The Zone

Card Manufacturers are abuzz with their plans to release the new 8800 GT chipset with 1GB of memory. Seeing as how succesfull the 512MB version of the chipset is, most pundits are already hoping that such a move will double the 8800 GT card's already exceptional performance. But will it really do that?

The practice of doubling or adding on more memory to a graphic card is not something new nor is it unprecedented. The most recent case is the addition of 1GB worth of memory to 8500 GT and 8600 GT graphic cards. From our experience with the 8500 GT 1GB the increase in performance is marginal at best, with only 1 to 2 frames per second added on. The key there was the type of memory used, since it was only 1GB of GDDR2.

If card manufacturers are willing to add on 1GB of GDDR4, then maybe we can see a notable increase in the performance for the new 1GB 8800GT cards, but if there is only going to be more GDDR3 or worse GDDR2, well... we'll see when it arrives in our hands.

Hot off the virtual pressrooms and into the 1st Jan fire! Asus reportedly is going to preview its second generation of Eee PCs, the computing solution that took the world by storm, beating other initiatives for low-cost computing by more than 350000 units shipped at the end of December last year. Now, just after winding down New Years celebrations, Asus has released a mysterious press release (in Chinese) which mentions that the second generation Eee will come with an 8.9" screen, among other delightful upgrades such as models with embedded XP, a price of no more than 50k yuan, and even WiMAX connectivity (which might be revealed at CES, thanks to this invite here). Stay tuned as we unravel the happenings.

 p.s. I was just about to get one!! Thanks for letting me wait 4 months more Asus! :D

Full story HERE 

We've finally got our hands on the 8800GT 1GB and yeah, it uses lovely, lovely GDDR3. Previously we've seen only marginal increases in the 8600 GT when upped to 1GB. We attributed that to the fact that it mainly used GDDR2 and still had that 128 bit bottle neck in the memory management factor. But now that we've got the 8800 GT (a much more noteworthy GPU) with a full complement of GDDR3 and 256 bit memory interface, we're kind of hoping for a better ride.

Our resident theorist posits that it shouldn't really make much difference since we'll be testing in DX10 which handles memory much better than DX9. Find out later when the review comes out.

Say hi to the world's thinnest notebook. Jobs and Co have done it again, unleashing the MacBook Air to the world yesterday at Macworld 2008. While it is simply stunning to look at, the Air does have some minor drawbacks - it works only with wireless networks, its too thin for an Ethernet port (can you believe I'm typing this? I can't myself), the baseline USD$1799 model only has a 80GB hdd whereas the USD$3098 one has a 64GB SSD - a whopping price increase, and the fact that all your hardware is sealed like an iPod makes this a tough buy.

On the other hand, it has a gorgeous 13.3" 1280 x 800 screen that is LED-backlit, Micro DVI adapter, Wireless-N, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, Core 2 Duo 1.6 or 1.8GHz processor, standard 2GB DDR2-667 memory, full-backlit keyboard AND a multi-touch/gesture pad! All of these in a clamshell that is only 3 pounds (1.3kg) and is only 19mm thick at its thickest point! That's thinner than most mobile phones! And it has a Core 2 Duo inside!!

Its a tough decision to make.

Check out Apple's guided tour video for more info.....and for size comparisions of course.

Although it’s still a concept, this inflatable mouse will really hype up a game of Doko Doko Maji Shinpan (if it was ever released on the PC) as you can experience a soft, fluffy gaming experience that has never been offered before. While it might make the Logitech Air mouse all green with envy, we see that most people wouldn’t be bothered about blowing up their mice, especially at a boardroom meeting, however geeky you may be!

[Yanko Design]

Crysis gamers using 2 HD3870 cards in a crossfire setup have complained that during the game objects such as far off trees and clouds tend to flicker and become distorted. After trying out Crysis using the HD3870 X2, the same flickering objects were also observed. This seems to support earlier claims by AMD that the X2 is just two HD3870's crossfired on the same card.

(Don't bother looking for drivers from AMD-ATI, you can fix the flickering objects problem for either your CrossFired HD3870s or your HD3870 X2 by downloading and installing the 140MB Crysis patch 1.1 file.)

This tends to shoot down further rumours that you can do a triple CrossFireX or quad CrossFireX setup using the HD3870 X2s mainly cause a single HD3870 X2 is already more or less recognised as a CrossFire setup in itself, then you shouldn't be able to hook up more than two HD3870 X2 cards in a single setup.

Despite our cheap affordable and cute Eee PC fetish, there are other UMPCs out there which are cute enough to upsurp the People's portable computer. Case in hand, the Kohjinsha SH series. Although the brand is established in Singapore, their units have only been trickling in of late, and although we are new to the whole Kohjinsha scene (its huge south of JB) we can see why; this sub RM2.5k UMPC packs a whole lot more features compared to Asus' aneroxic model. 120GB HDD, standard 1GB of RAM on the SH811W model (the white one), Windows Vista, Bluetooth, WiFi, MS/SD and CF card reader and.....tablet functionality! More pics after the jump!

Pata-pata-pon-pon! Sony's quirky PSP game, soon to be released in English is getting a Be@rbrick! While the game has already garnered much attention in Japan with its quirky gameplay and minimalist yet tribal-influenced art, the Be@rbrick will be available in the 100% size and will be used for promotional activities. In other news, GeForce 8 owners might jump in joy if NVIDIA were to release PhysX firmware that enables any 8-series card to act as a full-fledged physics engine. Thanks to the use of CUDA as one of the backbones of NVIDIA's graphics technology, the green giant was able to port its PhysX IP (intellectual property) to CUDA when they bought Ageia a couple of weeks back.

Operating using the Sterling Engine theory, whereby the ebb and flow of heat waves are able to push a balanced piston which in turn, rotates the fan to cool your northbridge, the fan on the MSI ECOlution motherboard is simply a sight to behold. Check out a video on a 3D diagram, but we do have questions - will it generate at least 5cfm? Will it work vertically (as hot air rises and the piston will only be just another wall)? Since the mechanism is in fine balance, will the ubitiquous dust bunny ruin operation?

All this and more when the motherboard is realsed...soon!

After the release of NVIDIA's GeForce 9600 GT and its soon to come GeForce 9800 GX2, how will AMD-ATI counter it after just releasing its own dual GPU card (the HD 3870 X2)? With its HD Radeon 3600 and 3400 series barely doing better than most 8500 or 8600 cards out there, is AMD-ATI hoping for a somehow untouched market of HD video computer users to come to their rescue? Which is basically all that the 3600 and 3400 series will be able to offer.

However, we just recently got our hands on a reworked HD 3870 that was both single slot design and gave comparable performance to an overclocked 8800 GT. If AMD-ATI can encourage other card manufacturers to follow suit then maybe AMD-ATI has a chance of hanging on instead of trying in vain to go head to head for the latest and greatest path that its competitor is going for. After all, to repeat that age old adage, its not how big your package is, its how you use it! 

Extreme Tech recently did a shootout on Terabyte hard drives that are available on the market, and surprise, surprise! Most of the very latest models are superbly up to spec on what consumers want, whether be it high MBTF values, silent operation, data transfer speed and price/performance ratios. Check out the shootout here, and see which drive is perfect for you! Last thing we heard, you can get both Seagate and WD winners for below RM1.2k in Plaza Low Yat.

'Twas a great journey that we went through, from the days of Need For Speed: Most Wanted to the adrenaline rush that is Crysis, from Region 3 to Region 1 and Region 3 back again, and when you became the only original component from my previous machine. Today, you have passed on to silicone heaven, and I will miss the times when you refused to read my backup DVDs thanks to bad dye. Living through Nero, CDBurnerXP, Alcohol 120% and a host of other DVD recording programs ain't hard for you wasn't it?

Any reccommendations for a new DL DVD burner?