Blog - November, 2009 | bit-tech.net

Budget overclocking is back!

Posted on 30th Nov 2009 at 10:50 by Antony Leather with 25 comments

I’ve felt a little lost over the last six months or so. AMD still hasn’t come back with a definitive answer to Intel's Core i7 and Core i5 CPUs and even they have been prohibitively expensive for many looking to upgrade from a Core 2 system.

Gone, it seems, are the days of the Core 2 Duo E1200 which could be bagged for less than £40. After a 100% overclock, it could turn into something that gave £150 CPUs a run for their money. I've used the CPU in several systems that I've built for people over the last few years, coupled one of the many budget uberclocking LGA775 boards that were pushed off the production lines.

Gaming 8 - Steamworks, Consolification and Scooters

Posted on 30th Nov 2009 at 10:33 by Podcast with 11 comments

This week's gaming podcast features a small ensemble - just Joe, Mark and Richard - but it's still as exciting as ever. That might not be saying much, but at we get through a load of interesting topics this time.

As well as talking about the big topics of the moment, such as the Steamworks boycott and whether games have a place in education, we've also got the usual competitions. Listen here to find out if you won the Guess The Screenshot compo and won yourself a Good Old Game of your choice!

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Recommend Me A Board Game

Posted on 27th Nov 2009 at 10:48 by Joe Martin with 46 comments

My love of games extends further than just computer games, you know. I’m also something of a board game fiend – a fan of games in any form, to tell the truth. In the last few months I’ve especially enjoyed getting together with a few friends to play some board games, and that enjoyment is hopefully going to be buoyed further by a recent discovery of mine.

I found a really cool shop in the centre of nearby Reading – one which I’ve walked past many times but only recently investigated. It’s called Eclectic Games and is a board game and collectible card game specialist.

Eclectic Games is very much My Kind Of Place. It’s large and warmly decorated, with a huge selection of games, both niche and well-known. It also has a library of games - which you’re free to try out in the gaming hall out back - and the owners regularly organise events where you can meet other gamers and get involved in tournaments. It’s small enough to be charming and independent too – exactly the type of place I’d like to support with my patronage.

Asus Xtreme: Global Summit – highlights from the third round of blogs

Posted on 26th Nov 2009 at 15:11 by Ben Hardwidge with 7 comments

Imagine that you’ve suddenly been awarded the job of heading up the R&D team at Asus. You’ve got a crack team of engineers, a limitless budget and a production line at the ready. You now have your chance to rid the world of those little niggles that have repeatedly forced you to yell obscenities at your computer, and the motherboard and graphics card world is your silicon oyster. What would you change? That’s what we asked the bit-tech readers on the AX:GS blogging team to consider for the third week of blogging, and it’s a question that’s inspired a veritable invention book, packed with innovative ideas.

Diagnosis – Purchase Justification Syndrome

Posted on 26th Nov 2009 at 11:23 by Harry Butler with 36 comments

Working here at bit-tech, I’ve noticed that over time a curious ailment that afflicts all of us at some point or another. It can lead to perfectly rational people ignoring others and making completely irrational decisions, generate more anger and animosity than a BNP speech or, flowing a different way, warrant jubilant praise where none is due. The condition I speak of I’ve dubbed PJS, short for Purchase Justification Syndrome.

Tags fanboys, pjs

AX:GS - Event Coverage

Posted on 24th Nov 2009 at 10:58 by Ben Hardwidge with 12 comments

If you’re a tech-head who’s bursting with ideas that you can’t wait to share with the rest of the geek world, then here’s your opportunity to air your views and even get them exposed in the limelight.

If you were one of the attendees at the Asus Xtreme General Summit earlier this year, then you’ll currently be penning your thoughts about the event and your hardware prizes over two blogs every week. We’re currently reading through the third week’s blog entries, and we’ll be posting the highlights soon, and we’ve also put the posting guidelines for the final week’s blogs up on the forums.

In the meantime, each week we’re posting our favourite blog from the previous round in the bit-tech Blogs section, so here’s Skiddywinks’ winning blog from the second week:

AX:GS - Event Coverage
"That can't be it, surely", I remember thinking to myself. It really was a sight to behold. The Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Hotel stood before me, and it was intimidating. I felt like such a peasant in my jeans, t-shirt and years-old biking backpack. The people entering there were wearing suits and carrying briefcases. They looked important.

Zune HD versus iPod Touch: Round 2, Video

Posted on 23rd Nov 2009 at 10:28 by Richard Swinburne with 14 comments

In the previous round of this face off between the Microsoft Zune HD and Apple iPod Touch, I concentrated on the music end of things. This time round I'll go into the video playback.

Firstly, the iPod Touch: media playback is pretty good with the nice sized screen suitable for both 4:3 and 16:9 content, although there's very little media support (basically just MP4) and you can't get subtitles unless you buy through the Apple store - something I flat out refuse to do because of DRM.

Comparatively, the Zune HD screen feels notably smaller, to the point where anything that isn't using the whole (very) widescreen format is almost squint-worthy. In that regard the iPod offers a better viewing experience unless you only watch widescreen videos.

Media support for the Zune is also very limited, but it accepts WMV as well as MP4, though most converters prefer the H.264 for MP4. Again, this means the ever popular MKV format is neglected on both parts - however the Zune will happily accept a full fat 720p MP4 and downscale it into its own native format - that's pretty neat! Although, a waste of storage if you're going to convert it from DVD/MKV/AVI anyway.

Leaving Live Mesh and the mess Microsoft is in

Posted on 20th Nov 2009 at 11:24 by Alex Watson with 16 comments

It’s not often PC Pro gets the drop on us in terms of new technology (unless you’re into laser printers), but they were well ahead when it came to Microsoft’s Live Mesh, and prompted by their enthusiastic praise, I gave it a try.

Live Mesh really is pretty nifty; sign up for an account, add your computer to 'the Mesh' (your own of group of machines) and any folders you select are uploaded to the servers. You can then access these folders and files via a web browser, or – and this is the brilliant bit – set them to by synced across multiple computers. Make a change to a file on one PC, and it’ll be uploaded to the servers, then downloaded when the other machines turn on so they all mirror each other.

For a while, in fact, it was so good, I wondered if it was the start of a turnaround for Microsoft.

Zune HD versus iPod Touch: Round 1, Music

Posted on 19th Nov 2009 at 10:57 by Richard Swinburne with 26 comments

Before my job moved to central London I never really spent enough time going anywhere that justified a mobile media device, but having to spend an hour door to door to get to work and home everyday presented itself with an opportunity to kill time.

So, about 6 months ago I bought myself a 16GB iPod touch. I'm sure you're all familiar with it since it's basically an iPhone but thinner. I've always been tempted by the great press Microsoft's ZuneHD was getting though. It seemed to offer more than the iPod, and greater functionality potential thanks to its Nvidia Tegra CPU that can output 720p h.264 video via HDMI without a hickup.

On a trip to California recently (thanks again, Kingston) I managed to pick a ZuneHD up and can now do do a side by side comparison with the iPod touch.

Which is a better media device? Well, let's break down the parts:

Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

Posted on 18th Nov 2009 at 15:48 by Alex Watson with 22 comments

Well, this time it's real - probably. Nvidia PR man Brian Burke just posted a picture of a Ferm-based graphics card - which he called the GeForce 100 - on Twitter.

In the tweet, Burke says it's running the "Unigine Heaven" DX11 benchmark.

Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

Here it is!

You may now commence your speculations about how it will stack up against the new Radeon HD 5970.

And speaking of Twitter, don't forget you should follow bit-tech!

bit-tech.net

Budget overclocking is back!

Gaming 8 - Steamworks, Consolification and Scooters

Recommend Me A Board Game

Asus Xtreme: Global Summit – highlights from the third round of blogs

Diagnosis – Purchase Justification Syndrome

AX:GS - Event Coverage

Zune HD versus iPod Touch: Round 2, Video

Leaving Live Mesh and the mess Microsoft is in

Zune HD versus iPod Touch: Round 1, Music

Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

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