Tech News
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NVIDIA Announces Acquisition of MediaQ
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: Dennis"SANTA CLARA, CA—AUGUST 4TH, 2003—NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire MediaQ, Inc., the leading provider of graphics and multimedia technology for wireless mobile devices.
Under the terms of the agreement, NVIDIA will acquire privately-held MediaQ for $70 million in total consideration, which NVIDIA expects to pay predominantly in cash. The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of NVIDIA's fiscal year 2004, has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to the satisfaction of regulatory requirements and other customary closing conditions. "
Next, Doom3 on the PocketPC.
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Albatron FX5200U Review @ HardwareZone
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: Dennis"The RAM parts affixed on the Albatron FX5200U had enough headroom to perhaps wring out a few more percent in performance. After a while of trial and error, we managed to overclock the RAM from the default 650MHz DDR, to whopping 740MHz DDR (which is well over-spec) reliably. We didn’t get very lucky with the graphics core as we managed to raise its default 325MHz core clock to only 340MHz."
The card has a blue PCB, fancy ramsinks and didn't do to bad in the overclocking department either. The only drawback is some fairly low framerates across the board, for the most part typical of 5200 and other "budget" cards. -
Enermax UC-A3FATR2 Multifunction Panel Review @ Mikhailtech
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: DennisEnermax has been pretty busy with this whole multifunction panel thing, maybe I'm old fashioned but just give me a set of rotary dials and I'll be happy.
"When it comes to viewing above and below the horizon something interesting happens. Moving above the horizon it quickly becomes difficult to view the readout on the screen and once an angle of approximately 30 degrees has been reached it's not possible to read the screen. When moving downward from the horizon the LCD stay visible for far longer than going up or to either side and is visible through 60 degrees. While this is great if the unit is mounted in your case at a level above your eye-level, it's very frustrating if it's mounted below you. " -
The Dukes of Hazzard
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: DennisOk this little bit of news isn't really hardware related but still kind of cool.
" The CBS TV series The Dukes of Hazzard ran from 1979 to 1985 and revolved around two cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who always seemed to be in trouble with the law. Along with their uncle Jesse and another cousin, Daisy Duke, the good ol' boys ran moonshine while being chased by Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg. Their famous car, an orange '68 Dodge Charger called the General Lee, seemed to jump over a river in nearly every episode. "
The only problem I can see with this is that the director will probably employ some poorly done yet fancy CGI before he spends any of his "take home" money on a real jump scene. There is just something to be said about launching a remotely controlled car 50 feet in the air or having it run on two wheels in the middle of town and knowing that a computer didn't generate it.
Be sure to check out the rumored stars of the flick quite the cast and somehow I find the choices fitting.
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Chaintech 7NIF2 Review @ Ohls-Place
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: DennisThis is one of them MicroATX boards that Chaintech makes, basically same great nForce2 performance in a smaller package.
"While the On-Board video isn’t the greatest in the world, and not designed for heavy gamers, it is just fine for casual gamers, movies, jpg, internet, email, etc. Which for my application is just fine. If I changed my mind and really wanted to be able to play 3D games on it, I could toss in an 8X AGP video card. "
Onboard video has never really been that great on any board but the nForce2 is one of the better choices out there if you choose to go that route. -
Birthday Thanks
Published: Monday, August 4, 2003 | By: DennisI'd like to extend a warm thank you for everyone that wished me a happy birthday on the 1st. My birthday weekend was pretty fun and my GF even got me a super sweet leather laptop bag for my trip to Computex. She is just so sweet.
Thanks everyone, now back to the regularly scheduled hardware news! -
A+GPB - CA-AP107 Case Review @ Ohls-Place
Published: Friday, August 1, 2003 | By: Dennis"If you are buying this case and expecting a Lian Li case you are going to be seriously disappointed. But if you are buying this case for the small pre-modded features it has, the overall great appearance and quality fit and finish in a steel case at a low price, you're going to love it."
It's attack of the cases today as lot of the sites posted reviews on various PC cases on the same day. This one seems to be just another el cheapo, pre-modded case for those who can't stand a Dremel and a spray paint can. -
Athenatech A747-SS Case Review @ MonkeyReview
Published: Friday, August 1, 2003 | By: Dennis"Athenatech has in many ways considered what a user is looking for in a case, and did a spectacular job in delivering the goods. I would have no problem recommending this case to a middle range user, but may however find it harder to recommend it to a dedicated PC enthusiast. The case has adequate airflow to provide a cool environment for a basic system, however, an enthusiast may wish for more cooling options, such as extra fan space, to enhance or help stabilize an overclock."
I still believe that any "dedicated PC enthusiast" should mod their case right after taking it out of the box. That way you can get all the airflow and lights you want. -
Eumax Transfer Panel Review @ The Tech Lounge
Published: Friday, August 1, 2003 | By: Dennis"At first I was skeptical; I have never been a huge fan of transfer panels. I don’t really love the fact that you have to plug transfer panels into pre-existing connections rather than plugging them directly into the motherboard. But in the end I was so satisfied with the Eumax panel that I decided to keep using it."
Honestly, I also find the transfer panels to be quite usless as most of the cases nowadays come with both USB and Firewire ports in their front panels. Most people will find the little LCD display to be the best feature in this transfer panel. -
Abit IS7-G vs. Epox 4PDA2+ Review @ Digital-Daily
Published: Friday, August 1, 2003 | By: DennisWe already know that Epox is a strong contender in the nForce2 market and we already know what the Abit IS7 can do. So what do you suppose will happen when you match up an Epox Springdale board against the seasoned IS7-G?
"As a result, if we tested all the boards with the memory timings = 2-2-5-2, then the Abit IS7-G would show a performance level that doesn't make much difference relative to the other boards. However, many boards are unable to run at such timings (e.g. again the Epox 4PDA2+) and thus severely lose to the Abit IS7-G."
