Dalo Harkin

A chance for owners of Radeon HD 3000 and 4000-series cards to try out DirectX 10.1 features in a real game ATI has been loyal to Microsoft with its support for DirectX 10.1 since the release of the Radeon HD 3850 last year, but game developers have been slow to adopt the new API. However, if you have a copy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky and a Radeon HD 3000 or 4000-series graphics card, then you’ve now got a chance to try out some real DirectX 10.1 gaming features with the latest patch. Patch V1.5.06 for the game can now be downloaded from here for both the retail and download versions of the game, and it adds a number of graphical changes. First off is, of course, DirectX 10.1 support, which manifests itself in the new MSAA (multi-sampling anti-aliasing) feature for alpha-tested objects. In the standard DirectX 10 mode, you get a standard ‘alpha-to-coverage’ mode, but with DirectX 10.1 you get a customised ‘alpha-to-coverage’ MSAA (multi-sampling anti-aliasing) mode, which the game developer says results in improved performance and better quality on native DirectX 10.1 cards. There’s also a new shadow map technique that can take advantage of DirectX 10.1, which the game’s developer says will ‘speed up high quality sunshafts’ at high resolutions with top-end graphics cards. As well as the DirectX 10.1 support, the new patch also speeds up the rendering of high quality sunshafts with the DirectX 9 renderer, and there’s also a new Ultra quality level for sun shadows. The patch also changes a few elements of the game, fixing a few bugs, and also including the ability to load your last saved game by pressing Spacebar as soon as you die. You can read the full list of new features added with the patch in the release notes. To coincide with the release of the patch, AMD has released a hotfix to speed up the performance in the game when using DirectX 10.1, although the hotfix will also speed up performance in DirectX 9 and 10 too, and also apparently improves frame rates in Far Cry 2. If you have a supporting Radeon card, then Windows XP and VIsta users can download the hotfix from here. Sourced from DirectX 10.1 patch released for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky | News | Custom PC

EPIA-P710 has an area of just 72cm², and features DirectX 9 graphics, HD audio and stackable I/O expansion boards http://www.custompc.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_215/it_photo_107778_28.jpg If you thought that VIA’s modder-friendly 170 x 170mm Mini-ITX motherboards were small, then prepare for a ‘wow’ moment, as VIA’s new Pico-ITXe EPIA-P710 motherboard is a quarter of the size. VIA has just unveiled the board at the Embedded System Conference (ESC) in Boston, and it measures just 10 x 7.2cm, making for a total area of just 72cm², compared with 289cm² on a standard Mini-ITX board. There’s not a lot to it, though, which is because it forms just the skeleton of a system. On the board, you’ll find two main chips; a 1GHz VIA C7 CPU and a VIA VX800 chipset, which features an S3 Chrome9 IGP that supports DirectX 9, as well as hardware MPEG-2/4 and WMV9 acceleration. The chipset also has a VIA Vinyl HD audio codec, with appropriate pin-outs on the board, and the board features a single EIDE channel and S-ATA connector, plus a 1Gb/sec Ethernet chip. Otherwise, the board is a pretty sparse affair, and there’s a reason for that, which is that it has a modular plug-in architecture, which VIA calls SUMIT (stackable unified module interconnect technology). The idea is that you can stack expansion boards on top of the board to provide the I/O features that you want. These include boards to add a 4x PCI-E slot and up to two 1x PCI-E slots, as well as three USB 2 ports. Much like VIA’s Mini-ITX motherboards, the new Pico-ITXe motherboard standard is targeted at the embedded computing market, but the highly flexible modular system could make for some interesting modding projects if you could get your hands on one, particularly as it supports Windows XP as standard. Restricting the need for horizontal space, and giving you the ability to stack the boards, this could result in PCs of all different shapes and sizes. VIA will ship the EPIA P-710 in December this year. Sourced from VIA unveils minuscule Pico-ITXe motherboard | News | Custom PC

Microsoft has been experimenting with online productivity suites for a while, but the company is finally ready to bring its money-making Office franchise to the cloud, in an effort to fend off the challenge of Google Docs and others. Office Web, as it is being called, is expected to launch simultaneously with the next generation of Office, code-named “Office 14,” late next year. Office Web will include lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the OneNote collaboration program. Of course, the suite will not be offered for free, but interestingly enough Microsoft said it was toying with the idea of making both an annual subscription based version of Office Web and an ad-supported free edition which could open up the suite to the masses. Sourced from Microsoft unveils Office Web - TechSpot News

Last week, AMD released a Catalyst driver hotfix in preparation for the launch of Far Cry 2. The driver was supposed to improve the game’s performance for all card setups in DirectX 10 mode and boost frame rates in the DirectX 9 version of the game for those with CrossFire multi-GPU configurations. It appears that some image quality issues were also part of the mix, though, thus the company has released today the second hotfix for the popular first person shooter to address this problem. Interestingly, AMD says the update should also improve performance for the DirectX 10 and 10.1 version of Stalker: Clear Sky, which was released back in mid-September. The hotfix is available here for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista. Sourced from http://www.techspot.com/news/32270-amd-releases-new-catalyst-hotfix-for-far-cry-2-.html

Psystar is not only trying to one-up Apple when it comes to new hardware deployment, it seems, with recent rumors suggesting that the company is now looking to intrude in the portable market by launching a MacBook clone laptop. The very light details don't give any hints as to what sort of hardware specs to expect, but so far Psystar has concentrated more on competing in the price arena as opposed to anywhere else. If they do release a MacBook clone, I would imagine they would continue that pattern, trying to squeeze in with an attractive price point. sourced from Is Psystar planning a Macbook clone? - TechSpot News

Well first it was ABIT - now FOXCONN - any takers on who is next?

The Chinese channel is filled with rumors today of a possible Foxconn pull out from the branded motherboard market. According to DigiTimes, Foxconn has told its salespeople to stop taking orders for certain motherboard models and stop gathering sales forecasts for new models, implying that the company is clearing out its inventory. Foxconn is not commenting on the rumors, and sources claim it is unlikely to do so as the firm would rather keep a low profile and avoid jeopardizing the inventory clearing. Interestingly, Foxconn sales are doing well, with the company shipping more than 10 million units in 2007 and sales expected to grow by as much as 30 percent in 2008. Regardless, Foxconn may be looking to focus on more lucrative segments of the business, such as making boards (and all kinds of other products) for other firms on a contract basis. Sourced from Foxconn to quit branded motherboard market? - TechSpot News

Canonical has announced the official roll out of Ubuntu 8.10, codenamed Intrepid Ibex. The new desktop release of the popular Linux distribution incorporates the latest Gnome 2.24 and a Linux 2.6.27 kernel, along with new versions of many popular open source desktop applications and a bunch of important new features. Ubuntu 8.10 introduces native support for 3G networks and improved Wi-Fi support, better and faster support for a wide range of inbuilt or external devices, and a few nice privacy features such as a guest user mode and support for directory encryption. Another interesting feature is the ability to easily install Intrepid Ibex on a thumb drive, for those considering making the switch, but not quite ready for a full install. sourced from Ubuntu 8.10 now available for download - TechSpot News

Google has admitted in recent history that their own user-generated content sites, like Google Code and Google Reader, are a potential avenue for spammers and malicious users to host or at least refer to nasty content on the web. Most recently there has been a Facebook worm attempting to spread using these exact tactics. The worm will post invites to people's Facebook accounts, providing a link to a video supposedly hosted on a Google page. The video, of course, is nothing more than a link to the aforementioned worm. Google itself is not host to the worm, only the page that links to it, but it's easy to see why people would by default trust a page hosted by Google. The worm ultimately tries to squeeze money out of people with a fake virus cure, as many worms these days do. Sourced from Facebook worm hides amongst Google pages - TechSpot News

With more services existing “in the cloud”, reliability has become a chief concern, particularly for companies who offload existing services. Companies like Microsoft and Google who aim to be pioneers in web-based application services have an uphill battle in convincing people that they can be truly reliable. This year alone, for instance, there have been numerous outages for Google, including issues with Gmail, Google Docs and other services. Even if they are up “usually,” a business paying for a service wants more than that. Google is now seeking to put their minds at ease with reliability promises, which most people refer to as service level agreements, promising a 99.9% uptime. That's a bit off of the “99.999%” uptime that some big hosting companies provide, but often even those claims are exaggerated. Google is promising the 99.9% figure with compensation available for paying customers who don't quite get it. So, if a paying business suffers an outage for too long, Google will compensate them. [/url] Sourced from http://www.techspot.com/news/32293-google-promises-999-google-services-uptime.html

Game industry behemoth EA hasn't done well the past quarter, and as a result of some significant financial losses has announced that they will be cutting a portion of their workforce. Citing higher development and marketing costs, the company announced that the $310 million loss they suffered will result in them cutting 6% of their workforce, which is somewhere around 500 to 600 people. Sourced from EA prepares layoffs after $310 million loss - TechSpot News

You cannot change the BIOS - well its hard enough in a tower let alone a lappy - you need to check that all the settings in the BIOS are right - like its holding the time etc. a diagram will do you no good - they just go where there is a space for them - if you have no experience of 'fixing' laptops then I suggest that you take it to someone that does

Hi, Welcome to FPCH :)

Its the GPU - the GPU is one of the worst mobile ones available (as you are using a laptop) there is not much that you can do I am afraid. Chances are that the GPU is not doing its job and the CPU is trying even harder

can someone post the 'significant time saving' please :rolleyes:

can someone post the 'significant time saving' please :rolleyes:

Agreed - unless its a cutting edge lappy then a GPU replacement is out, most companies now do ''build your own lappy'' - if its one of those then yes a GPU upgrade can be done.

It seems more like the MOBO (Motherboard) was surged with the Jack fault - this could have led to the PSU being knackered or the RAM or as you say the HDD.

We all know how static is generated and there are ways to avoid it :rolleyes:

Whats the make and model number of the lappy?

If Vista is saying it needs a BIOS flash then it WILL need a BIOS flash - these are not easy to do at all on laptops and depending on who made the motherboard they are not easy to do - Most BIOS flashes are done by todays standards in a windows environment - but still most MOBO manufacturers do not offer this yet - only some of the bigger ones like ASUS do and you still need to perform it via a floppy - and seeing as though you do not have one on a laptop, you are a bit stuck.

Agreed - all you need to worry about is if the drive works or not - the only diagnostic tool you need for drives is the inbuilt windows one!

Is the RAM dual channel?? is it running in dual channel as in a stick in DIMM 1 and 3 or 2 and 4?

I have been building PC's for many years and never had one not work due to static - if you are concerned about it then leave the PSU cable into the mains so its grounded - or touch the copper pipe at the bottom of a radiator

The RAM should be fine - the 1200 is MAXIMUM http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/MemorySupport/motherboard_memory_ga-ep43-ds3l.pdf Have you been on the OCZ website and set the Voltage and the timing manually in the BIOS? There is also a RED NOTE about the particular CPU's the board can use.