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Comment Re:Breaking news! (Score 1) 366

by JohnnyBigodes (#25804363) Attached to: AIX On the Desktop Is Getting the Boot

Conquering the world :D

Seriously, I'm sure they would come up with something. And I would be okay with BG3 not following BG2 in terms of story. NWN was nice but it wasn't really a sequel IMO. Little actual roleplaying, and the main campaign was short and kinda weak. Personal opinion anyway.
AMD

Submission + - AMD postpones Fusion CPU-GPU hybrids until 2011 (techreport.com)

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: While it previously intended to launch x86 processors with built-in graphics cores in 2009, AMD announced during its Financial Analyst Day presentation that its first "Fusion" chips won't debut until 2011. The company now intends to launch CPU-GPU hybrids together with its new Bulldozer architecture on a 32nm process technology, leaving its current architecture to compete against Intel's Nehalem processors (which will start featuring built-in graphics cores next year) in the meantime. On the upside, AMD has also announced four new processors aimed at mainstream notebooks, ultra-light laptops, and netbooks.
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple's aluminum MacBook: a PC enthusiast's take (techreport.com) 1

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: You often hear Mac fans talking about the latest and greatest Apple hardware, but what's it like for a PC enthusiast to make the switch? Cyril Kowaliski at The Tech Report has traded his ThinkPad for one of Apple's $1,299 aluminum MacBooks in order to answer that question. How does the MacBook compare to a rugged PC laptop, and does Mac OS X really have what it takes to compete with Windows? Also, can the new MacBook handle Windows Vista and Team Fortress 2 as well as it runs iTunes and iPhoto?
Data Storage

Submission + - "Green" 1TB Caviar popular enough for refr (techreport.com)

Submitted by AnInkle
AnInkle writes: "Green" versions of popular tech products, including PC hardware, are long past the novel stage. Many are popular enough that companies are releasing 2nd and 3rd generations of the supposedly eco-friendly products. When Western Digital released its GreenPower Caviar GP earlier this year, it had decent performance and consumed significantly less power than other terabyte hard drives. Apparently it's been successful enough that Western Digital has come out with a 2.0 version, of sorts, for this terabyte drive, with three 333 GB platters and a variable (still undeterminable) spindle speed. The Tech Report compares the new version to twelve other hard drives, including the original Caviar GP, and finds improvements in some areas, not so much in others. But for the marquee features of this model (power, heat, and noise), tree lovers should be pleased with the improvements.
Software

Submission + - Badaboom 1.0 uses NVIDIA GPUs to transcode video (techreport.com)

Submitted by AnInkle
AnInkle writes: NVIDIA has made a lot of noise about its CUDA general-purpose programming interface, and Elemental Technologies announced several weeks ago that they were preparing a GPU-based encoder for release. Though CUDA-based consumer applications are hard to find, version 1.0 of Badaboom Media Converter is now available, harnessing a GPU to convert videos for use on portable devices. The Tech Report spoke with Elemental CEO Sam Blackman about the software and shares what they learned about format and hardware compatibility, Elemental's performance claims, how DivX will be supported, and whether Badaboom can automagically send your copy-protected DVDs to your iPhone (with apologies to David Lynch).
Data Storage

Submission + - An in-depth look at Seagate's 1.5TB Barracuda

Submitted by
theraindog
theraindog writes: "More than a year and a half after the first terabyte hard drives became widely available, Seagate has reached the next storage capacity milestone. With 1.5 terabytes, the latest Barracuda 7200.11 serves up 50% more capacity than its peers, and at a surprisingly affordable $0.12 per gigabyte. But Seagate's decision to drop new platters into an old Barracuda shell may not have been a wise one. The Tech Report's in-depth review of the world's first 1.5TB hard drive shows that while the latest 'cuda is screaming fast in synthetic throughput drag races, poor real world write speeds ultimately tarnish its appeal."
Graphics

Submission + - Nvidia talks GPU failures in desktops, MacBooks (techreport.com) 3

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: After almost two weeks of wrangling with its legal department, Nvidia gave its longest statement ever today on the GPU and chipset failures that have plagued certain notebooks. The company addressed some allegations AMD has been making to the press and partners, and it talked about the potential impact of the failures on desktop systems, Apple's new aluminum MacBooks, and more. On the subject of the new MacBooks (which all have GeForce graphics), Nvidia seemed confident that we won't see a repeat of past incidents. Apple 'would not be launching the most important product in their history with a product they felt was at risk,' Nvidia said.
Graphics

Submission + - Budget graphics cards: $100 buys you good stuff! (techreport.com)

Submitted by JohnnyBigodes
JohnnyBigodes writes: Just how much money should you spend on a graphics card? The latest models for under 100 bucks might surprise you with their potency, both in games and HD video playback. The Tech Report has lined up eight cards, ranging from $60 to $170, to see where the values are. Among the new highlights on this price range are the Radeon 4670, and the GeForce 9600 GSO and 9500GT. Spoiler: yes, nowadays you *can* get away with spending $100 on your graphics card and get really good performance out of it.
Portables

Submission + - Intel Atom / VIA Nano - Compared & benched (techreport.com) 1

Submitted by JohnnyBigodes
JohnnyBigodes writes: With the current age's increasing focus in low-power, good-enough-performance architectures, the Tech Report takes a good look at Intel's Atom and VIA's Nano architectures and test platforms (mobo+CPU), detailing their intents and purposes, making comparisons, and providing performance and power draw benchmarks along the way. The skinny? Low-power desktops are here to stay.
Data Storage

Submission + - Notebook storage showdown: Time for solid-state?

Submitted by
The Raindog
The Raindog writes: "Some would argue that solid-state storage sits poised to supplant traditional mechanical hard drives, and with budget SSDs now available at much lower prices than previous flash drives, they might have a point. SSDs have the best shot of replacing mechanical drives in notebooks, where flash's low power consumption and high shock tolerance are significant advantages. To find out how the latest solid-state drives stack up against their mechanical counterparts, The Tech Report has compared seven 2.5" mobile hard drives across a wide range of application, file copy, power consumption, and noise level tests, with surprising results."
Announcements

Submission + - Analog Devices to quit PC audio, kill SoundMAX (techreport.com)

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: One of the most notable makers of PC audio codecs has thrown in the towel. Analog Devices has announced that it will no longer release new PC audio silicon, citing reasons like the "maturing state of the PC codec business" and its impression that the PC audio market "has become more and more of a commodity space." Analog Devices will continue supporting its existing products, but it'll soon give up its slice of the PC audio market to the likes of Realtek.
Windows

Submission + - OCZ's brain-control headband reviewed (techreport.com)

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: Could you control a game using your jaw muscles, eye movements, and brain waves? OCZ designed its futuristic Neural Impulse Actuator controller for that very purpose, and it claims the device lets players shorten their response times and interact with games more naturally. But is it really all it's cracked up to be? The Tech Report took the NIA for a spin in order to answer that question, and it made some interesting discoveries along the way. The verdict is that the nia works (mostly) as advertised, but getting used to it can take enough dedication and perseverance to put off many prospective users.
Graphics

Submission + - An HD4870 review to test your geekiness (techreport.com)

Submitted by AnInkle
AnInkle writes: AMD's stutter-launch of the HD 4800 series graphics cards has lurched forward with today's reveal of the HD 4870. At least a dozen PC hardware sites have reviews, but if you want to really geek out over the minutiae of the architecture, as well as a full battery of benchies and game comparisons, check out The Tech Report's coverage. Their exhaustive review covers everything from shader processing, texturing, memory hierarchy and render back-ends to power consumption, noise level and GPU temperature, all intermingled with Call of Duty 4, Half Life 2, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Crysis, Assassin's Creed and Race Drive GRID... oh, did I mention Stream Computing? It's fun no matter who you are.
AMD

Submission + - New ATI graphics cards squash the competition (techreport.com)

Submitted by J. Dzhugashvili
J. Dzhugashvili writes: After prematurely releasing the $199 Radeon HD 4850 last week, AMD has finally taken the wraps off its $299 Radeon HD 4870. The Tech Report has dissected the two cards' architectures and taken them for a ride through an extensive list of benchmarks and tests, and the results are surprising. The 4870 manages to keep up with Nvidia's $399 GeForce GTX 260 overall, and the Radeon HD 4850 looks to be king both at its price point and when paired up in a CrossFire configuration. More interesting still, AMD manages to perform those feats with a graphics processor half the size of Nvidia's latest.

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