Advanced Micro Devices

XBox One Announced – Impressions
Xbox-One-2-600x317

Looks like my cable box

 

Microsoft announced it’s next console at a press event earlier today.  I’ve been sort of following it through out the day, grabbing little tid bits here and there .  From what I gather, it looks like it will be more than a gaming machine, it will be an all in one media type hub. It’s pretty much made to look to sit right next to your cable box and make it not so stand off-ish.  I am not too crazy on the looks, but at the same time I don’t mind it.  It’s made to be one with your home entertainment center, and it wont stick out like a sore thumb.  Microsoft also announced a new Kinect to go along with the XB1, and you cannot have an XB1 without a Kinect since it sort of needs it.

Don’t like the fact that you are tied to the Kinect, but I guess you can view it as having a Wii Motion Sensor but beefed up.  It’s another thing that will break, and in my mind, can be avoided, but somehow, you need a Kinect for the XB1 to work.

The controller looks about the same as the old XB360’s.  Some changes of course, but overall, like the PS4, it retains that shape we all are used to already.

Hardware specs wise, it seems to be on par with the PS4.  Both are running AMD chips on x86 architecture, both will have 8 GB of RAM (though PS4 will use GDDR5 as opposed to DDR3 on the XB1), DX 11.1 graphics capabilities, 500 GB of storage and a bevy of wireless signals, and USB 3 ports.  It will be able to support 4k also.  No real details on what the hardware can do as of yet.

They did show off some trailers, which look pretty impressive, but for some reason it didn’t have the same ‘oomph’ that the PS4 ones did.  But this was a fairly short event, so I’ll hold my reservations on that for now.

To be honest, I’m not as wowed with this.  It may very well blow my socks off later on, but as of now, I am putting my money on Ps4 first.  The tied to Kinect feature was a bit of a let down for me, but other than that, it looks like it’s going to be a powerhouse of a unit.  It’s up to the developers to really tie all what it can offer together.

I am excited to see what can be done with this and the PS4.  Hardware specs wise, both seem to be going at it neck and neck, and it will be exciting to see what sort of edge each machine can offer to the gamers.  Not all that media stuff, but on the games itself.  I couldn’t care less if it can handle Netflix and what not, but I want to see what it will be able to offer to us, the gamers, on the gaming side of things.  I need to do some more reading on this, and digest all the info that’s been outed.  Update’s to follow.

 

 

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Happy Birthday Intel Pentium!

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Well it was actually yesterday.  One of the most recognized names in the world today, the Pentium turned 20 yesterday.  It probably also made Intel a household name, and with the ad blitz in the 90’s, that ‘Intel Inside‘ tone (you know that it…you probably just hummed it), and the ‘Intel Inside’ stickers, everyone pretty much know’s what an Intel Pentium is. (more…)

Playstation 4 thoughts

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Sony recently announced it’s successor to the Playstation 4 yesterday at their press event in NYC.  On paper it looks like a power house, sporting an AMD 8-core “Jaguar” X86 64-but CPU,  AMD Radeon, Graphics, 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM, the usual array of wireless letters, a Blu-Ray drive, and other goodies usually found in consoles these days. (USB ports, HDMI, etc., etc.).  Sony seems to be making this a social system, meaning it will let you see what your friends are playing, watch them play in real time, post up to FB, and other social features that Sony has planned.

They also unveiled the Dual Shock 4, and I am so relieved that they still retained the classic shape and look of Playstation controllers of the past, but now, it has a touch pad similar to that found on the PS Vita.  Few new features found on the new controller is a headset jack, and a share button.  Absent is the start, and select buttons, but seems to have been replaced with an ‘options’ button.  It appears to have gained some weight also, seeing as it does sport some new hardware, one can only assume that it has.  This was probably my biggest concern, since there were rumors floating around prior to the the press event that Sony was totally revamping the controlling.  I am so glad it still retain’s the old shape we have known to love since the PSOne days.

Sony's Dual Shock 4

Sony’s Dual Shock 4

I’ve been conversing with a few friends about this, and we are all very excited.  The graphics on the tech demo’s and other trailers that have been released just look astounding.  I’m not too fond or keen on the social aspects, but it’s probably going to be pretty transparent.  There are no photos of the actual system itself, though, pictures of the dev. kits has surfaced.  Before today, we were all unsure if there would be a physical tangible disc, as they were really focusing on downloading the game.  Reading some more articles today squashed our fears of not having physical discs.  But another concern is the need to be connected to the internet at all times to be able to play. Now I hope this is just a rumor, because, even if my PS3 is always connected to my router, thus giving it access to the interwebs, my ISP sometimes has hiccups, like if someone sneezes hard in the general vicinity of it’s equipment/wires.  I still would like to play ‘offline’.  Not everyone has blazing fast internet also. So I think it would be a poor decision on Sony’s part to implement this.  Again, this is just a rumor, and hopefully it will stay that way.  Also, it does not have backwards compatibility with PS3, which is lame. Reason, well, the Cell processor which was a power-pc type, is a different architecture from x86.  Coding wise, it’s different, and from what I read, if it can’t be emulated without taxing the system too much, then it wont be playable on the PS4. Another piece of rumor I just came across, is that the system will controllable via smartphone (iOS or Android), and tablet.  It will work similar to that of Microsoft’s Smartglass app for the X-Box. (source: http://toucharcade.com/2013/02/20/rumor-playstation-4/)

Apparently the release date is Nov. of this year.

We are truly excited to see this come to light.  The specs for it will make it seem like a true computing powerhouse, and once the developers get to know the system, and manipulate it like how Naughty Dog made the PS3 it’s bitch with Uncharted 2 and 3, one can only imagine the type of game’s we will be playing in 2-3 years.  We will post up any new information regarding the PS4, as we get a hold of it.  Rumor or not.

For now, enjoy some videos showcasing the PS4’s brawn.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw1l_C4kXrg] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk-RsawGjPY] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYY-J3ckeSI] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B26lKK8t9pE] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5VqaNf-gZ4] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRwp6aCWRw]

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Build update – HIS Radeon 7850 is in!

My HIS Radeon 7850 came in a day after I had ordered it from Newegg, and the reviews on the site were right.  I tried Metro2033 on 1920×1080 and on on max settings, as well as Star Wars: The Old Republic, again on all max settings, and it ran without a a hitch.  As of now, I am totally pleased with how this build has come together, and how it’s running.  I might upgrade my sound card soon, and maybe go water cooling, just because the fan on the Cooler Master heatsink/fan is noisy.  Will pick up another 2 TB of HDD storage (to replace an aging 750 GB and a 1 TB drive) as well as a BD burner optical drive to round off and complete the build as is.  But as of now, the core components are in, and running smoothly.  Time to install Photoshop and Lightroom to see how they do.

 

My new HIS Radeon HD 9850 next to my old XFX ONE Radeon HD 5xxx

My new HIS Radeon HD 9850 next to my old XFX ONE Radeon HD 5xxx

And the build continues….

I picked a case finally! I went with Fractal Design’s Define R4, and it is such a nice solid case.  very minimal in design, yet it stands out.  I was very pleased with the quality, and the like, and just the overall attention to detail on the case.  I have photos I will post up soon, as well as nice little write up.  I also purchased PC Power and Cooling’s Silencer MK III.  It matches up perfectly with the interior of the case, w/ it’s white paint scheme, going well with the Defines white drive cages, and slot covers.  It also helps that the case was on sale at Microcenter, which I was able to pick up, and the PSU was also on sale.  Saved a good $60.00 or so.

And lastly, I picked out a video card.  My new rig will be visually powered by an HIS H785F2G2M Radeon 7850, with 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM.  It has a perfect 5 eggs in it’s user ratings, and for under $200.00, it’s a great value.  I cannot wait to get it all fully up and running.  I will list down my full specs on this rig, as well as thoughts on performance.  Maybe some benchmarks.

 

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My new video card!

 

 

New rig -update-

Well, I finally sorted out my Windows 8 mess, and I am finally up and running, and slowly start re-installing programs and what not.  That should take another week or so.  So far, I am loving it.  The system is nice and quick, and as we speak, I am downloading and installing Metro2033 from my Steam, as well as Star Wars: The Old Republic to see what this system can do.  Sure it’s not exactly the latest games out there, but at least I’ll know what’s what, and see what I need to fix, tweak, or what not.  I do know my current video card, an AMD Radeon HD 5xxxx series card (XFX ONE +Edition) is quite old.  I still need to get a new case, and sort out my other HDD‘s.  I most probably will get a 2 TB HDD for storage and programs.

As far as Windows 8 goes, it’s nice and shiny, and so far I like the new things they have added (Metro UI).  I still need to dive deeper into it, and see what other goodies they have.  I will keep you guys updated for sure.

And I do have some ideas to implement in terms of this site.  This will be an exciting year for sure.

Update: Metro 2033 played pretty crappy, and it’s a clear indication I need a new video card.  It was very choppy at best, not slide show bad, but unplayable bad.  Company of Heroes played very well.  SWTOR, well, I still can’t install it.