Tech News
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PCMark 7 Coming soon
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | By: JimDesigned for Windows 7, PCMark 7 includes more than 20 individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming. These workloads are combined into a range of convenient suites each giving a different view of your system’s performance.
Will be nice to see what improvements this has over PCMark Vantage. No date given yet, but I suspect it will be out soon. -
Crysis 2 Available in North America - Will it be the new benchmark?
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | By: DennisCrysis 2 has officially launched in North America and promises to be the next great shooter in the Crysis franchise. There are rumors floating around that this game will not support DX11 which would indicate that the game will suffer from consolitis and be nothing more than a new story applied to the original Crysis game engine.
We can hope this isn't the case, but only time will tell.
It's 2023, terrifying alien invaders stalk the New York City streets. Only you can prevail, wielding the supersoldier enhancements of Nanosuit 2.
I'll be picking up Crysis 2 this afternoon, wish me luck.
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Crysis 2 Quick Performance Preview using Timedemo
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | By: DennisI got this little bit of news a day before the game was launched and it doesn't really tell us anything about Crysis 2 performance. Dare I say this post is purely for SEO and an attempt to take advantage of people looking for performance numbers??
The most anticipated game of the year has finally arrived! We do a quick performance runthrough and use the built-in timedemo facilities.
Yep, Google food for sure, click at your own risk.
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NL: Review Block for March 22th 2011 - Cooling for Crysis
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | By: DennisReviews from around the web. some new some old, all fun.
Cases
- NZXT Classic Series H2 Silent PC Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- NZXT H2 Classic System Enclosure reviewed in Metku
Video Cards
- XFX HD 6950 XXX Graphics Card Review @ Tweaknews
- HIS Radeon HD 6990 4GB Overclocked Video Card Review
- ASUS GTX 570 DirectCU II Review @ ocaholic
Motherboards
- TechwareLabs Review: Gigabyte E350N-USB3 Motherboard
- MSI 890FXA-GD65 Socket AM3 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
- MSI P67A-GD65 @ PureOverclock
Cooling
- Funky Kit Review: Arctic Cooling Freezer 11 LP CPU cooler
- Prolimatech Genesis heatsink @ Hardwareoverclock
- Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers
- Deepcool Ice Blade Pro Review at Overclockers Online
- Zalman CNPS5X-SZ Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech
Interface Stuff
- Tt eSports Shock Gaming Headset Review on Technic3D
- Mionix Propus 380 Mousepad @ Rbmods
- Tt eSports Black Element Gaming Mouse Review @ HardwareHeavenNot sure if this will be the new format for all reviews that come in, but it sure cleans ot the news box quick. If you have any suggestions on what you like in a news post let me know.
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AT&T Surges on $39 Billion T-Mobile Bid
Published: Monday, March 21, 2011 | By: DennisIt would seem the entire web is ablaze over the news that AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile. Personally I think it is a good move but as with any high profile buy-out you will have haters. The most vocal of these are "the beautiful people" on Facebook who no doubt are upset by change, or have some deep rooted hatred with AT&T.
The deal would allow AT&T, now the second-largest U.S. wireless operator, to add about 34 million customers and surpass Verizon Wireless. The acquisition may face government scrutiny because it combines the second- and fourth-largest wireless providers, reducing consumer choice. Though regulatory approval may take a year, cost savings and revenue gains could total $3 billion a year, Dallas-based AT&T said.
One thing is certain. If this deal goes thru AT&T will be one of the largest wireless providers based on subscriber stats. Will that improve quality? Not likely. Will it stop people from complaining about their wireless service provider like everything is their fault? Nope, people love to complain about everything. In fact, the only thing this will do is increase coverage for T-Mobile customers and make operations cheaper for AT&T.
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NL: Review Block for March 18th 2011 - Motherboards and More
Published: Friday, March 18, 2011 | By: DennisHardware reviews from around the web.
Motherboards
- Sapphire Pure Black P67 Hydra Motherboard (PB-CI7S42P67) Review @ KitGuru
- TechwareLabs Review: ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Professional Motherboard
- ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Professional (Intel P67 Express) Motherboard Review @ TweakTown
- Gigabyte E350N-USB3 @ PureOverclock
- ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA1155 Sandy Bridge Motherboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
- ASRock Motherboard Preview 2011 @ ocInside
- Gigabyte G1 Assassin Intel X58 Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers
Video Cards
- Overclocked NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Round-Up @ HotHardware
- MSI R6870 Hawk Video Card Review @ HardOCP
Memory
- Kingston HyperX PC3-2133 CL9 Review - XSReviews
Cooling
- Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler Review @ OverclockersHQ
- Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler @ Bjorn3D
- Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler Review @ OCIA
Power Supply
- Cooler Master GX-450W PSU Review @ BayReviews
Cases
- Zalman Z9 Plus Mid-Tower Case Review @ Bigbruin
- Cooler Master Centurion 5 II Black and Red Edition: First Look @ Pro-Clockers
- Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Case Review @ Tweaknews
Audio
- Tt eSPORTS Shock Gaming Headset Review @ TechgageThis might be the longest review block ever.
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Sapphire HD6870 Flex Reviews
Published: Friday, March 18, 2011 | By: DennisWe recently took a look at this video card and found it to be very similar to the standard HD6870 with the addition of more video outputs. Overclocking and gaming support are still good so don't be discouraged by the "FleX" name.
- Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 FleX Review @ Techgage
- Sapphire FleX Edition Radeon HD 6870 1GB @ Pro-Clockers
Be sure to check out our review of the Sapphire HD6870 Flex on your way back. -
Pepsi Creates a Bottle Using 100% Plant Products
Published: Thursday, March 17, 2011 | By: DennisPeople who know me will have no doubt have noticed my preference of Pepsi over any other soft drink. I wouldn't say my love of Pepsi is an addiction but rather a principle I can stand behind and speak strongly against.
As a drinker of Pepsi for several years I have seen most of the bottling experiments Pepsi has tried from the traditional 12oz can to my favorite the 1 liter "Big Slam" (not the weak 1 liter we have now but the awesome one with the big top). One of the most unique containers I have seen is the glass bottle from the 90's. This was a 16oz clear glass container wrapped with a thin polyfoam insulator to keep your fingers from getting cold. These bottles were awesome but went away after a couple years in favor of the cheaper plastic bottles we see today.
A recent breakthrough in container design features a combination of plant materials with standard petroleum based plastics to create a sort of green plastic bottle. Well the Pepsi engineers have taken this one step further and created a plastic bottle that is made entirely from plant products and thus removed the dependency of oil from the material list.
They claim the new bottle is indistinguishable from the traditional plastic bottle but you know when they bring it to market the packaging will be covered in advertisements describing the new material.
The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.
The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles, said Rocco Papalia, senior vice-president of advanced research at Pepsi.
I am of the opinion that bringing back the glass container would be a smart move for Pepsi but one of the reasons they went away was cost. Let's hope the plant bottle is a viable solution for Pepsi can fully replace petroleum based containers sooner rather than later.
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How can I secure data I need to carry with me? via Ask Ars
Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 | By: DennisEver wondered how you can transport large amounts of data in a safe and secure method?? Well, in a way, we have been doing it for years, consider this. Armored Truck, its main task is to transport large amounts of money from one place to another. For years armored trucks have been soft targets for bank robbers which carry the illusion of security. Just watch "the Town" and "Groundhogs Day" if you don't believe me. Another option is what those spy guys do by handcuffing a briefcase to their arms. The method also has the illusion of security assuming a) the guy carrying the briefcase wants to keep his arm and b) that the briefcase is armored and/or protected by a good lock.
The issues with both of these methods is that once you remove the human element there is only a thin veil separating the robber from the goods.
Ask Ars takes a comical approach to the question of transporting secure data from one place to another that removes the human element from the actual transport and assumes that pedo bear doesn't get you first.Question: What's the most secure way to transport 100GB of data via Sneakernet?
Sharing small files across the Internet with a good amount of security keeps getting easier, but large datasets can still create long, painful upload times. In this video edition of Ask Ars, we cover the most secure ways to transport large datasets by trekking the dusty trail, otherwise known as Sneakernet, even with predators in hot pursuit.Them bears are scary too.
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THQ Homefront Launches Today (3/15)
Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 | By: DennisThere are several reasons why I am excited about this game.
- Based on the back story the game should have an EXCELLENT single player story
- The game "borrows" Call of Duty controls and interaction (why mess with a good thing)
- Multi Player game modes
My only phj34r is that the game will suffer from major consolitis and be nothing more than a console port like Call of Duty: Black Ops. However based on the strong back story and the fact they consulted with the writer for "Red Dawn" I'm willing to take a chance.
In fact I'll be headed to the local "Cave of Evil" (Best Buy) to pick up the game during lunch and hopefully be fragging tonight.
