<strong>Beyond3D, OCIA, BIOS, Hardware-Mag, 3DCenter, Bjorn3D, K-Hardware, TrustedReviews, Driverheaven, Designtechnica, MaximumPDA, Madshrimps, Elite Bastards, I4U, Legion Hardware, etc.</strong>

Interview with ATI´s CEO, Dave Orton @ Beyond3D

"What we are now moving towards is actually a unified design team of botheast and west coast, that will develop our next generations of platforms,from R300 to R400 to R500 to R600 to R700, instead of a ping-pong ballbetween them both. Within that one organisation we need to think about wheredo we architecturally innovate and where do we not in order to hit the rightdevelopment cycles to keep the leadership, but it will be one organisation."

Read more at Beyond3D.

Everglide GIGANTA V-3 Mousepad Review @ OCIA.net

"Here is how the mousepad came to me, just some basic shrink wrap to keep the USB cable from getting mangled. As you can see, the mousepad is quite large, measuring 9 1/2" tall, 11 1/2" wide, and 1/4" deep. The USB cable is also 5´ long, to make sure it reaches your computer, no matter where you put it."

Read more at OCIA.

Acer´s TravelMate 290 series @ BIOS

"Acer´s TravelMate 290 series of laptops are designed for small-businessand corporate users who don´t need the computing power andbells-and-whistles of a desktop replacement laptop. Relatively compact(334x277x32mm; 2.84kg) and housed in a robust enclosure, the TravelMate291LCi should appeal to those who need a relatively speedy and portablesystem for performing general business duties, such as working withoffice applications, Web browsing and connecting to public Wi-Fihotspots. Its Intel graphics chipset and 15in. TFT screen are a letdown, however, so those looking for a solution to edit video and stillimages should look elsewhere. If your computing needs are moremainstream, the TravelMate 291LCi is an excellent value proposition thatoffers average power outlet autonomy."

Read more at BIOS.

Hardware-Mag Preview: ATi Radeon X800 Codename R420

"Wir erinnern uns noch alle an die Zeit, als ATi mit der Radeon 8500 endlich mit Nvidia gleich auf war und die weitere Entwicklung mit groúen Schritten voran ging. Seitdem stieg die Erfolgskurve immer weiter und stÄrker an, denn auch die Kunden vertrauten immer mehr in ATi Produkte, gerade nach dem grÆúeren NV30 Desaster bei Nvidia. Doch nun spricht alle Welt von der neuen GeForce 6800 (Ultra), welche auf dem neuen NV40 basiert. Auf dem Papier sind Nvidias neue Grafikkarten den ATi Kontrahenten jedenfalls schon Ýberlegen und auch die ersten Benchmarks kÆnnen sich (wahrlich) sehen lassen. Muss ATi jetzt vielleicht um die LKrone? im Grafik-Bereich bangen, welche durch die GeForce FX 5950 Ultra auch schon ins Wackeln gekommen ist? Die Chancen stehen jedenfalls nicht schlecht fÝr Nvidia, dass die Kunden wieder volles Vertrauen in die neuen Produkte haben, denn schlieúlich gibt es natÝrlich etwas gut zu machen. Mehr dazu im Artikel — Viel Spaú beim Lesen!"

Read more at Hardware-Mag.

3DCenter News: Inside ATI´s R420

"With the launch of the ATi R420 graphic chip, our 2 articles are online now. The technical part (Inside ATI´s R420) is written in english, only the benchmark part (ATi Radeon X800 Pro Review) is written in german — but who need translated benchmark graphs. Please note, that our benchmarks are done without the ATi bi/trilinear texture filter optimization, because the GeForce 6800 Ultra runs also without any texture filter optimization."

Read more at 3DCenter and don´t miss the ATi Radeon X800 Pro (R420) Review.

Bjorn3D tests the Radeon x800 XT Premium Edition

"Pixel and Texel fillrate of up to 8.4 Gigapixels/sec, up to 37 GB/sec of rawbandwidth and 12 or 16 pipeline architecture are the key features when it comesto X800 performance. Due to its sophisticated 0.13-micron Low-K dielectricprocess, very efficient GDDR3 memory interface and superior pixel shaderarchitecture (12 or 16 pixel pipelines and 6 vertex units), RADEON X800 (x800XT Premium Edition) easily doubles the performance of its high-end predecessor. RADEON 9800XT."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition / PRO Review @ Beyond3D

"Under the Pixel Shader 2.0 test from 3DMark03 We are seeing much great performance differences between the boards than in previous test The X800 XT PE is up to 65% higher performance than the X800 PRO and very close to being 3 times the performance of the 9800 XT! Given the 9800 XT used not to be considered a slouch in this test, comparatively, these gains are fairly impressive. The X800 PRO even shows as much as an 82% improvements in this test over the 9800 XT."

Read more at Beyond3D.

ATI RADEON X800 Preview —> K-Hardware

"Today now is ATI.s launch day of it.s new NextGen chip R420. After a longdevelopment phase and release shifts the secret about the codenamed R420 chipis not longer a secret. The R420 became a name and will be released as theRADEON X800 in different versions. We take a look at any informations of thechip, a complete test will follow."

Read more at K-Hardware.

ATI Radeon X800 reference boards @ TrustedReviews

"As well as the 12 Pixel pipelines the X800 Pro also sports six vertexpipelines, 256MB of GDDR3 memory running at 900MHz, a 256bit memory interface,and a core VPU speed of 475MHz.
The X800 XT Platinum Edition on the other hand backs up its 16 pixel pipelineswith 6 vertex pipelines, 256MB of GDDR3 memory running at 1.12GHz, a 256bitmemory interface and a 520MHz core VPU speed."

Read more at TrustedReviews.

Driverheaven Review: Radeon X800 XT

"The RADEON™ X800 series of Visual Processing Units are the most advanced graphics processors ever created. Comprised of 160 million transistors, they built upon the highly acclaimed RADEON 9800 architecture and extend it by providing major increases in bandwidth, parallelism, efficiency, image quality, and programmability. The result is a series of products that defines a new era of High Definition graphics. The performance of the new architecture is staggering, doubling anything on the market today."

Read more at Driverheaven.

Driverheaven Review: Radeon X800 Pro / Geforce 6800 Ultra

"Since the release of the Radeon 9700Pro ATI have had a firm grip on the 3d graphics market in terms of top performance. Admittedly the Geforce FX made up a great deal of ground between its initial release and current times however Nvidia has never comprehensively beat ATI’s top card during the Direct X 9 era. The graphics market is as fast moving as any other PC technology area and we’ve now had the chance to get a detailed look at Nvidia and ATI’s upcoming cards, the ATI Radeon X800 Pro and the Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra."

Read more at Driverheaven.

Designtechnica Reviews The Jens of Sweden MP-300 MP3 Player

"There are very few reasons not to like the MP-300 Digital Audio player. Itdoes not promise everything in the world like most other players, but what itdoes offer, it does extremely well.
The Jens of Sweden MP-300 is a classy player that not only looks good, but alsosounds very good. If you are considering a portable audio player and have beenlooking in the Digitalway or iRiver camps, we recommend giving the Jens ofSweden MP-300 a serious look over, we think you will be pleasantly surprised."

Read more at Designtechnica.

Review of Leonard Maltins 2004 Movie & Video Guide @ MaximumPDA

"...whether you.re a true movie buff or just someone with a DVD player and a subscription to Netflix, there have no doubt been times when you wanted a review on a movie, or wanted to look up a movie to see who was in it, or when it was made, or. Many of us have solved that problem by having a copy of the Maltin.s guide on our bookshelf. I.ve gotten a new copy every couple of years since back when VCRs were still a new thing. They.re great to have around, but not perfect..."

Read more at MaximumPDA.

8-Kanal Soundcheck: Aureon 7.1 Universe @ Hardware-Mag.de

"Wie sagt man doch immer so schÆn — Auf einem Bein steht man schlecht! Das dachten wir uns auch und haben nun einmal ein Sound-Produkt aus dem Hause TerraTec im Test. Die TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Universe ist das GegenstÝck zu der Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. Mit der Aureon 7.1 Universe hat TerraTec ebenfalls eine 8-Kanal Soundkarte mit fast allen erdenklichen Features im Angebot. Das zusÄtzliche Frontmodul bietet zudem noch hervorragende AnschlussmÆglichkeiten fÝr jedermann. Nichts desto trotz ist Creative mit seiner EAX Hardware UnterstÝtzung bei Spielen immer noch einen Schritt voraus, denn auch die Aureon 7.1 Universe nutzt (Lizenzbedingt) gerade einmal EAX 2.0! Weitere Details im Artikel. Viel Spaú beim Lesen!"

Read more at Hardware-Mag.de.

Thermaltake Polo735 — 3 in 1 Cooler @ Madshrimps

"Branching out from just the Volcano series, many innovative designshave been seen, like the tower coolers, and alsoenhanced versions of the traditional heatsink design emulating the massiveThermalright copper coolers so favored by those usingperformance air cooling. One of these new twists of the classic heatsink/fandesign is Thermaltake.s Polo735, let.s take a look."

Read more at Madshrimps.

BFG TECHNOLOGIES REWARDS PC ENTHUSIAST COMMUNITY BY SPONSORING BJORN3D.COM FORUMS

"The Bjorn3D Forums are a great way to share information with otherreaders, learn about new technologies, and get free tech advice from eachother,. said John Malley, Director of marketing and public relations for BFGTechnologies. .We are always looking for ways to give back to the gamingcommunity and this sponsorship will be a great way to reward those who postoften a chance to win a nice piece of BFG hardware each month."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

Futuremark Respond to Driverheavens Geforce 6800 IQ issues @ Driverheaven

"A week ago we raised some concerns over the quality of images produced by the Geforce 6800 Ultra in 3Dmark03. We forwarded a note of our concerns to Futuremark and Nvidia, Futuremark have today provided us with a response."

Read more at Driverheaven.

HP Compaq nx9105 Business Notebook @ OCW

"Clock for clock, the new Paris cores are a lot faster than existing A-XPs. This is very good news for the portable market, providing much improved battery life. It will be interesting to see how this product fares, whether people will purchase it, though this should depend mostly on whether it is priced significantly lower than 64-bit enabled K8 cores."

Read more at OCW.

TOCA Race Driver 2 review @ Elite Bastards

"When it comes to covering motorsport as broadly as possible, Codemasters havecertainly been ambitious this time around — Covering sports from the rallyingthrough to truck racing. On top of that, the game offers 50 different circuits,33 championships (rather bizarrely considering the name of the game, the TOCAchampionship isn´t among them!) and a whole slew of different cars to choosefrom. So, have they pulled it off? Time to find out... "

Read more at Elite Bastards.

I4U News: New Vandisori MP3 Player with 64 LED Equalizer and Flashlight

"Korean Vandisori MP3 Player features a flashy 64 LED Graphical Equalizer. The meaning of the name Vandisori is composed of Vandi (lighting bug in Korean) and Sori (sound in Korean). The MP3 Player also features a LED flashlight.
The Vandisori plays MP3, WAM, ASF files and audio files of other formats and features direct MP3 encoding and an FM Tuner. It comes in 128MB and 256MB versions. Currently the player is only available for OEM or distributors."

Read more at I4U.

Bjorn3D and Corsair Giving Away Memory!!

"Bjorn3D and Corsair Memory are teaming up to give away 4 GB of Corsair´sXMS4000PRO series memory modules! Four winners will be randomly selected fromall valid entries (see rules below). Each winner will receive one 1024MB moduleof Corsair´s new Xtreme memory."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

AOpen AK89 Max nForce3 Motherboard Review @ Bjorn3D

"64 bit has come into its own and the motherboards have begun to saturate themarket. What does it take to stand out from the rest? Take a look at AOpen´sAK89 Max and see if it has what it takes to jump ahead of the competition."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

Legion Hardware — (Albatron FX5700P Turbo)

"The Albatron FX5700P Turbo is the perfect product for competing with the Radeon 9600XT. By removing GDDR2 from the picture, Albatron have cut costs dearly without sacrificing performance. While the card is still no match for the FX5900XTV on a performance basis, it does give this card a good run for its money. With no idea how much longer these FX5900XT based cards will be available it´s hard to decide what to do. At best there is a $60 US price difference between the Albatron FX5900XTV and FX5700P Turbo. However, the performance gains the FX5900XTV delivers easily justifies the price hike."

Read more at Legion Hardware.

Gigabyte Radeon 9800XT (GV-R98X256D) Review @ Bjorn3D

"For a long time Gigabyte has been offering video cards featuring technologyfrom the world´s leading graphics chip designers. Of course, I´m referring toATI and NVIDIA. In the past, Gigabyte has even offered graphics cards featuringIntel, Matrox, and 3Dfx chips. Now, the company is focused on the top two,since, among other reasons (like one of those companies being defunct), that iswhere all the money is. For the curious, here´s a link to Gigabyte´s video cardline-up."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

Samsung SyncMaster 172X TFT LCD Monitor Review @ Tweaknews.net

"If you are in the market for a slim, stylish 17inch LCD monitor for your home or workspace, the 172X should definitely be one of the top choices. It´s simple to use, it´s packed full of features and surprisingly enough is quite a capable gamer. Slim bezel flat panel displays are becoming to be one of the more popular choices because of their clean look and smaller size."

Read more at Tweaknews.

EOC Review: Shuttle XPC SB75G2 875P SFF Platform

"The Shuttle XPC SB75G2 is top of the line for the Intel platform, based on the i875P "Canterwood" North bridge, and the ICH5R South bridge. This system supports all 800MHz FSB Pentium 4 processors, dual-channel DDR400 memory, SATA RAID 150, PAT-enhanced memory performance, a ton of overclocking features, and lots more! Recent updates to the SB75G2 include a beefier 250w SilentX power supply, upgraded mosfets, and Prescott support."

Read more at EOC.

3DCenter News: new benchmark files

— "Updated "system_detail.gas" for Dungeon Siege
(now with keys for Radeon X800 Pro + X800XT and GeForce 6800 + 6800 Ultra)
— Timedemo for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero — Italy
— Timedemo for Far Cry — PCGH_VGA
— Timedemo for Unreal Tournament 2004 — Primeval
(a little hardware killer)
Additionally, rTool (tweak tool for ATi graphic chips) has reached version 0.9.8.8: For use with R420 graphic chips please start the program with the "rtool.exe R300". rTool is capable to deactivate the bilinear textur filter on textur stages 1-7 unter Direct3D for R300/R420 based graphic cards (force a full trilinear filter on all texture stages). Our suggestion: If you disable "trilinear optimization" on GeForce6 series, disable also the tri/bilinear filter mix on X800 series."

Gigabyte 3D Cooler-ULTRA PCU31-SD @ OCW

"This new heatsink has no adjustable fan speed knob. Instead, a fan control cable can be attached to reduce the fan speed to 1900RPM versus the 2500RPM by default. The previous Cooler-Pro can run from 2000 ~ 4000 RPM adjustable whereas Cooler-Ultra is stuck at either 1900 or 2500. That is probably why the noise level drops to 18.5 dBA at 1900rpm and 23.7dBA at 2500rpm."

Read more at OCW.

Zalman Theatre 6 Headphones Review @ OCIA.net

"The Zalman Theatre 6 use three headphone jacks to provide six channels of sound. Each plug is clearly marked with F, R, or C for front, rear, and center, respectively. You will need a 5.1 channel sound card to get the full effects of the headphones, but they work on any of the three plugs if you wish to plug them up to a laptop or a computer with a 2-channel sound card. In this case, I would recommend using the center channel."

Read more at OCIA.

Modder of The Month: May @ Creative Mods

"One thing many modders do is put computer components into places where they do not belong. There are many things that make such a task difficult, but if all goes well, the resulting creations are usually quite interesting. This month´s modder of the month did just that with an old radio he found on the side of the road. With a dremel, some lights, and a little imagination, he put together a nice new home for his computer."

Read more at Creative Mods.

Global Win Travel Box @ Madshrimps

"The Travel Box has sleek looks and provides USB 2.0 and Firewireconnections at the back of the unit. There is also apass-through port so you can daisy chain other USB devices to this unit."

Read more at Madshrimps.

Diskeeper 8 Review on Bjorn3D

"Fragmentation . regardless if you use a small 20 GB IDE hard drive formattedwith FAT or a huge 120 GB SATA drive formatted with NTFS, you will never reallyget away from the fact that your files will get fragmented over time to agreater or lesser extent. While all Windows versions include a rudimentarydefragmenter, there is room for improvement, especially when it comes toscheduling. Executive Software has the tool for that: Diskeeper 8."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

Battalion-101~ S Notebook Review @ Hardware-HQ

"Tired of lugging around your heavy and troublesome desktop? Yet afraid that a notebook is no match compared to your desktop? Think again. The Battalion-101~ S is sure to kick your desktop in everything available."

Read more at Hardware-HQ.

Soldering Guide — Howto @ EOC

"When soldering you have to keep in mind one thing: You need heat. Keeping the tip of the iron clean all the time, is the key for easy heat transfer from the iron to the parts that will be connected. Heat transfer is very important, since you don´t actually melt the solder itself with the iron. You heat up the parts and then you use that heat to melt the solder. So, let´s get down to business."

Read more at EOC.

PowerColor Radeon 9600XT Review @ FastLaneHW

"Today we´re going to take an in-depth look at another option inthe video card market; ATI´s Radeon 9600XT, specifically, PowerColor´s versionof this card. We´ll evaluate this card in-depth and see if it´s a good optionfor your next mid-range build, or just as an upgrade to your aging video card."

Read more at FastLaneHW.

Designtechnica Editorial: Is the Cable-TV Industry Getting Smarter?

"The occasion was a major one. Samsung has struck a deal with eight companies,representing 95 percent of U.S. cable subscribers, to promote the cableindustry.s growing involvement in delivery of high-definition television. Thecable operators include Adelphia, Bright House, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Insight,Mediacom, and Time Warner (or as it was known until recently, AOL Time Warner,bwahahaha!). Comcast was missing from the list for reasons not fully explainedat the press conference.
An unspecified eight-figure sum will be spent for joint advertising andpromotion to raise awareness of the fact that you can get HDTV via cable. Youmay have already seen the initial results in ads accompanying the NCAA MarchMadness basketball tournament.
The move comes just when Samsung and many other HDTV makers are about to launcha new generation of cable-friendly products. Not only will these new sets workwell with your cable signal.they.ll actually eliminate the need for a set-topcable box."

Read more at Designtechnica.

Steelpad Wire Holder Review @ Creative Mods

"Today I reviewed a product from Steelpad that is supposed to improve the gaming experience. What this particular product does is hold your mouse wire at an adjustable length to keeping it out of the way. I must say that this product works well, but it doesn-t seem practical and it-s too expensive. If you money to spend, or want to read up on the latest in high end gaming accessories, this review is for you!"

Read more at Creative Mods.

Notebooks of the Future @ TweakPC

"Dreams come true, if an Athlon64 3400+ with a Radeon 9700 Pro unites in aninexpensive Notebook (what a phrase). Belive it, because this will happenin the new Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo A Series."

Read more at TweakPC or this translation.

A ´No Holds Barred´ Interview with MSI @ HWZ

"We chatted up with one of the top executives at MSI about industry trends and MSI´s goals, directions and decisions. Find out what MSI has to say about their partnership with ATI, among other views they´ve shared with us recently."

Read more at HWZ.

ePower Jaguar 450W PSU @ Legit Reviews

"This power supply just impressed me from the get-go! It was stunning in its appearance, with the shiny chrome finish to the illuminated blue fans and windows to show it off. But for me, when I shop for a power supply, I am not looking for a "pretty little box of juice." Instead, I am looking for something that screams raw-man-power! I want a power supply that is rock stable for my overclocking, and this power supply fits the bill. ePower did a fantastic job in appearance and performance on this unit."

Read more at Legit Reviews.

Acer AL1721 TFT LCD @ BIOS

"Acer´s AL1721 is a relatively low-cost 17in. TFT LCD monitor with a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio. Encased in a rounded beige bezel, the screen is targeted at business users and comes with dual video inputs, a native screen resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, a contrast ratio of 450:1 and brightness of 260cd/m¦. It´s relatively speedy with a response time of 16ms too, so may also appeal to those who play video games and watch DVD-Movies on their PC. Unfortunately it´s let down by a poor performance, such as disappointing greyscale, white balance and focus levels. As a result, it´s not suited to those who work with graphics for a living. There are also more attractive screens available that are capable of running faster, brighter and at higher resolutions."

Read more at BIOS.

Prolink PlayTV@7000 @ Bjorn3D

"With the PlayTV@7000 Prolink has created a great TV-Tuner card that would fitgreat into your own homebuilt PVR-solution. Add to that the excellent eDrivefeature and a great Remote and you got a winner."

Read more at Bjorn3D.

I4U News: New Cute Toy Bear MP3 Player

"Hong Kong Hardware manufacturer and distributor FIONSON offers a MP3 player inthe shape of a little cute bear.
MP3 Player functionality comes in all forms and shapes. Besides dedicated MP3Gadgets, Mobile Phones, PDAs, USB thumb-drives, Digital Cameras all have MP3functionality. Why not have an MP3 Player look like a little toy bear? Endlessopportunities right there for the hello kitty stores.
The FIONSON MP3 bear plays WMA and MP3 files, records voice, charges throughUSB cable and can upgrade firmware through USB. The memory can be either 128 or256MB. It weighs 60g."

Read more at I4U.