Tech News

• Killing Your Internet with Killer Ethernet @ Techgage

  Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | By: Dennis

  It really does suck when your network card goes out.  More so when the card is a custom onboard solution designed to enhance game play by offloading expensive network calculations from the CPU to the NPU.

  I never knew that moving packets could cause so much CPU overhead, than again have you ever tried moving data to a Atom powered NAS over a gigabit connection?  Ya SLOOOOOWWW.

  We’re PC enthusiasts. We buy bigger graphics cards to improve our gaming, better audio cards to improve our immersion, and feature-richier gaming peripherals to improve our skill. Is it so unreasonable, then, to purchase an Ethernet card that promises to deliver the best-possible net experience for gamers? It’s an oft-debated topic, and one that doesn’t have a clear conclusion.

  The Killer NIC has a benefit but most users will never see it.

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• Unreal Engine 4 Infiltrator Demo Shown at GDC

  Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 | By: Dennis

  I have a soft spot for game demos since they do a really good job at getting people excited about the game.  Some of the most famous ones include... 

  Ummm, Ya, I can't think of any.  Well, Duke Nukem Forever comes to mind but those demos were just teasers to keep the hype alive.  As it would turn out the only way it would become a game is if Gearbox was to buy up the project and actually put people on the project.

  (Oh wait that happened )

  Well, the Unreal Engine developers have been busy showing off what the Unreal Engine 4 can do, and if these videos are any indication on what next gen consoles can do then it might be a stocking stuffer for sure.

  Or these demos are just fluff to make headlines out of GDC,  Time will tell.

  Just in case you missed it last night buried in our interview with Epic Games VP Mark Rein, the company showed off a new real-time demo at GDC 2013 this week, titled "Infiltrator." The nearly four-minute clip, showcases a sci-fi shootout created with its Unreal Engine 4, and remarkably powered by a single GeForce GTX 680. 

  I am impressed they are using top end hardware to show the game rendering, now switch the view from "Movie" to FPS and lets see how it really looks.

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• iXBT Labs Review: Gigabyte GeForce GTX Titan Graphics Card

  Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Now this seems legit

  The capability rating compares each graphics card with GeForce GT 630, which is considered a baseline, or 100%. The rating is based on both synthetic and gaming results and shows, as the name implies, what a product is capable of.
  
  The usability rating is obtained by dividing each card's capability rating by its price. It basically shows whether a given product is over or underpriced, considering what it can do, and thus how reasonable it is to buy it.
  

  Somehow I think matching a GTX Titan up against a GT 630 seems a little unfair, both to the 630 and the respecting public looking to drop a grand on a special edition video card made wholly by nVidia and sent (as a standard package) to their retail partners.

  Please keep in mind that video cards are made up of chips and the configuration of those chips can determine performance.  For instance the GTX 690 is a DUAL GPU video card and the GTX Titan is a larger version of the GTX 680.  

  Who knows what the GT 630 is but it is needless to say, the Titan is not in the same league.

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• Why we listen to a Stereo

  Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 | By: Dennis

  A friend of mine sent this in.

  Normal people use their stereo to listen to music.
  Audiophiles use music to listen to their stereo.

  Man that is deep.

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• Egyptian navy captures divers trying to cut undersea internet cables

  Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Seems they finally caught them.  Often these stories claim some boat cut the cable dragging their anchor but, it would seem the real problem is vandals.

  Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said on his Facebook page that the three men had been caught diving from an inflatable dinghy as they worked underwater to try and cut the cable at a point just north of the port city of Alexandria, AP reports. Alexandria is the main entry point for the multiple submarine cables that bring internet connectivity to Egypt.
  
  Egyptian internet users have been suffering patchy speeds for the last week, but telecoms officials had been blaming this on damage to the cable caused by shipping. It now seems that accidental damage may not have been the cause.

  My guess is that stuff like this has been going on for years, heck I'm sure it happened quite often during the cold war.  Not to sever service but rather to listen in.  One of these days the region wil finally grow up, and until then we'll have stories like this cloggin the infoNet while more pressing matters, like the latest meme photo on reddit, continue to dominate our stationary lives.

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• NL: Review Block - Cards and Coolers

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  In this episode of "Cards and Coolers" try to identify what movies the quotes come from. (slightly modified for content)

  Coolers (Its not a coola)
  - Cooler Master Seidon 240M Water Cooling System Review @ ThinkComputers
  - Cooler Master Seidon 120XL @ techPowerUp
  - be quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review on Technic3D
  - Corsair H110 Cooler Review on Technic3D
  - Zalman FX100 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
  - Noctua NH-L9i Review @ HCW - Ultra Low Profile Cooler for Intel CPUs
  
  Video Cards (send in the cards!)
  - Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Market Overview @ Ocaholic
  - PowerColor PCS HD7870 MYST Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
  - PowerColor PCS+ HD 7850 Radeon Graphic Card Review @ Pro-Clockers
  - PowerColor PCS+ HD7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 @ LanOC Reviews

  *Hint: they are old movies with Bruce Willis and Arnold

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• How to Connect XBMC Linux to Synology Diskstation NAS @ OCModShop

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  I will admit that I'm pretty green when it comes to XBMC but have followed the project since its Xbox roots many moons ago.  These days you can get XBMC on almost anything including  Android based tablets and your standard Windows computer.

  Given that XBMC can access streaming services you may wonder, "why hook it up to a NAS?".  Well the roots of the project came from accessing media anywhere, including a standard NAS sitting across the room.

  One problem you may face with an XBMC Linux installation (or appliance running XBMC) is connecting to and scraping your media that resides on a NAS.  You have to do a little tweak to your Diskstation to get XBMC (and some other appliances) to work.

  Seems like a good thing.

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• Kingston HyperX 10th Anniversary Edition – 16GB DDR3 2400MHz @ PureOverclock

  Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | By: Dennis

  You think all memory is built alike?

  Kingston celebrates 10 years of success for their HyperX family by releasing the Anniversary Limited Edition memory lineup. These special edition modules are available in various sizes from 4GB to 32GB, and there are two or four module kit with a wide range of frequencies to choose from. Today, we’re joining Kingston to celebrate the HyperX’s Anniversary by sampling the 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3, KHX24C11X3K4/16X quad-channel running at the blistering speed of 2400MHz, with lowest latencies of 11, and operating at 1.65v. The HyperX 10th Anniversary Edition lineup is designed to work with multiple platforms from both Intel and AMD.

  2400Mhz @ CL11 isn't all that great but it looks good so you can't complain that much.   I might have to ask them how they got the modules to stand up, it is the one remaining mystery in the world.

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• A Look at Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition @ Techgage

  Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Anyone remember this game?  Has anyone ever played this game on a LAN? at a Cyber Cafe? over the Internet using kali.net?

  Ya didn't think so.

  Well for those of you who still have multi versions of the game on CD and want to get "another" you can buy it for 10 bux on Steam.

  The last game I would have ever expected to see released this month on Steam was Duke Nukem 3D, but lo and behold, it’s here. Dubbed the “Megaton Edition”, this one packs in upscaled graphics, three add-on packs and soon, multiplayer. Oh, and achievements. Let’s check it out, and compare it to the classic version and the HRP.

  Rumor is the graphics are better but it isn't using the High Resolution Pack so textures could be better.  The way I see it the game was designed for 640x40 and that is the only way to play.

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• nVidia GTX 650 Ti Boost Launch Day - Is it good?

  Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Just going to be a quick list this time, no pictures, no comments, just raw links.  (oh and maybe a rant)

  Web Reviews
  - nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Review @ Ocaholic
  - GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Graphics Card reference review
  - Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB @ LanOC Reviews
  - NVIDIA and EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST Review
  - Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost @ Bjorn3D
  - NVIDIA Geforce GTX 650Ti Boost 2GB Edition Review @ Hi Tech Legion
  - Palit GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Overclock Edition Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
  - Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics card reviewed
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - NVIDIA GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Review @ Hardware Canucks

  Why bother releasting this card?  Good question, it is what the GTX 650 Ti should have been afterall, it now has SLI support and has GPU Boost but why release a lack luster card that is only good for SFF gaming and PhysX processing and then later turn around and re-release the card the way it should have been?

  Who knows,  Maybe when I get my card sample sample the answers will be revilaled.

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