Hynix unveils it’s big gun

Hynix’s Big Gun
Memory manufacturer Hynix has released info concerning it’s fastest GDDR5 memory yet, a 1 Gb GDDR5 memory which is capable of operating at 7 Gb/s. Meaning that when used with a 512-MB BUS it could potentially operate at some 448 Gb/s. Being built on 54 NM process technology will benefit laptop users and desktop enthusiast, meaning a lower heat and possibly giving a larger window of Video Memory OC. This memory is also the most energy efficient generation of high-end GDDR5 to date, requiring only 1.35 V instead of the standard 1.5 V. Hynix plans on pumping this stuff out Q1 of 09, so we may see it applied to video cards by 4th quarter 09.

Hynix says that the chip will dominate some 50% of the top end gaming card market by 2010.

The Gaming Industry Part 1: The consoles

 We all survived through Y2K and through the release of the next-gen consoles from the big 3 (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo).

So far
So far each publisher has taken a somewhat different approach to their consoles, resulting in gaming for each console to be somewhat unique.

Wii

 Nintendo decided to build a console for everyone, not just gamers. In doing this they have had a great amount of success in the sales of their console, the Wii. The Wii acheived success in marketing it as an ‘active’ gaming console, with most games being played requiring motion of some sort. In addition, they attempted to appease ‘old school’ gamers by releasing much of their beloved old content through their online network.
 However, the Wii suffers in the fact that although it is an innovative console, third party developers have a hard time developing games that uses the motion sensitive Wiimote and Nunchuck as more than just gimmicky novelties, leaving Nintendo to be the only really succesful developer for this console. This has caused several hardcore gamers to disdain the state of the Wii because there are few titles for it that exist for hardcore gamers or that are complex or deep. Nintendo also has the difficulty with the developers that do develop for the console, because they are usually themed at E or E 10+ category, leaving it with very little content that inately appeals to the older gaming audience.
 Still the Wii is backed by such powerful gaming series such as Mario, Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, and Metroid backing it up, it is a console to contend with.

X-Box 360

 Microsoft’s second console proves that they can keep the success going with the release of the X-Box 360.
At first the X-Box 360 raised a number of eyebrows due to the common ‘Red Ring of Death’ which meant that your model had died. Fortunately Microsoft has worked hard to circumvent these problems, because initially the 360 was prone to overheating. In addition to this, Microsoft has extended the product warranty to 3 years if the console suffers from the Red Ring of Death.
 Due to the success of the 360 franchise, X-Box has dealt a powerfull blow to it’s competitor Sony, taking away the exclusivity of such titles as Final Fantasy XIII, Devil May Cry, Virtua Fighter, and Ace Combat just to name a few and has eliminated Sony’s hand-up in timed releases (such as Rockstar titles).
 The X-Box 360 is seen by most to be the console of choice for the hardcore gamer. However, questions tend to arise about the longevity of the 360, with hardware inferior to the PS3 and it’s supported next-gen movie format of choice (the Hi-def DVD) falling apart. Also, as the PS3 grows it’s online gaming community, the 360 will have to stay ahead to keep from losing, due to the costs of the Gold account (unlimited matches & more).
 The X-Box 360 has done a good job so far with the success of such games like Halo 3 selling over 8 million units and creating a very strong fanbase for the 360.

PS3

 The Playstation 3 is Sony’s third generation console. It touts a built in Blu-ray disc player, an advanced cell proccesor, and XDR ram. Sony did it’s best to include as many features as possible into this player, citing much of the success of it’s predecessor in it’s ability to play DVD’s as a standard feature, as well as having a vast library of succesfull games. Currently the PS3 has sold nearly 17 million consoles, ranking it the third in the next-gen war.
 The strength of the PS3 is in it’s future and it’s features. Although it still has it’s own popular franchises: Little Big Planet (New!), Resistance: Fall of Man, KillZone, Socom: Navy Seals, and FF XIII Versus. Also, Playstation’s online community has just begun to blossom, with the release of HOME coming soon, it’s library of online content, and games with online play being developed, Sony still has quite a bit of fight left in it and according to NPD will eventually come out on top of the console war.
 Right now the PS3 has to contend with it’s competitors in terms of library, because it is still trying to produce definitive must have titles and has lost several of it’s heaviest hitting franchises.

Tweak UI for Vista? Almost

 So it’s not officially Tweak UI, which worked wonders for XP, still it seems like it’s the best tweaker for Windows Vista yet. So, what do you when you can’t get Tweak UI? You turn to MVP Ramesh Kumar to address the needs of the many. It’s not an app released by Microsoft, but in my book, it’s pure gold.

This is something Vista users should be overjoyed with. In adition to many of it’s features, it can actually turn off the Aero. On top of that, it detects what version of Internet Explorer you’re running, so you don’t have to worry about tweaks that may be buggy or don’t apply to your version of IE.

Version 1.0a works on both platforms (32 and 64 based) and features well over 100 tweaks. If you know what you are doing you can speed up your system, optimize your network, and even gain stability as some report.

“Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows Vista to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, It can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have IE 7 or IE 8 installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only. ”

http://www.winvistaclub.com/Ultimate_Windows_Tweaker.html