[H]ardNews 7th Edition

Foxconn NFPIK8AA:

The Tech Report has posted a 16 page review of the nForce Pro 2200 powered Foxconn NFPIK8AA for your viewing pleasure. Here is a quote from the full review:

Foxconn has a new single-socket Opteron board primed for dual-core processors. The awkwardly-named NFPIK8AA taps NVIDIA's latest nForce Pro chipset to offer eight Serial ATA ports with 300MB/sec transfer rates, dual hardware-accelerated Gigabit Ethernet ports, and more PCI Express lanes than any other motherboard we've tested.

Foxconn 925XE7AA-8EKRS2:

Today seems to be the day for Foxconn motherboard reviews. Viper Lair took the Foxconn 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 LGA775 motherboard around the block a few times. Minor quibbles aside, the VL team seemed to like the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2.

Overall, the Foxconn 925XE is a solid motherboard. Its performance is right no par with other similar systems, and possibly ahead in some tests.

ATI Radeon X850XT-PE:

After you read this ATI Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition review at 3Daccelerated I recommend you check out our reviews of the Radeon X850XT-PE AGP and the Radeon X850XT-PE PCI-E for comparison purposes.

A look at all the benchmarks we measured above, there's no doubt about the X850XTPE being the top performer out of ATI at the moment, but the gains aren't spectacular nor are they cutting age technology.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

[H]ardForum [H]appenings:

Welcome to another installment of [H]ardForum [H]appenings! Tuesday’s around here are all about “self help”. If you have water cooling questions, we have answers. If you need help with case modding, we got you covered. Need a good motherboard for your SFF system? We have a whole list of user submitted boards. How about a useful laptop FAQ? Got it. Memory FAQ? Check. Motherboard manufacturer list? Got that too. How about a Video card FAQ or a video card upgrade guide? We have it all. The point is this… if you need it…we got it in the forums. What’s that you say? You don’t have any questions and you don’t need any help? Then we need you to get in the forums and offer some of that expert advice to people that are looking for help, we’d appreciate it! As always, have fun.

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

Free For IT Professionals:

Answering some quick questions in order to make sure you are qualified, and it can pay off very nicely for you IT Pros out there. We have partnered with Netline for years now and they are back with new magazines aimed at helping IT professionals do their job better.

If network security and applications fall into your realm of duty, be sure to check out this new magazine that looks into just how all of the new tech can impact you. Enterprise-Class Data Integration more your speed? And even if you don't like to read you can take advantage of Webinars like this one on Busines Rules Technologies.

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

New iTunes Out:

All you iPod users should head on over and download the new iTunes 4.9. There are a handful of new features in this latest version as well as podcasting support.

Welcome to the easiest way to organize, share and listen to audio on your computer. Manage your music. Discover podcasting. Enjoy the best friend an iPod ever had. Get the free iTunes jukebox for Windows or Mac and build up your library of songs and albums using the #1 online music store.

New ATi Omega Drivers:

There is a new set of ATi Omega Drivers out today. Here is a list of what is new:

Based on the Catalyst 5.6 Official drivers. Removed a lot of obsolete tweaks. Removed RadLinker from package. Now ATI Tray Tools is included as default tweaker. Re-enabled the default 3D and Color panels in the ATI Control Panel. Added a desktop shortcut for the ATI CP and for ATT (both optional). Included a few new OGL Smart Shaders.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition

AMD Files Antitrust Complaint Against Intel:

It looks as though AMD has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel today. AMD claims that Intel has created an illegal monopoly in the x86 processor market. AMD accuses Intel of a number of things and has identified 38 companies that have been victims of coercion by Intel. This ought to get interesting.

AMD announced today that it filed an antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation (“Intel”) yesterday in U.S. federal district court for the district of Delaware under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, and the California Business and Professions Code. The 48-page complaint explains in detail how Intel has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD.

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition - Mods & Ends

Cooling:

Easy PC Kits Premium Lapping Kit @ Phoronix - Spire KestrelKing VI Heatsink @ Motherboards.Org

Etc.:

Razer Diamondback Plasma Gaming Mouse @ ExtremeMHz - OCZ ModStream 520W Power Supply @ EOC! - Logitech diNovo Cordless Desktop @ The Tech Zone

Cases & Modding:

Antec Sonata II ATX PC Case @ Futurelooks - Arctic Cooling Silentium T2 Case @ Madshrimps - Antec P180: A Silent System @ SilentPC Review - Serener GS-L01 Fanless Mini-ITX Case @ BigBruin

[H]ardNews 1st Edition - Press Releases

Intel Completes 64-Bit Transition With Celeron D:

With the introduction today of the Intel® Celeron® D processor 351, Intel Corporation now has Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T), or 64-bit memory addressability, available throughout its entire desktop and server processor lines. With appropriate 64-bit supporting hardware and software, PCs based on an Intel processor supporting Intel EM64T can enable the use of extended virtual and physical memory. For example, on digital media applications 64-bit desktop computing enables faster performance with its ability to process more in main memory, also referred to as RAM, due to less data caching to and from the hard drive. Also, Intel processors supporting Intel EM64T provide headroom for processing high-definition video by enabling improvements in both speed and quality of workflow with its ability to handle large amounts of data.

MS Launches Communications Sector Alliance Program:

Microsoft Corp. today announced the Communications Sector Alliance Program (CSAP), an initiative created to enable service providers to promote and develop new customer solutions. The program, which is offered through the Microsoft® Partner Solutions Center (MPSC), is designed to help communications companies with a strong commitment to Microsoft technologies maintain their industry leadership and foster further innovation by taking advantage of the most advanced and up-to-date development and testing facilities at Microsoft.

[H]ardNews 11th Edition

DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR:

There is a review of the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR over at MVK Tech tonight you should check out if a socket 939 upgrade is in the cards for you sometime in the near future. As always, you can see our review here for comparison purposes.

The DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR is one of the most amazing motherboards I have seen this year, with its excellent bundle, excellent performance and stability the gaming experience was outstanding.

Open Letter To Fanboys:

I saw this over at ShackNews and laughed so hard…I just had to share. I give you an Open Letter To Fanboys. Enjoy.

Playing a game on a different console for ten minutes at a friend's house qualifies you as an expert on that game and console. You are obviously the most knowledgeable person about hardware. So when you're talking about the difference between CISC and RISC processors, everyone should stop and listen.

Zombie Dogs:

You heard me right, I said Z-O-M-B-I-E D-O-G-S. Scientist have drained the blood of dogs, and replaced it with ice cold saline solution. Their hearts have stopped, no brain activity, etc. etc. for 3 hours. The put the blood back and viola…the dog is alive again. They are wanting to do human trials next.

SCIENTISTS have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans. US scientists have succeeded in reviving the dogs after three hours of clinical death, paving the way for trials on humans within years.

Before you complain about experimenting on animals, heck…at least PETA didn’t get their hands on the dogs.

[H]ardNews 10th Edition - Blair's Tech Ed.

Super Fish Robot:

The Japanese have created a big huge robot fish that is on display at Expo 2005. The fish can be used to gather information, take pictures and then transmit all the data back to researchers. Kinda like a big robotic-spy fish.

According to Hiroshima-based designers Ryomei Engineering, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the robot will carry out tasks such as monitoring the safety of bridges or gathering information on fish stocks, transmitting images and data back to its operators.

MS Teams With Toshiba:

It looks like Microsoft is teaming up with Toshiba to develop HD DVD players. This should make the competition between Blu-ray and HD DVD a little more interesting.

"The companies also plan to strengthen their collaboration on iHD, the DVD Forum's latest interactivity format," they said. HD DVD is a newly developed high-definition digital video disc standard. It is competing with the Blu-ray disc technology to become the global standard for next-generation audio-visual products.

Hacking Program Found On UConn Server:

The University of Connecticut has had to notify 72,000 students that officials found a hacking program on one of the servers. Uh oh.

The server contains names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers and addresses for anyone with an account that allows access to the school's computer network. The personal information was not in a readable format, officials said.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

Cable Industry Wins Battle:

The story about the Supreme Court ruling against file sharing in our 6th edition today briefly mentioned that the cable industry won its fight against smaller, independent internet service providers. The court ruled that the big cable companies will not have to share their infrastructure with the smaller competing ISPs, which many people fear will limit choices and drive prices up for everyone in the long run.

In a 6-3 decision, the court overturned a federal court decision that would have forced cable companies to open up their networks to Internet service providers such as Brand X and EarthLink. The majority opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Dissenting justices were Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Antonin Scalia and David Souter.

Windows Games On Linspire?

Linspire owners can now play Windows games right out of the box on their Linspire PC thanks to Cedega for the Linspire desktop Linux operating system. The problem? You have to pay $44.95 and then pay a yearly fee for continued membership to TransGaming.

The product, which can be downloaded and installed through Linspire’s CNR (click and run) software library for $44.95 USD, includes one year of access to Cedega plus regular software updates and membership to TransGaming.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57:

The big news of the day is definitely the launch of the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor. After you give our review the once over, check out today’s first news edition for links to many other Athlon 64 FX-57 reviews. Here is a quote from our review:

The AMD Athlon FX-57 shines brightest in a sea of over-marketed gaming products. The AMD Athlon FX-57 has marketing bark and the gaming bite to back it up. Actually more like gaming “chomp” as the FX-57 just obliterated the scores previously held by its predecessor, the FX-55.

Radeon Xpress Vs. Intel GMA900:

Legion Hardware has a battle of the integrated motherboards review going on today. The crew at LH has the Radeon Xpress 200 going head to head with the Intel GMA900. Those of you looking for workstation boards should give this article a look.

Integrated Graphic Platforms (IGP) are not the least bit popular among gamers. However, they still manage to make up a very large proportion of the chipset market.

ECS PF5 Extreme:

Hardware Zone says that the bright purple ECS PF5 Extreme is a decent board but it doesn’t live up to the “extreme” name. Read the review to find out more.

If you've noticed the trend, every hardware manufacturer now releases their highest end product first in order to capture the enthusiast market and then slowly reveal the mid andlow-end range for the mainstream. This is not really anything new to the graphics market but core-logic chipsets have begun to follow suit.

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

[H]ardForum [H]appenings:

Welcome to the Monday edition of [H]ardForum [H]appenings! First of all, let’s get our Monday reminder to join the Folding team out of the way (you can see how in this thread) so we can move on to the other hot topics of the day. The big topic of the day is definitely the Athlon 64 FX-57 reviews from around the web…including ours. There is also a poll in the video card forums asking you what benchmark results matter to you. I am very interested to see how this turns out. The Deal of the Day is this Dell 2405 LCD for $840. A very sweet deal on that 24” wide screen LCD. The runner up in the DotD department is this deal on Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers. If you want better than that, you’d better hit the Free Stuff forum or head on over the For Sale & Trade forum and make a deal of the day for yourself. As always, have fun in the forums, we’ll see you in there.