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Socket AM2 let down by DDR2

DDR 2 MEMORY currently works at faster clocks than DDR1, but it still has some latency hang-ups.

800MHz DDR 2 may work at CL4 ms, but faster implementations of DDR1 can work at CL 2ms latencies, at 400MHz. This is a trade-off that you simply have to accept.

This lands AMD a problem. By moving to DDR 2 800 with an Athlon AM2 CPU, you won’t see a pants-busting performance boost. Stuff will run faster, but up to roughly five percent faster not much more than that.

Funnily enough, the price of DDR 2 should be three to five percent higher than DDR 1 at launch time, so you can easily work out the price of performance.

But it won’t be an easy task to convince the people that it is imperative to move from DDR 1 Athlons to DDR 2 ones.

And it looks like AMD will need all the sales patter it can muster as it looks like Intel’s upcoming rival Conroe is performing as expected, or even better

review amd m2

AMD  AM2 platforms

AMD has been shipping test AM2 platforms for almost two weeks now. It wants to convince system integrators and OEMs to use its upcoming designs for their summer/autumn refresh machines.

We also know that motherboard manufacturers are playing with AM2 DDR 2 supporting chipsets and that some of the motherboards might be finished by the middle of next month. No one will launch before Computex in June, but most of the big ones will be ready for that date.

We were warned not to expect miracles from the AM2 platform but we also learned that it should work nice and steady, it is just the memory controller that AMD changed inside of the CPU. Manufacturers such as Nvidia used this opportunity to redesign their chipsets and re-brand them. You know the story - new lamps for old - but that is the way this game is meant to be played.

Nforce 5 has to be better than Nforce 4 and AMD will soon be ready with its socket AM2 platforms

review amd m2

Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) announced today they are bringing the fantasy-adventure Eragon to the Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft, Game Boy® Advance, Nintendo DS(TM), the Sony PSP(TM) portable entertainment system, and the PC in November 2006. Developed by Stormfront Studios for consoles and PC, and Amaze Entertainment for handhelds, Eragon is based on the upcoming Twentieth Century Fox feature film inspired by Christopher Paolini’s best-selling fantasy novel, featuring Edward Speleers, Djimon Hounsou and Robert Carlyle. “Christopher Paolini’s amazing fantasy worlds, characters and adventures portrayed in Eragon offer fans of the genre an opportunity to step into Eragon’s world and live out the dragon rider legacy,” said Bruce Hack, CEO of VU Games. “Eragon is sure to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2006 and we are excited to bring this rich story to gamers worldwide.”

ATI releases Linux driver update

PEOPLE often complain about ATI Linux support. Nvidia rocks with driver support for the OS, and we know that Nvidia has just released a driver supporting the new kernel.

ATI is ready with its own answer, supporting XFree86 4.1, XFree86 4.2, XFree86 4.3 and X.Org 6.8. There is even a 64-bit driver and all of these drivers and XFree86 and the driver itself are version 8.24.8.

The driver supports all the modern graphic cards including X1900, X1800 cards and the older ones too. The big thing is that ATI now supports Avivo, even under Linux, and we do know that many of this community plays with video files than with games.

The Linux driver even has a GUI and you can download it here

Nvidia Quad SLI.

WHAT DOES NVIDIA have planned for E3? Early word is that it is going to launch a new product, Quad SLI. Again.Or is it again again again? Either way, a bunch or people told me that is the big launch for the show, not that it hasn’t been beaten to the ground already since the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

This time, it will probably be different, and because of that, I think we should coin a new term, the milk launch. The paper launch is a launch without product, and to its infinite credit, Nvidia had gone to great lengths to beat the industry into abandoning that particular sad practice.

The milk launch is just the opposite, you launch the same thing 23 times and shoot for milking more headlines each time.

Since we are only on time 14 of 23 with Quad-SLI, it looks like we have a summer of fun Quad SLI launches ahead of us. Either way, because of the way it was done, I don’t think anyone will care by the time it is a retail product. Good product? Yup. Great product? If you have a 30-inch monitor and a mid-sized Swiss bank account. Great launch? Which time?

New screen from game Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

driver lara croft boost from nvidia

NVIDIA decided to boost perky little Lara Croft with a new driver that will make her run that little bit faster.

Tomb Raider Legend is just out and so is TWIMTBP, The Way It’s Meant To Be Played game. Nvidia decided to release a driver that will make the game run just little bit better and faster.

Naturally, Nvidia worked with Eidos the publisher, and Crystal Dynamics the developers to be sure that the game runs best on Geforce GPUs (graphics processor units).

You can go to nZone.com and download the 84.34 driver that adds support for SLI and addresses some stuttering problems that some chaps had with Nvidia GPUs. You can get the driver here

Steam News has word on updates to Counter-Strike: Source and Earth 2160 that are automatically available via Valve’s Steam service. The Earth 2160 update addresses a singular issue involving saved games, while the Counter-Strike: Source update is more substantial, adding HDR lighting support to the de_dust map, new player models, improved lag compensation, and more.

Developed by Eden Games, Alone in the Dark returns with a heart-stopping survival experience coupled with use of state-of-the-art real-time physics and advanced environmental interaction to deliver an exhilarating action-orientated experience within a highly detailed, open environment.Г‚В

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In 1992, the first Alone in the Dark title for PC ushered in a new dawn of gaming, revolutionizing the use of fear as a tool to manipulate and engage the emotions of the player, and bringing sheer terror to gamers around the world. Fourteen years later, the franchise returns to the PC and to the newest generation of video game hardware, Xbox 360, taking full advantage of the incredible technological advances of both platforms and designed to satisfy the sophisticated demands of a gaming audience wiser, bolder and more accustomed to fear than ever before.Г‚В

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“Alone in the Dark is returning to the format that launched survival gaming — the PC — and after nearly a decade and a half of ever-accelerating technological progress, we anticipate that the title will again take the lead on next-generation consoles with the Xbox 360 and PC,” said Steve Tucker, Director of Marketing, Atari, Inc. “This is one for gamers to keep an eye on in the coming months as Atari and Eden begin to reveal details that will demonstrate how we will fulfill these promises.”Г‚В

Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers and Gearbox Software, one of the world’s best video game developers announced that Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highwayâ„¢ is in development for next generation video game platforms, including the PLAYSTATION®3 system and the PC. Scheduled for a holiday 2006 release, Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway is the third game in the multimillion-unit selling and critically acclaimed Brothers In Arms® franchise.Г‚В

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Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway brings the critically acclaimed squad-based WWII shooter into the next generation of gaming with amazing graphics and sound, new cutting-edge gameplay features and a completely redesigned online component. Delivering on the franchise’s compelling story, unrivaled authenticity and intense squad-based action, Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway drops you into Operation Market-Garden, the largest airborne operation of World War II. Lead Matt Baker, Joe Hartsock and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division as they fight to open “Hell’s Highway” in a daring bid for a quick end to the war.Г‚В

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“With Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway, Gearbox is investing everything to take next-generation gaming to an entirely new level,” said Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software. “For Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway, the Unreal Engine 3 powers real next-generation graphics and the most intense, action-oriented recreation of true history ever offered as interactive entertainment.”Г‚В

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“Since the series was introduced last year, Brothers In Arms has consistently excelled at delivering a new style of tactical shooter wrapped up in an authentic WWII setting,” said Francesca Reyes, editor-in-chief at Official Xbox Magazine (OXM). “As fans of the Brothers In Arms series, OXM is incredibly excited to be the first to reveal to readers the world-exclusive first-look at Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway.” The issue is available on newsstands since April 11, 2006.