not be affected by the issue. This likely means we'll be seeing Sandy Bridge laptops back on sale soon as they can use the two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports unaffected by the bug. Of course, some desktops may qualify for shipping too, if they only have an optical drive and a hard/solid state drive, but their maker will have to tell customers the free SATA 3.0 connectors available are troublesome.
  

  So what does this mean? Well, basically it means that "everyone" blew things way out of proportion in an attempt to calm angry consumers. (darn you consumers)  It also means that level headed mfgs like Foxconn were smart to stay quiet while other mobo makers like Gigabyte and MSI were left scrambling to make a TON of extra noise.
  
  From a business standpoint it is proper for Intel to issue the recall in an attempt to make things right.  Gigabyte, MSI and others were also correct in establishing RMA processes to replace products affected by the faulty chip.  However when you look at the timeline the warranty on most motherboards is 1 to 2 years and fault often occurs over time and may not be seen for 3 years.  Sounds like business as usual, especially since the way around the whole issue is to avoid using the "slower" SATA2 port(s) or just ride it out.
  
  Overall this hurts Intel more than anyone but with Ivy Bridge just around the corner their mistake will be short lived.

  Full ArticleVisit Website