With
the Radeon HD 2900 XT outperforming the Geforce 8800 GTX with the release of
new ATI drivers, it’s time to see how it performs compared to a Geforce 8800
Ultra. Our friends over at TweakTown.com have done just this with interesting
results. Of course, we at FastSilicon.com feel the Nvidia offerings are better
at this juncture, but for those hardcore ATI fans, the 2900 XT packs a hard
punch at a lower price point. Combine this with Crossfire, and you’re looking
at one sexy ATI system.
AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics card really does
continue to show how it can be a dominant card in the market and that the next
offering from AMD/ATI should be a strong competitor, we think.
Sure, Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 Ultra continues to win but at pricing starting at
around or sometimes over 40% of the HD 2900 XT, you would expect it too as
well. You throw in the fact that the Intel P35 is the new “in” chipset (which
currently only supports Crossfire for its dual graphics system) you really have
to look at the HD 2900 XT as the graphics card of choice.
ASUS have got a fabulous HD 2900 XT package as well - the inclusion of
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. alongside the normal Black Box is excellent and at least you
feel you’re getting something extra for your money.
We Stumbled across an interesting report about the GA-P35-DS3 not passing EMI compliance. We happen to have one in our labs, but it has no effect on anything else. Not that we would expect anomalies with the levels still fairly low. Newer boards are emerging that are packed to the brim with features and bandwidth, companies might have to start considering these tests more as a design obstacle when enough EMI is generated to possibly start affecting other components in the case. Not to mention pacemakers and other medical devices are susceptible
THESE DAYS, Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) compliance
is required for nearly all electronic stuff sold in the EU, US and
most of Asia. This encompasses various US, FCC and CE tests, among
others. So, the user's assumption would be that all such products
do pass the tests.
Well, not always - Taiwan's ETC (Electronic Testing Center) labs
sometimes comes across major brand products which don't exactly
pass some of the EMI tests.
A fairly recent example is Gigabyte's GA-P35-DS3 mainboard,
based on the Intel's P35 chipset, one of which may have been lying
in waste, dropped on the floor of Taiwan's spanking new 300 km/h
Shinkansen high speed train somewhere between Taipei and
Kaohsiung...
Once again, we find an overwhelmingly blatant illustration of how and why the DMCA is a bad law. "Creation Science Evangelism", a right-wing fundamentalist christian group led by convicted felon and tax-evader Kent Hovind, has manipulated a loophole in the DMCA, forcing Youtube to remove videos that are in the public domain. Why? Simply because the CSE does not like what their detractors have to say.
The way the DMCA is structured, companies like Youtube are required by U.S. Law to remove content immediately, without the necessity for review. This places the (rather expensive to fight) legal burden on the alleged infringor of the DMCA , in this case The Rational Response Squad. Their account was terminated as a response to rebuttal of Kent Hovind's insanity .
the video below is not recommended for younger audiences
Without fail, the video we embedded was taken down after a certain time. It was also for the same for the same falsified reason. The whole community is getting very upset with this. Hopefully people will write their congressmen in order to solicit some change in this law that is being used for censorship and other illigitimate reasons.
We recently discovered a new website, TV-Links , which hosts links to several thousand streaming movies, television shows, anime, cartoons, documentaries, and music videos. It is not difficult to surmise why its traffic has skyrocketed in just a couple of months. Alexa has this baby ranked #214 in the world. Questionable legality? Perhaps. Popular? DEFINITELY. Welcome to the machine, MPAA...
Trent Reznor, leader of band Nine Inch Nails and iD Software soundtrack guru, went public last week with some rather choice words for the recording industry and its treatment of customers in the land down under. At a concert in Sydney, he said this from the stage;
"Steal it. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it
to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another
these mother****ers will get it through their head that they're ripping
people off and that's not right."
His words make further comment from us unnecessary.
