Cooler Master to Demo 20-Core Machine at CeBIT

Cooler Master seems to be showing keen interest in small-scale cluster computing, or at least the casing, power and cooling part of it. In a bid to flex its engineering muscle, the company that is known best for its coolers and PC cases, is coming up with an intensive cluster-computer dubbed "20 Cores PC". What might look like an overgrown PC case from the outside, with enough room inside to accommodate an enthusiast PC setup, water-cooling, massive storage, and still room left to hide things, actually is a modified ATCS 840 to perpendicularly stack up to five mini-ITX motherboards, in essence, five systems. Armed with decent skills in networking and virtualization, one can build a small cluster-computer out of those five sub-PCs.

The 20 Cores PC Cooler Master plans to demonstrate this CeBIT has five motherboards powered by an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 processor each (hence 20 cores). Each CPU is water-cooled by the cooling system in place. Each motherboard has all essential components connected such as dedicated memory (2 GB per board), and fixed-storage. Each PC additionally has its own optical drive. In the cooling efficiency tests conducted by the company, it was noted that after five hours of full-load, the hottest CPU reached only 66 °C, with an ambient temperature of 30 °C and chipset temperature of 38 °C. The temperatures seem impressive indeed, though credit goes to the three 200 mm ventilator fans, a 120 mm fan, and a water-cooling system consisting of five pumps and a large radiator. The entire unit is powered by a Cooler Master 1,200 W power supply.







Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/86340/Cooler_Master_to_Demo_20-Core_Machine_at_CeBIT.html

How to view videos in "High Quality"

Here are 3 simple steps on how to view the videos on this site in "high quality" since they'll be much sharper that way compared to "normal quality"

1. Click on the play button to play the video.



2. Click on that little button to bring up the option to view in "high quality" then click on it.



3. The video will now load in "high quality" and you can enjoy it without any distortion.

Mirror's Edge (Gameplay video)

Here's a gameplay video of the fantastic and addicting but short game, wish it was a bit more longer than it is now =(
Mirror's Edge.

Burnout Paradise (Gameplay Video)

Here's a little gameplay video of Burnout Paradise

Burnout Paradise : The Ultimate Box

Burnout Paradise , just like the previous Burnout games is another fantastic addition to this series. The best addition to this game i'd have to say is the free roam feature , though there's not much you can do driving around the city but still it's a very good feature. Next is the addition of bikes which are another reason to get this already superb game .
The amount of variety in the game is huge, and how you approach it is up to you; explore Paradise City's open world at leisure, unlock the 70-plus vehicles one at a time through single-player events, or join other players for races and challenges online. Couple this deep variety with the fact that it's hugely fun, and Burnout Paradise is easy to recommend. In addition to all of the content from the original console game, Ultimate Box also includes all of Burnout Paradise's downloadable content released to date. First up, there's Codename: Cagney, which adds the Stunt Run, Marked Man, and Road Rage modes to online multiplayer. The Bikes pack adds two-wheeled racing and a day/night cycle to the series for the first time. And last, there's Burnout Party, the first paid-for content to hit the game. Burnout Party is a pass-the-controller-style offline party mode for two to eight players and is a fun new way to experience Burnout.
Emerging a year after the original console release, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box doesn't just manage to keep up with the pace of the competition; it's at the front of the pack. If you own one of the console versions and already have the DLC packs, there's no major benefit to upgrading, but if you're new to Burnout Paradise, The Ultimate Box is the best Burnout experience to date. With a mass of online and offline events and modes, dozens of cars, the addition of bike and night races, and an all-new party mode for up to eight friends, The Ultimate Box is instantly gratifying and long-lasting high-octane entertainment.

EVGA Releases SLI Enhancement Patch

EVGA today announced a new piece of value-added feature for its customers: the EVGA SLI Enhancement. To make full use of two or more GPUs teamed in an SLI setup, games and 3D applications need "SLI profiles". The general Forceware driver isn't necessarily in tune with the frequency at which new games are released. EVGA has taken the initiative to release SLI profiles for games before NVIDIA does.

The company released the first release of the SLI Enhancement (version: 02.11.09), which is based on NVIDIA Forceware 182.05 driver suite, and supports the entire range of graphics products EVGA currently sells. When installed, the software intends to boost performance in SLI setups for Burnout Paradise and Necrovision Demo (DX10 Mode), apart from all the applications Forceware 182.05 already has profiles for. The software is exclusive for registered EVGA customers.

• Enables SLI support for Grand Ages: Rome Demo
• Enables SLI support for Codename: Panzers Cold War Demo
• Enables SLI support for Men Of War Beta
• Improved SLI support for Burnout Paradise
• Enables SLI support for NecroVision Demo (DX10 Mode)

You can find more information along with the download links here.

Leopard glass theme (Vista)

Thanks to my friend i changed the look of my vista to match that of a mac desktop. Here's how it looks now =)

Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content Free on Xbox 360 and PC

The recently announced Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content (L4D DLC) will be delivered to Xbox 360 and PC gamers free of charge. Due for release this spring, the DLC for 2008's best-selling new game property on the PC and Xbox 360, is dubbed the L4D Survival Pack and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode (Death Toll, Dead Air). A Critic's Choice Edition of the game will be heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack.

Left 4 Dead is a survival action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 25 industry awards from outlets around the world.

For more information, please visit l4d.com.

CPU-Z 1.50 Released

The latest version of the popular CPU, motherboard and memory identification utility from CPUID, was released yesterday. The new version brings:

• Improved support for AMD Phenom II processor.
  
• New Intel Core i7 models.
  
• Support for NVIDIA 740i chipset.
  
• Several bug fixes.

DOWNLOAD: CPU-Z 1.50

Source: CPUID

Street Fighter IV

I've been waiting quite a lot for this game to come out. Just 1 day away from release my excitement is going over the top now !

Capcom showed off a near-final version of Street Fighter IV's arcade version at its recent Las Vegas press event. The game showed off the full roster of fighters, which includes the original world warriors, four bosses, and four new characters. Most importantly, the game featured the latest round of tweaks from the development team, which has been fine-tuning the game for the past few months. We tried out the single-player and multiplayer Versus mode to see if the game was continuing to deliver on the promise of its initial showing in February.

Based on what we played, Street Fighter IV is shaping up fantastically. The game looks and moves great. The detailed characters and smooth animations give combat a pleasing fluidity. Veteran players should enjoy digging into the combat, which is an accessible and challenging experience. The technical aspects of fighting may require vets to make some adjustments to their fighting styles with some characters, and the new characters don't quite fit in with the old-school fighters. We're not totally sold on the action being that accessible to newcomers to the series, but if Capcom can find a way to ease new combatants into the action, the game may have a widespread appeal. The only downside to all the news is that we're not officially getting the arcade release in the States, although we're willing to bet some machines will find their way over to a few spots, forcing most of us to wait for the home release, which is still a way off. Street Fighter IV is set to release this summer in Japanese and Asian arcades, with the game due in other parts of the world some time after.

Overall, we're really excited to see the final levels and characters in Street Fighter IV. So far it has augmented the basic mechanics from Street Fighter II with the best ideas from many of the iterations thereafter, and wraps them all up in a sumptuous visual package, while--so far--maintaining the feel, spirit, and balance of the earlier years of the much-loved franchise.

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/streetfighteriv/news.html?sid=6202732&mode=previews













Source: http://media.pc.ign.com/media/142/14256447/imgs_1.html

Need for Speed : Undercover

This has to be the worst game i have ever played in my entire life ! This game doesn't deserve to be installed on any computer, it's that bad ! The NFS series is just going downhill after the release of nfs: most wanted . That was the last good realease of nfs . The handling of this game is even more arcade-ish. The graphics are too flashy. The damage system is poor . The story-line is way boring. The police chases are not as fun as they were in NFS : most wanted. The shadows are buzzy. The thing i hate about this game is that it has not the slightest feel of realism . Heck , if you want to take a corner at 180mph , this is the game for you. Genuinely disappointed by this game. I'm not the only one complaining about the failure of this game, i believe that 99% of the people who've got this game would think it's rubbish. Let's just hope that the upcoming NFS: shift is better than this.
Here are some screens from the game :

Call of Duty 4 (Video)

Here's a little gameplay video of Call of duty 4.
Watch the video in high quality.



Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FS493Xud4E

Call Of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare

Most of you people would be knowing about the Call Of Duty series that it is fun and exciting . Well , Call of Duty 4 isn't that different. It is big improvement over the last one. The graphics are more refined and realistic . The game play is great as always. Being set in the modern world, this game will appeal to more people since they're tired of all the WWII and other historic war games. There is quite a good variety of guns and accessories to choose from including the new addition of "perks" which can be like "last stand" or "juggernaut".

SINGLE PLAYER:
The single player of this game is thrilling and exciting but at the same time i feel that it's quite short. The variety of missions and the storyline is a plus point which will keep you glued to the screen for quite a while. The single-player is almost shockingly short. If you've been keeping up with this style of game, you'll probably shoot your way to the credits in under five hours. While you can raise the difficulty to give yourself more of a challenge, the main thing this does is make the enemies frustratingly deadly, which sort of detracts from the fun. While it may have a lack of single-player quantity, it makes up for most of it with its quality. The game tells its story from multiple perspectives, and you'll play as a new British SAS operative as well as a US Marine. The campaign takes you from a rainy night out at sea on a boat that's in the process of sinking to a missile silo where it's on you to save millions from an unsavory nuclear-powered death. Along the way, there are plenty of jaw-dropping moments where you'll look around the room for someone to whom you can say, "I can't believe that just happened."

MULTI-PLAYER:
The best feature about this game is the multi-player which really boosts the life-span of this already fantastic game. Up to 32 players can play at the same time. You start out with "rank I" and slowly start rising through the ranks. As your rank increases, new and better weapons are unlocked, along with the availability of new perks and also new game-play modes such as "team death match", "search and destroy", "headquarters". My personal favorite is the "headquarters". All these different things provided in multiplayer will surely keep you entertained for a long time. This is the reason why COD 4 is the most popular game on Xbox-Live. So you better get online and try out its multiplayer which is an entirely new experience.

NXE (xbox 360)

The NXE is a great improvement over the old "blade-style" dashboard for the Xbox 360.
It has a totally new layout with quite a lot of options added . The best thing about this update is that it let's you install games to your hard drive which reduces the load times considerably.
However you still need the disk to be inserted in order to play the game but the good thing is that it doesn't keep spinning all the time which reduces the load on the ROM, meaning that it won't heat up the 360 and it'll last much longer.
Another great addition are the fun looking avatars which you can customize to your liking with a number of different clothes, accessories and other stuff. Here are the screens: