MODDING: blogs

CJ sent us a performance chart comparing Radeon HD 3870 X2 against the
GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 on some of the games out there. Although, the
benchmarks are done internally by Nvidia but it is probably conclusive to
compare GTX 280 and GTX 260 here. The drivers for
GeForce GTX 200 cards is the upcoming GeForce Release 177 while the drivers for 3870 X2 is a
rather old Catalyst 8.3.

Cooler Master proudly announces the worlds first-ever 80 Plus Silver Certified high wattage power supply, the highest rated 80 Plus power supply to-date by achieving a 88% efficiency; with the introduction of UCP 900W (Ultimate Circuit Protection). This looks like an impressive power supply! 88.14% efficient at 50% load, which is 513 watts and 85.10% efficient at 100% load (1055 Watts).

Cooler Master has long built a strong reputation based on industry-leading designs in coolers and computer cases, while its power supplies have often been over-shadowed. Today, marks a new era in the companys foray into the market of power supplies. With the UCP 900 reaching new 80 Plus specifications, Cooler Master now owns the title of having the industrys most energy efficient high wattage power supply. The UCP has achieved this previously unheard of efficiency level with innovative circuit board layout and superior components. For example, it first-rated soft-start circuits, a huge amount of solid capacitors and continuous active clamp forward switching technology combined with the DC to DC VRMs circuit design and more.

Leadtek just announced the launch of the WinFast PX9600 GSO Extreme video card. Based on the high quality NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO core chip, PX9600 GSO is equipped with 384MB of memory and 96 Stream Processing Units. The Leadtek exclusive S-FANPIPE fansink design is also applied to PX9600 GSO. This innovative cooling system can effectively conduct GPU heat through an S-shape copper heat pipe to the fan for a dramatic cool down effect that creates a stable temperature for the graphic card to deliver a superior visual performance.

Leadtek WinFast PX9600 GSO Extreme has adopted 65nm technology and is powered by NVIDIA's GeForce 9600 GSO graphics processing unit. With 384GMB of GDDR3 on a 192-bit memory bus design, the GPU and memory clock can run at the amazing speed of 600MHz and 1800MHz respectively. Furthermore, PX9600 GSO Extreme has 96 Stream Processing Units, which combine with the new PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture to create the fastest 3D graphic processing speed. To offer users an even better and more convenient experience using a graphic card, PX9600 GSO Extreme not only supports Microsoft Windows Vista and Direct X 10 with full Shader Model 4.0, but also fully supportsthe existing PCI Express 1.0 motherboards.

Intel and Micron Technology have announced the introduction of a sub-40nm NAND memory device with the unveiling of a 34nm-made multi-level cell (MLC) chip with a density of 32Gb. Sampling is slated to begin in June with mass production expected to follow in the second half of 2008.

The companies claimed that the device carries the smallest NAND process geometry on the market and is the only monolithic device at this density that fits into a standard 48-lead thin small-outline package (TSOP). It was designed with solid-state drives (SSD) in mind. The companies stressed that the product will enable more cost-effective SSDs, instantly doubling the current storage volume of these devices and driving capacities to beyond 256GB even for 1.8-inch form factor drives.

This summer is going to be hot and Arctic Cooling has a new product to help keeps things at the right temperature. Of course you need to keep your precious CPU and VGA nice and cool during the summer, but how about buying yourself a cool gadget as well? Dont you want to breathe some fresh and cool air while you are gaming or working hard? This seems a bit strange, but hey we've seen a number of crazy USB powered devices over the years. With the fan spinning at 2,000 RPM just be careful not to touch the fan blades as it has no protective cover.

The ARCTIC Breeze outperforms other USB fans in the market. Same as other ARCTIC COOLING products, the 92mm fan is equipped with a low noise impeller, making it a quiet fan at all speed. Whether it is warm or hot, the ARCTIC Breeze offers you the cooling you need. The fan comes with two levels of speed 1200 rpm and 2000 rpm. With the fan speed switch, users can adjust the speed to their preferable level easily, offering the lowest noise level possible. While other USB fans provide only a USB connector, the ARCTIC Breeze provides an on/off switch. Users can switch on and off the fan simply by one click, instead of plugging and unplugging the entire fan. The 1.5m long cable is long enough for your PC case underneath the table. Excess cable can be rolled up under the fan base, keeping your desk nice and tidy.

Corsair recently announced that it will launch a new 4GB DOMINATOR DDR3 memory kit running at 2000MHz at CompuTex 2008, held June 3-7, 2008 in Taipei. Tested and guaranteed for operation at the lightning fast overclocked speed of 2000MHz, this 4GB DOMINATOR kit provides superior performance for desktop platforms. MSRP. The press release doesn't state memory timings or voltages, but the Corsair website states that they are 9-9-9-24 at 1.85V on this PC3-16000 memory kit. The new 4GB DOMINATOR DDR3 2000MHz memory kit will be available Q3 through Corsairs authorized distributors, resellers and e-tailers worldwide, priced at $675.00 USD

Corsair is focused on building the industrys fastest memory available in the largest densities, said Richard Hashim, Director of Marketing at Corsair. This new ultra-fast DDR3 4GB DOMINATOR solution demonstrates Corsairs commitment to lead the memory technology transition from DDR2 to DDR3 and from 2GB solutions to 4GB solutions. Enthusiasts worldwide demand it and we are happy to support their requirements.

I know quite a few of you rely on my definitive pub-quiz-helper, Trivopaedia. It’s now been brought up to 2008 levels, with up to date stats for v2.3 . It’s available in Mobipocket reader and iSilo formats (i.e. compatible with any portable device or any platform), in addition to being fully online as well - and of course it’s still free.

One of the most well received projects in the demo area of the S60 Summit at Barcelona this week was Shaker Racer - a radio controlled truck using not the regular RC sticks, but the accelerometers in a Blue-tooth-connected S60 handset. I had to find out more, in our special video report.

S3 Graphics today announced its latest S3 Graphics Chrome 440 GTX desktop cards. Boards are now available at online retail affiliate GStore, with future shipments by key European partners in addition to multiple retail partners in Asia. The S3 Graphics Chrome 440 GTX is priced at $69 and is currently available online.

The Chrome 400 GTX is the latest addition to the S3 Graphics Chrome 400 series, delivering exceptional graphics realism and stunning HD multimedia performance in optimized desktop and media PCs. Based on the low profile PCI Express Gen 2 graphics card specification, the Chrome 440 GTX is ideally suited for PC users who wish to enhance their PCs to provide dual-stream Picture-in-Picture (PiP) 1080p Blu-ray Disc playback with the latest DirectX 10.1 / OpenGL 2.1 unified shader architecture. The Chrome 440 GTX uses the latest GDDR3 memory for optimized memory bandwidth and native HDMI connectivity for the latest digital displays.