[H]ardNews 1st Edition - Press Releases

SLI Quadro FX3400:

NVIDIA Corporation broadened its already expansive graphics line today with the introduction of four new NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics solutions based on PCI Express™. Leveraging this next-generation bus architecture, NVIDIA doubles the bandwidth of its AGP 8X-based products to over 4GB per second in both upstream and downstream data transfers.

Intel Xeon News:

Intel Corporation today announced availability of a new Intel® Xeon™ processor-based platform and a host of new products and technologies for its Intel Xeon processor family that significantly boost performance, memory and graphics capabilities for workstation platforms. Workstations will benefit from rich set of new technologies that address the increasingly data-hungry systems and software applications that crave performance for a range of functions such as financial and scientific data modeling to digital filmmaking and design automation.

Radeon Powers The G5:

ATI Technologies Inc. today announced that select models of Apple’s® flagship Power Mac® G5, featuring a complete lineup of dual 64-bit processors, will once again ship with high-end RADEON™ graphics accelerators. With this latest PowerMac G5 lineup, users will experience increased graphics performance and quality with the RADEON 9600XT™ and the optional RADEON 9800XT™.

[H]ardNews 12th Edition

Alienware's SLI Parhelias?

Alienware officially states they will support SLI-like technologies from ATI, NVIDIA, and even Matrox...and others. They went on to say:

ALIENWARE PROMISES FASTEST GRAPHICS SOLUTION

We assume this represents a new focus from the old attempt to turn out the neatest looking case that bulges like an overfilled grocery sack and has has doors that snap off. Kudos to them for seeing the light.

MIAMI, FL – June 28, 2004 – Alienware®, the leading manufacturer of high-performance desktop, notebook, and professional systems, affirmed today their intention to offer Alienware’s innovative Video Array Technology using off-the-shelf graphics solutions from manufacturers such as ATI, Nvidia, 3D Labs, Matrox, and others.

Just FYI, we did not make anything up that is quoted...only the other stuff. I hope they do not put their lawyers on us like they did last time they did not like what we had to say.

[H]ardNews 11th Edition

Big Bad Apple:

An [H] reader points out that Gizmodo has a rumor posted about Apple's new 30" "mega display" being powered by NVIDIA

Hehe, I think that SLI is about a little more than Apple's tiny market of 30" displays. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL can be seen here in all its glory.

It is the first card available to support the DVI standard dual link digital signal specification from the two DVI ports it features. This capability is required to drive the new 30-inch LCD, high resolution Apple Cinema HD display. The combination of a GeForce 6800 Ultra with a dual processor Power Mac G5 driving two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays is the definitive tool for the creative professional.

On NVIDIA and Apple on another note, Michael Owens pointed out something worth a smile today in the NVIDIA SLI presentation. Seems as though the SLI setup in that PC...is actually in a Mac. Now there is something that was very rare even during the pinnacle of SLI. Yeah, of course we knew that, we were just waiting to see if any of you caught it.

[H]ardNews - Blair's Tech

Tiny Lan:

Netgear readies you and your buddies' next road trip LAN Party with a router you can tuck into a pocket.

"This product is ideal for the mobile salesperson or executive who wants to establish a wireless connection in a hotel room with a broadband Internet connection," Vivek Pathela, Netgear's senior director of product marketing, said in a statement. "Additionally, it can be used to connect a group of people to the Internet wirelessly on an ad hoc basis in a conference room."

Ya Think?

Fraudulent E-mail became an acute problem for MasterCard in November and has gotten steadily worse, senior VP Pinon says.

I know when I go to cheat and steal from folks, I just use my kyle@hardocp.com address...

FujiMS:

Possible new server classes are looking to be in development based on Longhorn code.

TOKYO (AP) - U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. and Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. will collaborate to develop servers for the next-generation Windows operating system, the companies said Monday.

No More Cams:

Here is one for you Big Block Chevy fans...or maybe not.

Camless systems could cut fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and engine noise by up to 10 per cent, the researchers claim.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

64-bit Intel Nocona Launches:

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

More NVIDIA SLI:

TechReport

HotHardware

Sudhian

I'm intrigued to see how this new incarnation of SLI will be received by gamers and PC hardware freaks. On the one hand, it's very cool tech that should allow astounding graphics performance previously unthinkable; we're talking about 32 parallel pixel pipes cranking out gaming goodness in real time.

Cheap Lambo:

If you ever had the desire to own that

Lamborghini at a great price, you now have your chance. Could use a little touch up paint though.

Gaping Holes:

While you will certainly want to know more about these gaping security holes in Windows Internet Explorer, you will want to carefully define your search terms, especially if you are at work. Thanks Paul Francosky.

They don't name any that were hit though.

Ethical Hacking:

If you can't beat'um, join'um, right? Thanks Joe Alpert.

The students huddled over laptops at a Los Angeles-area college have paid nearly $4,000 to attend "Hacker College," a computer boot camp designed to show how people will try to break into network systems -- and how they will succeed.

Socket A Asus:

Hexus looks into why some folks are still going with socket A boards,

especially those that have found the value of inexpensive 2500+ XP Mobile CPUs that have shown to be huge overclockers.

With AMD's Socket A platform being so mature; CPU's are into their 3rd year of life, chipsets are well established, fast and full featured and cost is extremely attractive, it's hard for motherboard makers to create new products and stand out from the crowd.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

BFGTech 6800GT Ships:

Scott Herkelman, BFGTech Executive Vice President of Marketing, sounds off in our forums about their 6800GT shipping to Best Buy preorder buyers. How's that for notification?

All pre-orders to our knowledge were filled.

PCI-Epress:

As we plainly told you last week, currently a move to PCI-Express nets you really nothing in terms of performance or IQ in the gaming realm and this week Anandtech proves it less than 20 pages. Of course now that most of the 925 and 915 motherboards have been recalled, you will likely have to wait a bit to see it for yourself.

On the other hand, NV45 in its current incarnation is only a 35MHz overclock beyond the 6800Ultra. This does help close the already small gap between the occasional PCIe benchmark that lags AGP. In a case or two, we see performance gains approaching that of the percent difference in clock speed (at 1600x1200 with 4xAA/8xAF anyway).

Personal Cinema:

No, this personal cinema does not have a slot for tokens or a paper towell dispenser on the wall like the one you are used to. NVNews has a look at the new package from NVIDIA that touts the 5700Ultra GPU and all the latest and greatest multimedia options.

NVIDIA's Personal Cinema line had a lot to live up too in the multimedia enthusiast market, especially since this part of the graphics industry is dominated by the ATI All-In-Wonder.

Qudro Comparison:

The crew at CGNetworks runs three NVIDIA Qudro workstation cards through a canned benchmark and declares a victor.

For cost-conscious buyers, the Quadro FX 500 will suit light-duty 3D users, but the GeForce FX 5200 or even GeForce 4 range may be adequate for these users too.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

Reviews to Use

915/915 Chipset Review @ MBReview - Mini-ITX @ TweakNews - Voodooo Gaming Laptop @ TrustedReviews - 9600XT @ BJ3D - Shuttle NF3 250 @ TBreak

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

BFGTech 6800U OC:

BFGTech is throwing their hat into the GeForce 6800Ultra ring and they are stepping up the ante just a bit by overclocking theirs right out of the box. EnvyNews has the scoopage!

BFG has taken nVIDIA’s engineering and stepped it up a notch by offering a guaranteed overclock of +25MHz. You want more options? BFG gives you options. How about for that hardcore water cooling system of yours? BFG offers a pre-installed waterblock and card bundle for those who don’t want to void their warranty while installing their own; it even runs at 70MHz over a stock 6800 Ultra.

Mini ITX:

ViperLair covers VIA's latest and greatest Mini-ITX format all-integrated motherboard. They do fail to actually test it in any real-world applications though showing off some of the true talents of the platform.

The EPIA MII 12000 is yet another improvement to VIA's Mini-ITX motherboards. Performance wise I found the EPIA to be much improved.

Stack IT:

If you are looking for a new case that can support a good number of hard drives, the Cooler Master Stacker may be your box as shown by PCModding. Be warned, this case is not for n00bs as there are some ins and outs that have to be handled, but they should not be a problem for the more experienced box builder out there. One is becoming my new home soon.

Coolermaster Stacker is a ideal case for any server casing and hardcore users. The main enemy of this casing is the weight, so it is definitely not a ideal case for a LAN Party goer. Price is reasonable since it is a server case and the exterior is aluminum.

[H]ardNews - In The News

Sierra Goes Tubing:

And not in a good way. Sierra, well known for publishing such games as Half Life 2 and Leisure Suit Larry, is cutting down its staff by a sizeable amount. Don't worry though, this will seem to have no impact on those of you looking forward to fighting with a crowbar or a condom.

It's not yet clear which products will be affected by the layoffs; although CNN/Money this morning reports that the Hoyle range of card and board game adaptations will be cancelled as a result of the Sierra closure. Titles such as Ground Control 2, Half-Life 2 and Tribes: Vengeance, which are being published on the Sierra label, will not be hit as they are being worked on by external developers and handled by the VU Games parent.

Your Copy Rights:

Dan Brusven points out that PCWorld has a story about what is going on in the world of law and your rights to copy content that you legally own.

The Personal Technology Freedom Coalition has kicked an effort to push the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act through Congress. The legislation was introduced in January 2003 by Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat. It would allow consumers to break copy controls to do such things as make personal copies of compact discs or movies. Supporters say the bill is necessary to protect consumers' so-called fair-use rights to make personal copies, which the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) curtails.

Ahoy Matey:

Ye old download pirates are one step closer to walking a governmental plank straight into the sharks. Thanks Bumzy.

WASHINGTON - The Senate agreed to legislation Friday that would allow the Justice Department (news - web sites) to use civil penalties to go after people who illegally share and download computer files over the Internet (news - web sites).

[H]ardNews - Mods & Ends I

Cooling:

"Silent" K7 HSF @ CreativeMods - Quad Heatpipe Multiplaform HSF @ Systemcooling

Etc.:

940 vs 939 FX53 @ ShortMedia - MicroATX Motherboard Review @ ExtremeMHz - PocketPC @ 3DVelocity - Razer Viper Mouse @ IPKonfig

Modding:

DIY Fan Grill @ GideonTech

[H]ardNews - PR Flack

VIA CE:

Taipei, Taiwan, 28th June, 2004 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced support for Microsoft Windows CE version 5.0 embedded operating system, formerly codenamed “Macallan”, with dedicated technical compatibility and full driver support.

AMD64:

SUNNYVALE, CA - June 28, 2004 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that 64-bit versions of software applications Crafty and The Panorama Factory running on the beta version of the upcoming Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP 64-bit Edition for 64-bit Extended Systems demonstrate significant increases in performance, up to 57 percent for the Panorama Factory, compared to 32-bit software versions. Crafty is an open-source, high-performance chess program scheduled to compete in the World Computer Chess Championship this July. The Panorama Factory V3 digitally renders a set of photos to create a panoramic picture on your desktop.