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Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Posted at 18:17 by Podcast with 9 comments

We're back with another Hardware Podcast - so good it's spelled in capitals. Rich, Harry and Clive get together to talk about all the hot (and just power-efficient) hardware of the last fortnight. Tune in to hear what we think of Intel's Atom (clue - it's not very good, is it?) VIA's new Nano processor and news on what Intel's up to.

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Written on 5th November 2009
Tags 965, alienware, amd, c3 stepping, cpus, dream pcs, hardware, i7 930, i9, intel, m17x, podcast, processors, six-core, via nano, windows 7

Gaming Podcast 6 - IWNet, Windows 7 and Yak Meat

Posted at 11:27 by Joe Martin with 11 comments

With Alex and Tim both available for a podcast this week, we sit down to discuss all the latest gaming news and controversies - from Activision's unveiling of IWNet for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to games compatibility in Windows 7.

That's not all we've got going on though - we also sit down for a quick snack of Chinese Yak meat live on tape and hand out the first of a new set of prizes in our Guess The Screenshot competition. Fun times!

On top of all that we've also got the usual Reader Mail and we finally talk about how good games packaging used to be when everything came in a huge cardboard box.

In the next podcast we'll be discussing how to get into the games industry and whether it's more important to have a recognised qualification or some experience in the real world. We'd love to hear your thoughts on all this, so drop your opinions in the forums or send them to the usual email address - Podcast@CustomPC.co.uk. Please be sure to mark your emails as 'Gaming Podcast'.

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Written on 29th October 2009
Tags call of duty, cod, dedicated servers, games podcast, gaming podcast, iwnet, modern warfare 2, podcast, windows 7, yak meat

Hardware Podcast 7 - this time it's loud!

Posted at 17:37 by Clive Webster with 11 comments

First off, apologies for not getting this up yesterday, and for it being so quiet the first time - the podcast fairy has been pretty slack this week. This is the seventh hardware podcast, and Rich, Harry and Tim are joined by Asus bod Iain Bristow. If any other manufacturers would like to join us for pod, please let us know and we'll try to organise it. Up for discussion are:

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Written on 23rd October 2009
Tags amd, athlon ii x4 620, competition, directcompute, directx 11, dx11, good old games, hd tv, kingston, prize, western digital, win, windows 7, xtreamer, zeno clash, zune hd

Gaming Podcast 5 - Art, Advertising and Attitude

Posted at 10:35 by Joe Martin with 12 comments

The fourth Gaming Pocast from the CustomPC and bit-tech team, again hosted by Joe and this time with Harry, Mark and Antony joining in for plenty of discussion about the latest events in the games industry across all platforms.

This week we talk about whether games journalists should have to develop games as a qualification, whether games can ever really be considered as an art form and why we've all been put off by the new advertising for Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2.

We also talk about the pending release of Windows 7 and why Joe isn't going to upgrade, as well as whether Valve might have a hidden dark side. Chilling stuff.

We've got a new prize to give away in the competition this week too, so listen closely and if you can guess the game we're describing then send your clearly labelled emails to Podcast@custompc.co.uk - and remember to put 'Gaming Podcast 5' in the subject line, or drop your thoughts in the forums.

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Written on 15th October 2009
Tags advertising, are games art, art, brutal legend, dragon age, fatale, games podcast, gaming podcast, joe being stubborn, journalism, mass effect 2, podcast, reader mail, subject zero, tale of tales, windows 7

Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

Posted at 17:32 by Podcast with 12 comments

The fifth (or first) Hardware Podcast sees the chaps talk about Intel's Core i5 and i7 LGA1156 processors and they're stupid naming convention. And discuss why maybe it won't seem so stupid in a few month's time. Also up for debate is the HD 5870, the Asus Mars graphics card and Nvidia's odd drivers.

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Written on 24th September 2009
Tags asus mars, branding, core i5, hardware, hd 5870, lga1156, podcast, vision, windows 7

One, Two, Seven - get ready for the recovery

Posted at 15:32 by Tim Smalley with 7 comments

Over the past six months or so, it has become increasingly difficult to get excited about the computer hardware industry. Regular bit-tech readers have probably noticed my own output has dropped a little.

I've been focusing on the bigger picture (which included a lot of strategic work and a bit-tech site design refresh), and also turned some of my attention to new projects within Dennis that I'll be working on while I continue my role as Editor of bit-tech.

The lack of excitement is, in many respects, down to the recession - companies have been pulling down the hatches and boarding up windows while they weather the storm. There's been nothing exciting to talk about and it has been difficult to get hugely enthusiastic about the industry's future when nobody has announced a major technology breakthrough.

Written on 21st September 2009
Tags amd, directx 11, dx11, enthusiast, gaming, intel, nvidia, pc, windows 7

When three storms collide

Posted at 15:53 by Antony Leather with 14 comments

I was at a press event last week and whilst on my rounds meeting and greeting various hardware manufacturers and distributers, it was clear that a storm is brewing in the PC industry. However, in spite of the recession, this isn't a storm that will dampen our spirits further.

In contrast it will hopefully send a bolt of lightning right up the backside of any kind of daemon that has a financial grip on the IT industry. In fact it's what some might call a 'perfect storm' which, if you've seen the film, can only happen when two or more storms collide, the more the merrier really, unless you're a swordfisherman that is.

In this case, these storms are Windows 7, DX11 and Lynnfield and all are coming to an etailer near you before Christmas.

Written on 17th August 2009
Tags core i5, core i7, directx 11, lynnfield, nehalem, trim, upgrades, windows 7

Windows 7 gave my PC insomnia

Posted at 16:07 by Clive Webster with 29 comments

I’ve never really liked Windows Vista – it had too many annoying habits and not enough good ones for me to bother with it. However, I was always envious of its Sleep mode – Hibernate in XP is fine, but Vista's Sleep is much better. I was therefore keen to use Sleep after installing the Windows 7 RC, but there was a problem.

Written on 25th June 2009
Tags insomnia, power management, sleep, vista, windows 7

Thank you EU Regulators, you have broken Windows 7

Posted at 13:49 by Tim Smalley with 102 comments

It looks like the European Commission and Opera have got their way and Windows 7 will now ship without a browser installed in Europe.

It's fair to say that Windows 7 is now broken - Microsoft has said that its decision to ship Windows 7 without a browser installed means that it's no longer possible to upgrade from a previous version of Windows while keeping all of your settings, including your browser of choice. Instead, the European version (even the upgrade version) will require a clean install.

It's like a bad joke. It just isn't funny and is actually offensive. That the Commission think this is a good idea shows how far out of touch it is with reality in this instance.

Written on 12th June 2009
Tags antitrust, eu, european commission, microsoft, regulators, windows 7

Can I Go Solo With Windows 7?

Posted at 12:25 by Antony Leather with 27 comments

Have you tried Windows 7 yet? One of my plans for the bank holiday was to do one of my bi-yearly reinstalls of Windows to clear out the crap and maybe try a different RAID setup. I'd been running XP for a while after I gave up on dual booting it and Vista, dumping the latter because I didn't really play any DX10 enabled games, got thoroughly peeved with its clunky interface and interfering antics compared to XP, even after SP1, and, well XP was all I needed really. I guess I'm just set in my ways when it comes to operating systems.

However, given that the recently announced Windows 7 RC1 will stay operational till next year, I thought I'd give it a stab hearing glowing reports and also the fact I could get a 64bit version to make use of my new 4GB of RAM to help with the pretty demanding photo editing I've been doing recently which saw my 2GB RAM all used up. The question is, could I get away with using it alone or would I need to dual boot with XP again? Maybe I'd even be sick of it within 30 minutes like I was with Vista. This is a bit of a risk too as it's a release candidate but I was inclined to believe the glowing reports it had received and went for it.

Written on 27th May 2009
Tags 64-bit, bugs, raid, vista, windows, windows 7

Archive for the ‘windows 7’ tag

Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Gaming Podcast 6 - IWNet, Windows 7 and Yak Meat

Hardware Podcast 7 - this time it's loud!

Gaming Podcast 5 - Art, Advertising and Attitude

Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

One, Two, Seven - get ready for the recovery

When three storms collide

Windows 7 gave my PC insomnia

Thank you EU Regulators, you have broken Windows 7

Can I Go Solo With Windows 7?

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Archive for the ‘windows 7’ tag

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