[H]ardNews 7th Edition

Update on Early Doom 3

One of our forum members, Jiggs, was able to obtain a copy of Doom 3 from Best Buy today. We even have pictures for proof. So if you want to go give it a try, you might just get lucky.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

Asus V9999 Gamer Edition

Gamer's depot have posted their review of Asus' mid priced GeForce 6800 video card. It's a good card for the price range, but I just can't see not spending the extra cash to get a GT with all 16 pipes enabled. Then again, if you are strapped for the extra cash, this might be the solution for you.

At under $400 dollars, this card offers gamers quite a nice bang-for-the-buck scenario that transcends what we would normally expect for a 12-pipe solution based on current GPU technology.

Sparkle 6800 Graphics Card

The Modfather has their own GeForce 6800 review up. This one only packs 128 Megs of DDR1 video memory and still only has the twelve pipelines enabled. Honestly, this should be one of those cards that you should stay away from if you plan on buying a 6800 class video card. The Modfather guys seem to feel the same way.

So why would you buy a 6800? Well the answer has to be because you can't afford the 6800GT.

Tech Lounge Updates LanParty Review

When the guys over at the Tech Lounge originally did posted their DFI LanParty nForce II motherboard review, the onboard nForce NIC was not working properly. Well they've updated the review with a fix for this. They weren't happy with the way it was fixed, though.

Now this all sounds great except for the little issue that most users will not ever think to do this. The stickers have 12 numbers on them and nothing else, there is no indication that they are the MAC addresses for the network controllers.

Guide to Upgrading Your PC

This guide at PC Review isn't for the majority of our readers, as it is more a less a guide as to when you should upgrade your components, with no real suggestions on actual hardware. Still everyone has to start somewhere when learning about computers, so this is for you. For the the rest of our readers, I'll just post this quote that I found humorous.

Many PC magazines run articles tell you that installing a new motherboard and processor is a piece of cake and you can do it with a hangover first thing on Sunday morning while simultaneously changing the baby’s nappy

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

New Technology From IBM

So as I was surfing around the tech sites today, I ran into this article at The Tech Report from the eetimes that talks about a new chip technology that allows the processor to literally reroute transistor pathways on the fly. Cool stuff for sure. Here is a not so helpful whitepaper from IBM on the subject.

eFuse reroutes chip logic, much the way highway traffic patterns can be altered by opening and closing new lanes," Bernard Meyerson, vice president and chief technologist of IBM Systems and Technology Group, said in a statement.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

Longhorn's New Look

Well, the boys in Redmond are hard at work, as always. It looks like Longhorn is going to have a swanky new look when it finally launches. That and the updates to DirectX look like they're going to be great. That is if it doesn't get pushed back, AGAIN.

One of the more exciting parts of the conference was a talk entitled "DX Futures," where the Redmond software giant went over some of the architectural details of Longhorn's graphics architecture, which have some big in changes in store for Direct3D

Faster Broadband

News has been popping up around the internet of faster broadband services through tiered packages. I don't know why we missed it for so long, but Joe smacked us upside the head today to remind us with this ad from RoadRunner.

Doom 3 In Your Hands?

It looks like some people have found a way to their hands on some copies of Doom 3 a little early. From random chance to just picking one up at the store, it looks like you may be able to tell your friends you beat it before anyone else even gets a chance to start playing.

Edit:

Rolf send word that the Corporate Office of Best Buy has sent out emails stating that under no circumstances are they to start selling Doom 3 before August 3rd, so apparently it looks like the person that did get it was an aberration and not the norm. Oh well, I guess the waiting game is back on.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition - Weekend Week-In Recap

Here we go.....

We’ll start off by linking ourselves with the Doom 3 Hardware Guide, because that’s what everyone is waiting for anyway. Id plans on launching this games across many different platforms, but oddly enough, Infinium Labs has not acquired a license for this game as of yet.

Well, you can’t mention Doom 3 without mentioning Half Life 2, which is promised to be just around the corner, launched in September to be exact. Funny, it was supposed to be launched in September last year, as well. Kind of makes you want to fire a railgun at the smartest crash dummy, doesn’t it? This way, you can blame violent video games and actually mean it.

Then again, with first person shooters, you could always indulge in a game of CTF, or you could do like these hackers and play real life capture the flag. If that’s a little too complicated for you, you could just install this program and get root access a little easier. That’s got to be a reason to thank your system administrator for keeping your box from being hosed. Maybe you could thank him by trying to get him only the cable channels he wants.

If you can’t do that, don’t be sad. Intel’s got bigger problems. Between chip shortages, chip delays, and non functional chipsets, it has not been a good year for them. No wonder Craig Barrett is mad.

He can’t be any madder than Microsoft, though, who have had many problems with outsourcing. Speaking of Microsoft, it looks like they are planning on launching a rival to Google. It had better be better than Lycos, which was sold at a TWELVE BILLION dollar loss! Ouch!

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

Radeon X800 Pro VIVO

The Germans over at ATI-News have put up their review of the Mad-moxx Radeon X800 Pro VIVO video card. They even manage to get it up to XT speeds along with the added bonus of the company enabling the last four pipes for you. The review is in German, but the pictures and numbers are universal. If you just have to read a confusing English version, here you go.

The genuine X800 XT PE diagram maps is for the moment still very much RSR, WAD moxx the X800 pro VIVO @ Ultimate represents here an alternative.

Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Vince over at Sharkyextreme sends word that they have just posted their July Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide. They make some pretty good recommendations as far as hardware goes. I can't say $4000 is what I would call "extreme" spending for my ultimate computer, but then again in my ultimate computer scenario, I'd have at least three 20" flat panels. ;)

Each month the mission of our Extreme CP Buyer's Guide is the same; with $4000, we are sent to assemble the best possible gaming machine that money can buy.

Interview with Sapphire

The folks over at CDRInfo went out of their normal routine this week and have posted an interview with Daniel Forster of Sapphire Tech. The interview is rather short, but does contain some cool little tidbits, like this:

Toxic is based on a colour coordinated blue PCB and combined with the newly designed Arctic cooling fan. The fan will offer great performance and virtual silence.

That's right, someone is bringing the blue PCB back to the video card market. It's time for a happy dance.

Interview with Onisoft

The fellas over at BlueSmoke have posted an interview with Paul Dolhai of Onisoft concerning their recently announced game Fate of Ages. It's still very early in development, but the screenshots look pretty interesting. Their inspiration variety seems pretty varied as well.

The big inspirations for FoA was Final Fantasy Tactics, Diablo 2, Final Fantasy (7-10), Disgaea, Warcraft, Dragonball Z, all anime and manga , and Quantum Leap (yes the TV show )

Doom 3 Trailer

In case you haven't noticed, Doom 3 is upon is. Well Activision has just release a new trailer for us all to gawk at for a few days before we get our hands on the final version. The guys over at Gamer's Depot have hosted it for you to download. Make sure to check out our hardware guide to make sure your system is up to scratch, as well.

Edit:

Paul just sent me this link on Gamershell to a faster server, if you are having trouble with the Gamer's Depot link.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition

Etc.:

Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse Review @ XYZ Computing - Corsair TwinX1024-3200XLPRO Review @ TechIMO - AOpen CRW5232 52X CDRW @ Viper Lair - Altec Lansing MX-5021 @ OC-Zone.com In English - LG GSA-4120B DVD Recorder @ CDRInfo - Optorite DD1203 DVD Recorder @ CDRInfo - LiteOn SOHW-1213S DVD Recorder @ CDRInfo

[H]ardNews 11th Edition

Hacker “Capture The Flag”:

Hackers are planning a huge internet wide game of capture the flag. Before you go nuts and freak out, this is NOT a game that involves anyone other than the hacker teams involved. Target machines are set up by the people participating and the flags are captured boxes. Rumor has it that there will be no team Microsoft (rimshot).

If everything goes as planned, for 72 hours next February hackers from all over the United States will hit targets across the Internet in the largest mass attack to date.

[H]ardNews 10th Edition

Sempron Vs. Celeron D:

PCPerspective has pit the Sempron against the Celeron D. While many of you may not be into either of these processors, they would both make decent processors for a back up box or the likes.

Today we are going to be looking at two options for that budget system; one based on the Intel Celeron D processor and the other on AMD's newly announced Sempron family of processors.

IE Patched, Again:

It looks like Microsoft has finally released a patch for those lingering exploits found over a month ago. You can skip the story and hit Windows Update now if you are so inclined.

Microsoft on Friday released a patch for Internet Explorer designed to close three critical holes in the browser, including one that paved the way for the Download.Ject Trojan horse.

Killer Gaming Rig #12:

I have another Killer Gaming Rig giveaway going on at my alter-ego site, Hypothermia. You can enter once a day for the next 30 days. System specs will be announced over the next few days but I can guarantee that this will be the best Killer Gaming Rig yet!

[H]ardNews 9th Edition - Friday Funnies

Friday Funnies:

Don’t you just hate people who talk on the phone at the movies? Here is a new one, call the cops, they’ll mace the hell out of the offenders and then arrest them! Obviously not all police are as cool as the “movie mace” cops, especially not these cops. That is pretty stupid, almost as stupid as this dork who is suing for $5 million because he shook a school vending machine until it fell on him (over a dollar). Apparently this isn’t the first lawsuit filed against the school by the young scam artist either. Speaking of scam artist, Wal-Mart employees are awesome for helping this old lady….too bad some Wal-Mart customers aren’t cool at all, even if it was on a “triple dog dare”. Where are those “movie mace” cops when you need them?

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

Happy System Administrator Day:

If you are a system administrator and you are working today, you need to walk up to your boss right now and tell him/her you are leaving early today because it is System Administrator Day! If they act surprised or worse, have never heard of it, make sure you let your boss know how truly and deeply hurt you are….then go home and enjoy the rest of the day. If you get fired for following my advice, don’t worry…National Unemployment Day is tomorrow (I made that up). Blame Xathros for the reminder.

System Administrator Appreciation Day - A special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation of the person occupying the role, especially as it is often this person who really keeps the wheels of your company turning.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

Intel LGA775Socket T:

Our pal Michael over at Lost Circuits, a long time friend of the [H], has posted an Intel LGA775 platform review today. Overall the review is positive but there are always drawbacks with a completely new platform like this:

What it all comes down to is that there is a wealth of new features that needs to be evaluated over time, a prime example is the new LGA 775 SocketT. We had a look at a number of mainboards as early as Cebit in March 2004 where about everybody voiced their concerns about the reliability of the new interface and the wear and tear on the mainboard. There may be some truth to that but for what it is worth, in practice, these drawbacks will hardly cause any real problems.

Asus A8V Deluxe:

If a socket 939 purchase is looming on the horizon, check out this Asus A8V Deluxe review at PCStats.

stock performance of the Asus A8V was great, it's easily one of the fastest motherboards we've ever tested in the PCStats labs, and it also maintains a very slight edge on the nVidia nForce3 Ultra solution. With respect to overclocking, the A8V is moderately capable, but nothing special.

Railgun On The Way?

I read this article and all the sudden that voice from Quake 3 just kept playing over and over in my head “impressive”. Don’t we all need a railgun?

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has been awarded a 36-month, $30.8 million contract for the design, development, build and test of a compact pulsed power supply in support of the US Army's Electromagnetic Gun (EM gun) Technology Maturation and Demonstration program.