[H]ardNews 12th Edition

HiS X850XT IceQ II Turbo ViVo:

If you are looking for a dual DVI, 256MB Radeon X850XT, I suppose this HiS X850XT IceQ II Turbo review is a good place to start. If you are still looking for more X850XT info, you can see our review of the VisionTek branded card here.

Some graphics card manufacturers have implicitly endorsed overclocking by introducing graphics card solutions that come overclocked out of the box. HIS is not the first to do so and their X850XT IceQ II Turbo is an exceptional card when it comes to both normal usage and when it is overclocked.

The Planet Receives ICANN Accreditation:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently accredited The PlanetSM as an official domain name registrar, authorizing the company to provide a full range of domain name services. The Planet is making those services available through OrbitSM, its unique customer portal for remote management and control. “Receiving ICANN accreditation shows that the industry knows it can expect best in class solutions from The Planet,” said Sam Fleitman, Vice President of Information Systems for The Planet. “It extends our offerings to cover even more of customers’ end-to-end hosting needs.”

[H]ardNews 11th Edition

Catalyst 5.4 WinXP Pro x64 Edition:

ATi has release new Catalyst 5.4 WinXP Pro x64 Edition drivers for your downloading pleasure. If you are running WinXP Pro x64 Edition head on over and grab them, the download weighs in at just over 31MB.

Supports RADEON 9500 Series and higher. High Speed download contains a single package for the Display Driver and Control Panel. WDM Capture Drivers are not included at this time. ALL-IN-WONDER products and VIVO products use the WDM Capture Drivers included with the Operating System. The drivers below support 24 languages.

[H]ardNews 10th Edition - Blair's Tech Ed.

Wal-Mart Says, Make It Yourself:

I could swear that I have been saying for years now that it would be a good idea to have customized CDs like the ones being offered by Wal-Mart now. Well, at least they are coming around and offering what people want.

Wal-Mart (WMT) will put the selections on CD and mail it to the customer. Customers will choose the title and packaging of their CD from a variety of images and can expect their purchase to arrive in three or four days.

Free Music:

Speaking of music, you can get 25 free songs from RealNetworks. Not the greatest service, but free is still good.

RealNetworks Inc., facing intense competition from file-swapping networks and from Apple Computer Inc., will give away 25 music tracks for free each month as part of a new service that seeks to entice music-lovers to pay for more tunes.

New Uses For Old PCs:

People are finding productive uses for old PCs instead of just dumping them in the local landfill or shooting them with high powered firearms and sending us the pictures. O.K. I admit, the "shooting PCs" thing is still pretty cool, not environmentally friendly, but still cool. I think putting a bunch of old computers to use folding for the [H] is the best idea though.

More than half the old personal computers replaced by consumers last year were put to productive use instead of being dumped or stored away, according to a nationwide survey.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

Serious Sam 2 Screenshots:

ShackNews has a couple high resolution Serious Sam 2 screenshots posted that show off the next installment in the Serious Sam franchise. The shots look pretty impressive but not as impressive as seeing the game in action. There is another screenshot over at Games Fusion that you should check out as well. Feel free to leave you thoughts and impressions of Serious Sam 2 in this thread or just drop in to see what others are saying.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

Official Apple G5 Specs:

It looks like Apple has posted the official Power Mac G5 specs on its website. Base 1.8GHz machines come in just under $1,500 while dual 2.7GHz machines will set you back twice that amount. Overall system specs are up (from 256MB) with 512MB RAM being the default for base dual processor systems, 200MHz speed increase and 9600 series ATi Radeon video cards handling the graphics. Apple Insider has a complete break down on what is new and improved.

Every Power Mac G5 ships with a new, faster 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support capable of burning up to 8.5GB on a single DVD, 512MB memory and larger hard drives for up to 800GB of internal storage, all within the Power Mac G5's signature aluminum enclosure featuring computer-controlled cooling for quiet operation.

World’s Greatest Hacker:

Hackers around the world let it be known, a new “king of the hackers” has been crowned (in this case, clowned). If you don’t laugh when you read this something is seriously wrong with you. Thank Joe Alpert for the linkage on this one.

What happened is clear: That guy entered his own IP-Adress in his mighty Hack-Tool and crashed his own PC. This way, the attack on my PC was a failure. I was already starting to think that I did not have to worry, but a good hacker never calls it a day. Two minutes later he returned.

UPDATE: We killed the original page, here is an alternate link provided by Terry Heinz.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

Shuttle SN25P XPC:

Check out this review if you want to see how the Shuttle SN25P XPC rates on HotHardware’s patented “heat-o-meter”. For comparison purposes, you can see our review the nForce4 powered, socket 939 small form factor XPC here.

The fact that the SN25P traded the top spot with its "full-sized" competition proves that users don't have to sacrifice performance should they opt for a small form factor system.

Opteron 275 Dual Core:

Sudhian has posted an Opteron 275 dual core review today for your viewing pleasure. Just exactly who would need all the processing power of the new dual core CPUs? Not many people. But the real question is do you want all that power? I’d have to say the answer to that is an overwhelming “yes”.

As powerful as a quad-core / dual CPU Opteron 275 system is, its going to be a relatively rare professional who needs this type of setup; on a consumer level Intel’s dual core Pentium D / Pentium 840EE combinations are likely to present better price-performance ratios for those interested primarily in multi-threaded performance.

Torque On The Mac OS X “Tiger”:

GarageGames today announced new feature support for Mac OS X(R) version 10.4 "Tiger" in both the Torque 2D and Torque Game Engines. Both engines will enjoy the advantages of 64-bit support and Xcode(TM) 2.0 optimizations. Additional enhancements will include direct support for Tiger features Automator and .Mac Sync. These enhancements deliver into both professional and consumers hands the ability to create native Mac OS X games with the highest quality tools available for less than a 1,000th the price of comparable technologies on the market.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

[H]ardForum [H]appenings:

[H]umpday [H]ardForum [H]appenings is here! Those of you who are Folding for the [H]orde have earned the undying love and respect of us here at the [H]. For our newest folders, make sure you optimize your F@H configuration for the best possible folding experience. AMD processor owners have a Game of the week thread going which is basically a weekly mini-challenge. Fun for the whole family. If Spyware is driving you crazy, I highly recommend you check out our Official Anti-Spyware info thread. There is some very good info in there. Those of you who are into playing WoW should check out this WoW [H]ard guild. If you are going to be playing WoW, why not game it up on a server full of your fellow forum members. Deal of the Day is this cheap All-In-Wonder X800XL AGP card for under $325. Runner up is this link for Limited Edition Xbox Halo2 for under $30. Very nice. As always, have fun and we’ll see you in

the forums.

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

Turner To Deliver On-Demand Game Service:

Turner Broadcasting service is putting its considerable muscle behind a new on demand video game service called GameTap. For a monthly fee you can download all the games you want as well as have access to coming attractions and other bonus content. Games will be downloaded directly to your PC eliminating the additional cost of a proprietary console or additional hardware to play the downloaded games. With GameTap you simply pay your monthly fee and then download and play as many games as you want.

Turner Broadcasting unveiled an on-demand video game service Wednesday that allows customers to access hundreds of games and original content via high-speed Internet connections. The service, known as GameTap, will launch this fall with up to 300 game titles from 17 video game publishers.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

AGEIA Expands Management Team:

AGEIA announced today that they have added Andy Keane to the AGEIA team as VP of marketing and Kathy Schoback in the position of VP of content acquisition. If these names sound familiar that is because Kathy Schoback recently held the same position for Infinium Labs and Andy Keane used to be with 3DFX. Here is a clip from the press release:

AGEIA(TM) Technologies, Inc., a company dedicated to delivering pervasive interactive reality to next-generation games, today announced that it has appointed startup veteran Andy Keane to the post of Vice President of Marketing, and games professional Kathy Schoback to the position of Vice President of Content Acquisition. Andy Keane is best known for marketing 3Dfx's Voodoo and Voodoo2 graphics, which dramatically altered the course of 3D games in the PC market. AGEIA will leverage his experience as well as his personal passion for physics to drive the adoption of AGEIA's new category of processor, the Physics Processing Unit (PPU).

“Highly Critical” Netscape Flaw:

Secunia reports that there is a “highly critical” flaw in Netscape 7.2 that could allow a hacker to launch a buffer overflow attack or allow the hacker to execute code on the compromised system. Secunia’s advice? "Use another product".

An unpatched flaw in some versions of the Netscape browser could let an attacker into vulnerable systems, security company Secunia has warned.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition - Mods & Ends

Cooling:

Arctic Cooling Freezer @ ATI-News - Alphacool Complete Pro 120 @ BurnOutPC - Spire KestrelKing VI Cooler Review & Giveaway @ 3DXtreme

Etc.:

Rexus SPX500 500W ATX PSU @ Big Bruin - 400 GB Hard Drive Shoot-Out @ Techware Labs - LogitechR HarmonyR 676 Advanced Universal Remote @ Futurelooks - ViewSonic VX924 19-inch 4ms TFT LCD @ Hardware Zone

Cases & Modding:

Logisys Home Theater Acrylic Case @ Phoronix

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

Uli, VIA To License SLi:

DigiTimes is reporting that both VIA and ULi will obtain patent rights for dual graphics technology from both NVIDIA and ATi. Last we heard, VIA was still working on their DualGFX technology, no word on what this means for that, if anything.

Taiwan-based chipset makers including VIA Technologies and ULi expect to obtain patent rights for dual-graphics platforms from ATI Technologies and Nvidia, according to sources at the makers.

Apple Sues Over Jobs Biography:

Apple is on a roll with the lawsuits lately, aren’t they? This latest lawsuit is over an unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs that Apple apparently doesn’t want people to read. I do think this is a mistake on Apple’s part, this lawsuit actually makes me want to read this guys book even more. Thank Paul Francosky for the link.

The book-spurning is only the latest attempt by Apple executives to crack down on writers who publish or distribute unauthorized or secret information about the computer maker. It's a strategy that experts in brand management say is likely to backfire, only adding to the notoriety of Apple's critics and encouraging sales in countless other bookstores.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - Press Releases

Spansion Wins Award:

Spansion LLC, the Flash memory venture of AMD and Fujitsu Limited, today announced that Spansion Thailand has received two awards as the result of a “Best Employers in 2005” study conducted by global human resources outsourcing and consulting firm, Hewitt Associates. The company was named one of eight “Outstanding Employers” in Asia out of a total of 244 organizations across China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. In addition, Spansion Thailand, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spansion LLC, was awarded “Best Employer in Thailand,” coming in number one in the manufacturing sector and number two overall. More than 60 companies participated in the “Best Employers in Thailand” study. This is the third year of the Hewitt pan-Asian Best Employers study, and the second time that either Spansion, or its parent company AMD, has received the award.

HP Goes With Radeon Xpress:

ATI Technologies Inc. today announced that Radeon® Xpress™ 200 will be the chipset platform technology for the HP dx5150, HP's latest AMD Athlon™ 64 processor-based commercial desktop PC. ATI's technology adds Radeon-class visual processing and broad connectivity for today's most commonly used devices and peripherals. The Radeon Xpress 200 also delivers built-in support for PCI Express, DirectX 9 graphics and AMD's 64-bit processors, helping to enable support of the latest operating systems and applications and, in turn, give customers investment protection.

NVIDIA Media Center PC Reference Design:

NVIDIA Corporation today unveiled a new Media Center PC reference design which will enable system builders and OEMs to assemble a high-end living room PC that is cost effective, has a richer feature set, operates at a cooler temperature, consumes less power, and is a physically smaller and quieter addition to the consumer’s living room. This reference design includes such industry leading technologies as PureVideo™ High-Definition video technology, a GeForce™ 6 Series graphics processing unit, NVIDIA® NVTV™ PC Tuner Card and more.