Unreal3 & NV40 Sneak Peak Video

Apr 24 2004 @ 07:30PM by haysonw

For those of you who want a sneak peak at gaming in the future, check out this video demonstration unveiled at the NV40 launch. It shows a glimpse of the future of gaming with the innovative Unreal3 engine with 10,000 poly models this could just be what we'll be playing in the (hopefully near) future ;)

Prepare to be blown away with this video at BeyondUnreal.com

 

Liquid That Won't Get You Wet

Apr 15 2004 @ 01:05PM by MikeC

Has your WC kit ever broke on you and liquid just poured all over your system, causing you to cry like a little school girl who scraped her knee? Well maybe in the future, you can fill your WC kit with a liquid called Sapphire. Found this blurb over on slashdot where they demonstrated this liquid on Good Morning America. They dunked a book, a laptop and a TV in this stuff and all came out unharmed. The catch to this though was that the TV and the laptop were both ON WHILE IN THE LIQUID!!!

"The official name for Sapphire is actually Novec 1230. Read about it here (PDF). Tyco sees practical applications of Sapphire in fire extinguisher systems for museums and libraries. By the same token of practicality, regular readers of Slashdot probably have something else in mind: total-immersion watercooling. Just think of the possibilities!"

This would go a long way into improving cooling for your system.

Check out the article. It also has a slideshow of the demo.

 

Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra Back on Top

Apr 14 2004 @ 11:20AM by haysonw

Hardware Analysis has a positive review about the up and coming Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Cards which prove to put it back on top (for the time being at least).

With the launch of the GeForce 6800 Ultra, or rather the NV4x architecture, that?s all about to change. In short the NV4x architecture is not a simple redesign of an older chipset, this new architecture is designed around a whole new set of requirements put forth by the new DirectX specification outlined in DirectX 9.0b and c as well as the new Shader Model 3.0 it is supporting. Especially that new shader specification is a feature worth noting as that?ll put a whole new meaning to previously used techniques such as anti-aliasing. The per pixel processing and mapping will allow the shaders to handle that instead, with minimum performance penalty if compared to traditional anti-aliasing processing. Furthermore these programmable shaders can be tailored to fit the performance level and complexity the application desires, thus giving the programmer infinite possibilities for pixel and vertex programs.

Check out the article at Hardware Analysis.

 

Hard Wired Intel Security

Apr 13 2004 @ 08:14AM by MikeC

Wired.com reports on some new security measures that Intel is going to implement on their next generation mobile and cellular processors. These new security features include protection from hackers and enforce copy protection.

"Intel's PXA27x processors, announced Monday at a conference in Taiwan, contain a security "engine" that's on the same piece of silicon but separated from the area where general processing takes place. The engine also has access to secure memory."

Check out the article

 

NV40 Prices

Apr 13 2004 @ 08:06AM by MikeC

The Inquirer reports on some speculative prices of NV40 cards. These reports brought to you by Korean website Darkcrow also has some details on NV40 specs.

"KOREAN WEB SITE Dark Crow is saying that when Nvidia launches its NV40 tech this week, it will charge $399 for the 6800 Ultra and $299 for the non Ultra."

Read the article
NV40 specs

 

New DRAM Technology

Apr 07 2004 @ 05:31PM by MikeC

New OCZ press release talking about some new DRAM technology that'll help boost memory performance.

Sunnyvale, CA, and Richardson, TX, April 6, 2004 ? OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra high-performance memory solutions for PC enthusiasts and gamers and DataSecure LLC, a memory system technology development pioneer today announced the joint support of a new Posted Precharge and ultra low latency DRAM technology.

Posted Precharge is a novel feature to provide an effective workaround for the limited number of open pages in current DRAM technology. Through a series of minor die modifications, DataSecure Posted Precharge technology (patent pending) allows keeping memory rows open while accessing different pages in the same bank. If a secondary access to the same bank occurs, data are immediately available without the need of reopening the memory page. Through the integration of SRAM registers it is further possible to reduce CAS latency to warrant quasi-isochronous data access on read commands.

Click here for the press release.

 

More Consequences of DRAM Prices Going Up

Apr 07 2004 @ 06:22AM by MikeC

Digitimes reported yesterday that DRAM prices were going up rougly 10% due to shortages. Well seems like this shortage may also lead to video card prices going up as well.

"Tight DRAM supply is set to force graphics card makers to raise product prices and motherboard makers may suffer from a decline in average selling prices (ASPs), according to sources."

Read the article

 

nForce3-250 successor

Apr 06 2004 @ 11:16AM by MikeC

With the nForce3-250 still unreleased, nVidia already has plans to introduce a new chipset, code named CK8-04/Pro, as its successor. The new chipset will boast a ton of new features that is sure to blow a lot of your minds.

"Unofficial sources said that NVIDIA?s core-logic code-named CK8-04/Pro designed for AMD?s Socket 939 processors will sport 1000MHz HyperTransport bus, 4 Serial ATA-150 ports with RAID, 2 Parallel ATA-33/66/100/133 channels with RAID, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 USB 2.0 ports, 4 PCI slots, High-Definition 24-bit 96kHz 7.1 audio as well as something NVIDIA calls PCI Express x20."

Xbit Labs has the details.

 

RAM prices go UP

Apr 06 2004 @ 06:36AM by MikeC

Well if you're like me and have tried to buy some memory of late, you'll notice that memory prices are pretty high (if you're on a student budget that is). Now it's about to get even pricier. Roughly 10% accross the board. Apparenlty this is caused by a concern of DRAM shortage.

Concerns about a potential DRAM shortage have pushed up prices for mainstream DRAM by over 10% in both the spot and contract market on April 5.

Digitimes has the article.
Click here for the latest RAM prices.

 

New AMD Lab

Apr 06 2004 @ 06:32AM by MikeC

AMD is setting up a new chip lab which will be a subsidiary to AMD called Cerium Labs. This lab is set to open at the end of April.

Read the article

 

NV40 Scores

Apr 06 2004 @ 06:29AM by MikeC

The Inquirer has posted some alarming results for the NV40. 3DMark2003 scores are in the 12000 region. This is disturbing to ATi fans since at CeBIT 2004, ATi was reported saying that anything over 10000 would be a dream.

"In back rooms at the CeBIT Messe, we heard talk of 3DMark03 scores of "over 10,000 3DMarks" for both ATI's R420 and Nvidia's NV40 but, for various reasons, we weren't particularly confident in our source. However, in light of today's news, we'll mention that that same source said that the ATI R420 was somewhat slower, though "not by much"."

Read the article

 

GMail Me

Apr 02 2004 @ 06:11AM by MikeC

Google is getting ready to launch their new email service called GMail. This new web based email service will boast 1GB of storage space as compred to the measely 2MB you get from Hotmail. The service isn't quite ready yet, we'll keep you posted on the details as soon as they come up. GMail link. Check it out for details.

 

New ForceWare Drivers

Apr 01 2004 @ 01:33PM by MikeC

nVidia has just released a new version to their ForceWare drivers. Version 56.72 features include:

Adds support for GeForce 5700 and GeForce 5700 Ultra

Microsoft® DirectX® 9 and OpenGL® 1.5 support

Supports application profiles for custom image quality and performance modes for all of your applications and games.

NVIDIA nView 3.5 Multi-display technology

Advanced Microsoft® Internet Explorer® popup blocker

Industries only Display Gridlines technology

Improved HDTV Y Pr Pb component out support for 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i formats*

Grab them while they're hot.