Tech News
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New Website for GeForce Card Owners - GeForce.com
Published: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 | By: DennisTo help raise awareness around new technology companies will usually setup websites to explain what the technology is, why it is good, and how to use it. A tried and true method of marketing. In the case of NVidia they did this for their nForce chipsets and again for SLI when it started to become popular.
A new website has been launched designed to help users get the most from their nVidia GeForce video cards called GeForce.com. GeForce.com is more than a simple propaganda website, but instead a website designed for the end-user to educate them on the benefits of GeForce products and offer up suggestions on how to configure game settings for the best possible quality.
OPS is a set of in-game settings that aims to maximize image quality while maintaining 30 frames per second or more. An OPS is determined by playing through a key portion of the game using automated software, analyzing the framerate, then altering the in-game settings accordingly until the average framerate reaches 30 fps or more. The software reports back the optimal playable setting, the average framerate, and where possible, minimum and maximum framerates.
For a given NVIDIA GPU, we generate OPS for three resolutions so you can pick the one that suits your monitor. On high-end GPUs, settings up to 2560 x 1600 are available. On low end GPUs, OPS targets resolutions around 1680 x 1050.The site is currently in beta but has a handful of games available, and settings for all current NVidia GPUs.
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nVidia GTX 580 Launch Day
Published: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 | By: DennisWell it would seem the rumors were true, big green did have an ace up their sleeve that on the surface seems to fully complete the Fermi circle.
As many of you know the Fermi architecture was designed to support 512 CUDA cores but due to heat concerns the first cards were released only having 480 cores. While NVidia was flushing out the 400 level product offering they were also refining the Fermi design to both improve performance and lower the power envelope.
GF110 was the latest iteration of Fermi and appears to be the baseline used to create the new GTX 580. Combine a full 512 stream processors with higher clocks and you get a significant performance increase across the board.
Here are some reviews from around the web
- Zotac GeForce GTX 580 review @ t-break
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580: A New Flagship Emerges
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 @ Bjorn3D
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 SLI @ techPowerUp
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1536 MB @ techPowerUp
- GeForce GTX 580 review
- GeForce GTX 580 SLI review
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 GF110 Fermi Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
- Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 SLI Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580 graphics processor
- HEXUS.net - reviews :: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 graphics card review
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Review @ Hardware Canucks
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580: Back in the Game @ InsideHW
With any luck we'll have a similar review posted in the next few weeks and some product photos and specs posted a little later today. -
COD: Black Ops - just one day away (Nov 9th 2k10)
Published: Monday, November 8, 2010 | By: DennisThe latest installment of the COD (Call of Duty) franchise is due to be released tomorrow and thus far is destined to rival the Modern Warfare 2 release as being the top grossing game of the year.
I have noticed some interesting trends in the site logs, it would seem that the Popular Foxconn BlackOps motheboard review has been getting some good google hits lately and I suspect that people searching for info on the game are getting the review instead.
Who knew that an X48 based, and highly overclockable, motherboard from Foxconn could be so popular over 2 years after its initial release.
Might be time to setup the X48 for some COD: Black Ops action!!
In other BlackOps news a new commercial for COD: Black Ops has been released, check it out. -
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 SOC review @ Guru3D
Published: Monday, November 8, 2010 | By: DennisSOC cards are more than a retooled PCB. They feature things like a hefty factory overclock, voltage adjustments, dual mode bios, and custom WindForce 2X cooler. Basically everything you will need so you won't have to mod the card later.
Gigabyte has released a handful of GeForce GTX 460 cards, based on the reference design with a slight overclock, yet also an SOC series graphics card which is a factory overclocked model with the new WindForce 2X based cooler sitting on top of that GPU.
Now we've already seen a couple of models based on this cooling solution, but the Gigabyte card really is something special as it is the fastest factory clocked 1024MB SKU out on the market.We recently looked at the GTX 470 edition of this card and found it to be quite nice, could even be better with a touch of LN2.
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NL: Review Block - Round Up Style
Published: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 | By: DennisHere are some review highlights that hit our news inbox.
Memory
- G.SKILL Ripjaws F3-12800CL7D-8GBRH 2x4GB DDR3 RAM review @ APH Networks
- OC3D: Kingston H20 6GB 2000MHz DDR3 Review
- Avexir Standard Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 C9 @ reviewstash
- Mach Xtreme Armor 2133 CL9 Review @ XSReviews
- Mushkin Redline Dual-Channel PC3-12800 6-8-6-24 @ ocaholicCooling
- Prolimatech Super Mega CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Canucks
- DeepCool Ice Matrix 400 Cooler Review @ Tweaknews
- Prolimatech Super Mega CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers
- Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler Review on Technic3D
- Prolimatech Super Mega CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
Storage
- OC3D: WD VelociRaptor 600GB RAID review
- Seagate Momentus XT 500GB @ Techgage
- OCZ Revo 120GB @ PureOverclockCases
- AZZA Hurrican 2000 @ techPowerUp
- Lian Li PC-V354 Review @ XSReviews
- AZZA Tech Hurrican 2000 Full tower Enthusiast Gaming Chassis Review @ OverclockersHQVideo Cards
- Mid-Range NVIDIA GPU Battle: GTX 460 vs. GTX 470 @ HotHardware
- Lantic Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card in CrossFire Overclocked @ Tweaktown
- HD 6870 and HD 6850 vs. GTX 460 1GB: An Overclocking Study @ Hardware CanucksThe month before the holiday shopping season is typically slow for reviews, but there is still stuff out there.
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GIGABYTE 6 Series Motherboards Exposed
Published: Monday, November 1, 2010 | By: DennisI know we have all seen photos of these new P67 boards from Gigabyte but I don't believe they were ever accompanied with actual specs.
Well, we got em!
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Blogger Sued For Linking To Material Claimed To Be Defamatory @ Techdirt
Published: Monday, November 1, 2010 | By: DennisI've been following this site since they broke a story about hardware review site that plagiarized a review from a press release of all things. Their latest story is something any site owner needs to consider when linking to content on the web.
Even if the content in question was totally defamatory, it certainly raises some pretty serious questions about whether merely linking to content itself can or should be seen as defamatory as well. As noted in the Newton/Crookes case, so far, Canadian courts have been rejecting such claims, and hopefully that holds up with the Supreme Court ruling
The way I see it, if it's on the web, its fair game. However that is also viewed from the standpoint of an outsider looking in. If you're the one on the inside you have 2 options 1) sue to get it removed which will inadvertently bring more attention to your cause, or 2) consider damage control and hope it goes away.
Of course in hindsight the best option would have been to be smart enough NOT to get into that situation, which in some cases is counterproductive depending on what you are attempting to do. (ie attracting attention to yourself doesn't work if you are worried about what others will think). -
Top Twenty Dying Technologies - Kinda
Published: Sunday, October 31, 2010 | By: DennisLeave it to Bloomberg to tell "us" what a dying technology is. We would like to think they can see into the future, but in reality it's just the future the author wants.
On the list we have:
Combustion Engines
Game Consoles
Flash Drives
Optical Disks
Desktop Computers
Dunno about you, but while many of the technologies in this article are a little old, their future is not set until there is a suitable replacement. For instance, combustion engines will likely never been replaced until there is a way we can drive for more than 50miles on a charge. Game consoles and Desktop computers will be replaced by what? Laptops? ha.
Optical disks are questionable and their replacement depends largely on how the media is distributed. Satellites, Cable, and the Internet seem to be the most viable solutions however tend to thrive on micropayments to survive and PPV is extremely difficult to budget for. -
Muscle car makers, Pontiac, closes up shop after 84 years
Published: Sunday, October 31, 2010 | By: DennisThese are sad times for Firebird fans as the brand behind the famed "Trans Am" falls into bankruptcy.
The 84-year-old brand has been moribund since GM decided to kill it last year as it collapsed into bankruptcy and was in decline for years before that.
It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes.I have mentioned many times, recessions tend to flush out the good and bad in companies. In the case of Pontiac it would seem they are blaming poor corporate strategy and their inability to create something people want to drive.
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Happy Halloween Everyone
Published: Sunday, October 31, 2010 | By: DennisHappy Halloween, Watch that the boogyman doesn't get you.
