[H]ardNews 7th Edition

Quake IV Screenshots:

Games Domain has a couple screenshots from Quake IV posted that are worth checking out. Quake IV is an all new story that will pick up right where Quake II left off. Here is a clip from what our friends at Raven had to say to Games Domain:

"After destroying the Strogg's collective brain and leader -- the Makron -- the Strogg have quickly regrouped under a new and more powerful Makron. However, with the Strogg's planetary defenses still destroyed, Earth's forces can deliver a full and final assault. This time you're not alone. An army of soldiers are fighting with you and an arsenal of weapons and vehicles are at your disposal. Quake IV delivers you deeper into the heart of Stroggos."

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

Soltek QBIC EQ3501-Pro:

If you are looking for a small form factor PC to smack your LGA775 processor into, then HotHardware has the review for you. The Soltek QBIC EQ3501-Pro barebones PC seems to have made a good impression on the HH team, the complaints listed are minor and the unit scored pretty high on the heat-o-meter (their name, not mine):

When we look at the design of the system, we were relatively impressed. The front of the unit is elegant and clean and the mirrored finish was a nice touch.

Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Drive:

If you are anything like us and you haul files around constantly, something like this Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Drive might come in handy for mass storage on the go.

The Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive is a cost effective alternative to multi-gigabyte flash drives, but the nature of the drive demands a more solid build and more feature-rich software bundle.

Worming Into Apple:

All I can say after I read this article is “wow”. Thankfully Apple isn’t in charge of securing dangerous materials or weapons. Holy cow, it is just frightening that a company can even operate that way, not knowing who is who or who even works there.

In 2000, writer Rodney Rothman spent three weeks pretending to be an employee of a Silicon Alley company, writing up the experience for The New Yorker as "My Fake Job." Seven years earlier, in 1993, programmer Ron Avitzur pulled a similar stunt.

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

Everything Up For ATi:

Amidst complaints that ATi isn’t shipping what they launch, the company itself seems to be doing phenomenally well in other categories. Shipments of consumer electronics chips is up 215% thanks to widespread use of their chips in HDTVs, handsets and Set Top Boxes. The same source also says that ATi’s PC desktop chips held 59% of the market while the notebook graphics chips were 72%:

Shipments of ATI Technologies consumer-electronics related chips, mainly for handsets, HD TVs and set-top boxes (STBs), grew 215% on-year in the September-November period (first quarter of fiscal 2005) of this year, claimed sources at ATI Taiwan.

New BTX HSF = Huge:

AkibaPC has pictures of the new Intel boxed processors and the huge BTX HSF that is shipping with them. Personally I couldn’t care less as long as it cools my CPU, that is what counts. Hit the link above to see several pictures of the mondo-HSF for yourself. Thanks to Jim Downs for the linkage.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

RivaTuner v2.0 RC 15.3:

Guru3D has posted the “New Year Edition” of their very popular video card utility. This brings RivaTuner up to v2.0 RC 15.3. Grab it if you want it, try it if you haven’t. The list of what’s new is way too long to post here so I will post what has been fixed in this latest version:

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition - Mods & Ends

Cooling:

Heatsink Round-Up @ OC-Zone - Zalman CNPS7700-Cu 120mm CPU Cooler @ TheTechLounge - ATake Dual Colour UV LED Fan @ DreamWare Computers

Etc.:

SilverStonetek SST-FP54 VFD @ ExtensionTech - Netgear DG834GT Wireless Router @ TekBunker - HSPC Tech Station @ Inside Project - Logisys Phone Smart LED Keyboard @ Phoronix

Cases & Modding:

SunBeamTech Molex Lighting Mods @ TechTastic

Free Stuff:

Crucial Ballistix Gaming Memory Giveaway @ TwistedMods - Ultra ATX Case Giveaway @ The Moditory - Crucial Ballistix Tracer Giveaway @ LAN Addict@

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

Overclocked Nintendo:

When it comes to overclocking, I'm sure most of you think you have seen it all. I used to think that too, that is...until I saw this. EpicGaming has a tutorial on overclocking your Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). There is a complete “how-to” and a few videos of games being played at a blistering 2.6MHz. Time to dig out that old NES in the garage.

Welcome to the Nintendo NES overclocking guide here on Epic Gaming! Here you can learn all there is to know about pushing your NES to its limits. Check out the detailed, photo-accompanied How-To guide, watch videos to see the dramatic effects of overclocking, and more.

VapoChill + SLI = Fun:

The crew at Hardwareluxx decided to smack a VapoChill onto an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe and take it out for a spin. I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that a highly overclocked Athlon64 system with SLI 6800 Ultras did “pretty good”. Bring your translator, this one isn’t in English.

Klar ist jedoch auch, dass die hier gezeigte Leistung wirklich beeindruckend ist - mehr als 10.000 Punkte im aktuellen 3DMark 2005 sind ebenso beeindruckend wie die Tatsachen, aktuelle Spiele wie Doom 3, Half Life 2, FarCry oder andere mit 1600x1200 bei 4xAA und 16xAF flüssig spielen zu können.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - Press Releases

MSN To Webcast New Year’s Eve:

People around the world will experience this New Year's Eve tradition in a way never before available through an exclusive live webcast on MSN® Video. MSN is the exclusive online provider of the official Times Square New Year's Eve 2005 celebration. Starting around 6 p.m. EST, when organizers light and raise the world-famous New Year's Eve Ball atop One Times Square, and continuing through the ball drop at midnight, MSN Video viewers will be able to select from three streams that will capture all the revelry.

MacWorld Jan 10-14:

Macworld Conference & Expo is the world’s most comprehensive event for the Mac operating system. Only Macworld brings together the loyal yet diverse base of Mac users in creative services, education, entertainment, application development, enterprise and small office/home office environments. Combining in-depth educational sessions with displays of innovative products and solutions on the exhibit floor, Macworld Conference & Expo offers professionals and consumers alike the opportunity to discover the latest developments and hottest products in the Mac industry. Macworld Conference & Expo returns to San Francisco this January!

[H]ardNews 10th Edition

Google Worm Targets AOL, Yahoo:

Well, it isn’t like we didn’t see this coming last week when we first posted news of the Google worm. It looks like the web site erasing Google worm that had everyone spooked last week is now targeting AOL and Yahoo search. Lovely. Thanks Joe Alpert.

Days after Google acted to thwart the Santy worm, security firms warned that variants have begun to spread using both Google and other search engines.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

Gigabyte G-MAX N512:

If a Centrino powered notebook purchase is in the cards for you, this review of the Gigabyte G-MAX N512 ought to be right up your alley. Kinda hard to tell if the problems that Legion Hardware ran into were because the notebook was a beat up review unit or if it they were actual issues with the notebook though.

The Gigabyte N512 sample that I received had already been reviewed by several other media before it arrived here. As a result this poor notebook was looking very tired and the outer casing had taken a good beating by the looks of it.

Toshiba M30 Notebook:

Target PC also has aCentrino based laptop in house for a little review action. The Toshiba M30 notebook has basically the same features as the system above but relies on the GeForce Go FX 5200 instead of the ATi Mobility 9600. Keep in mind neither of these two systems are desktop replacement systems like the Dell XPS we looked at here back in September.

Our model is powered by the 1.5 GHz and of course running on a 400MHz system bus. Basic features include 32KB/8KB of L1 memory along with 1MB of L2. 512MB of DDR memory is present on board and is expandable up to 2GB.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

In-Depth Look At Dothan:

Sudhian has posted an in-depth look at the Dothan today worth checking out. Those of you interested in Intel’s Pentium M, what it is and what it has to offer will certainly enjoy this article. The Sudhian crew even managed to get a little overclocking action thrown in for good measure. You gotta love this quote:

Prescott may be as attractive as the idea of belly flopping into a concrete-filled swimming pool, but another star has been steadily rising over Santa Clara.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12:

The DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12 LGA775 Intel i915P motherboard makes an appearance at Bjorn3D today for a little review action. Here is a quote from the review:

At about $165, the LANParty UT 915P-T12 is not the cheapest 915P board around, but it has proven to be one of the best overclockers around so far.

Galaxy GF 6600GT:

Walibe has a review of the Galaxy GF 6600GT posted for your viewing pleasure. Those of you looking for a decent mid-range card with the possibility of an SLI upgrade later should check out this review.

The 6600 GT is the perfect mid range card. There is nothing out there which comes close for price that is asked for and the card performs well in all current games at very reasonable settings.

Ultra Christmas Present:

This is quite possibly the worst / funniest Christmas story of the year and every computer nerds nightmare. If you don’t feel for this guy after reading his story, there is something wrong with you.

I have been in the hospital for a few days because of a past injury. My boss brought me my Christmas bonus to the hospital when he came to see me on thursday.(it was 1000.00) I ask my girlfriend to go to CompUSA and buy me a 6800 Ultra, I called and they had two in stock.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

Intel Readies For Battle:

According to Reuters, Intel is adding $2 billion in upgrades to FAB 12 & 22, the company’s facilities in Arizona in an attempt to fend off the advancing threat from AMD.

Construction crews hammer away at an unprecedented $2 billion upgrade to one of Intel's two Arizona factories, preparing the world's largest chip maker to safeguard its lead in manufacturing from resurgent rivals and to put recent costly missteps behind it.