NVIDIA’s new video cards are set to receive a much-needed price drop in order to compete more effectively with AMD’s 4800 series. As we reported last week, the G200 cards were not selling as quickly as anticipated for a new GeForce release. Whilst this might attract new buyers, we can’t help but feel sorry for those who just shelled out up to £400 for their 280 only to see its price plummet by as much as £100!
Intel has now officially launched its Montevina platform which is set to make up the Centrino 2 architecture for high spec notebooks. Centrino branding has been a real hit for Intel, though with the new graphics subset scoring a ‘rip roaring’ 3DMark score of just 429, you will still want to make sure the words GeForce or Radeon are in your gaming notebook’s spec.
“In San Francisco on July 14, the Intel Montevina project morphed into the Intel® Centrino® 2 platform. Beyond jacking up performance and improving battery life, this beauty spread its wireless wings with the latest in Wireless-N (Draft-N) technology.”
Read more here
In a move that could see the UK move into the broadband fast lane for the first time, BT has pledged to lay enough fibre optic cabling to allow ten million customers access to ultra high speed broadband. Virgin customers in digital cable areas can of course already access the technology, which the media giant intends to crank up to 50Mbps before the end of the year.
“We will deliver a sea of fast broadband, with islands of super-fast broadband…[but] We need to be able to demonstrate that we can make a better return for shareholders than putting the money in the bank”
Read more here
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, Spore needs no introduction. Will Wright’s evolutionary blockbuster isn’t cited for release until early September, but publisher EA has released the Creature Creator segment of the game early to garner some not-really-needed interest. A free trial is now available from www.spore.com/trial . The question is, will Spore live up to the hype? Not long to wait now…
Despite holding a significant lead in the enthusiast market, Intel has actually lost a small portion of its market share to rival AMD in the first quarter of 2008. Statistics released by research firm iSuppli show that Intel lost 0.7% whilst AMD gained 2.2% of the market at the expense of its bigger rival and other smaller chip manufacturers. Between the two of them, the AMD and Intel control a massive 92.7% of the microprocessor market worldwide.
Read More here
Lizard Interactive has announced that the first expansion pack for free to play MMORPG Sho Online is just around the corner. Entitled “Two Emperors”, the expansion brings with it a host of new features, one of the more interesting being a pet training system whereby players can raise creatures to assist them in battles or provide speedier forms of transport.
Get the lowdown here
In a sad day for those of us who love to see computing pushed to its bleeding edge, high-end PC specialist Vadim has ceased trading. The global credit crunch and reluctant investors have been cited as the cause.
“It is with great regret that I must inform you that V-Solutions LTD, the official company behind Vadim Computers, as from today, 07/07/08 has gone into voluntary liquidation. One of the reasons for this sudden action is the credit crunch that unfortunately hit the electronics and PC hardware industry hard..”
We wish the owners and employees at Vadim all the best in their future projects
Read more here
MSI now has a full range of Intel P45 chipset motherboards available for sale, ranging from affordable mainstream solutions to the latest Crossfire-ready Platinum and Diamond series products designed for overclockers and enthusiasts. Whilst the P45 isn’t a huge upgrade over existing chipsets, if the pre-release samples we have looked at thus far are anything to go by, they should be capable of very high FSB clock speeds and run considerably cooler than previous offerings.
Read More here
Konami has recently confirmed that a PC-DVD version of its latest football title Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 should come to a games store near you in Autumn 2008. An all-new graphics engine should make PES 2009 the best looking soccer game available, though EA’s titanic grip on the official FIFA licence means you will still be playing as West London White against Merseyside Blue rather than as officially licensed teams. Or you could just download the inevitable 3rd party ‘fix’ of course. More details and the first screen shots coming soon, but for now you can read more here.
Players will be thrown deep into the South Pacific and European theatres in Call of Duty; World at War in a title that goes back to the series’ WW2 roots. The swanky COD4: Modern Warfare engine will again be put to full use so expect great physics, AI and visual effects to die for.
“With Call of Duty: World at War, we’re re-defining what it means to play a WWII game,” said Mark Lamia, Studio Head for developer Treyarch.
Whilst exact details remain sketchy at present, you can expect new goodies like co-op gameplay and the always-entertaining flamethrower to make their debuts in the series. Read more at http://www.callofduty.com/ or in issue 9 of Total PC gaming which goes on sale 10/07.
