Screenshots coming soon

Sometime in the next couple days I'm going to post an update with some screenshots of games running on the Sapphire 4850. Expect some from Hitman: Bloody Money, Mirror's Edge, and COD4.

Crysis, Supreme Commander, Spore, and Soldier of Fortune: Payback are possibilities as well, I just need to figure out how to get screenshots to work in them.

On a side note, Mirror's Edge maxed out has some of the best visuals that I have ever seen in a video game. On PS3, 360, or PC, I've never quite seen anything like it. I hear that later levels in Crysis are also supposed to look great, I'll have to check that out as soon as I can.

I also might post a picture of the leds in my new Rosewill power supply; they look make the back of my PC case look great.

I'll update this post once I have everything ready. Check back soon.

NEWS: Is that a camera in your government funded DTV converter box?

In recent weeks, a Youtuber posted a video showing the opening of a government-funded DTV converter box, revealing a hidden camera inside. Is Big Brother watching you? Probably. But for the time being, they won't be watching you through the converter box that you get for the analog to digital switch. Turns out the whole thing was a hoax.

REVIEW: Sapphire Radeon 4850 1GB

Ok, so I sat down and installed my new Sapphire Radeon 4850 1Gb video card (100258-1GL). This is a PCI-Express x 16 2.0 card, but the slot in my system is only 1.0. This is OK! PCI-E 2.0 cards are backwards-compatible with 1.0 systems. Now since my rig only has a 300w power supply, I also needed to buy a new power supply. The installation of both were actually surprisingly simply, I'll post guides at a later time.

Once my new, updated system was up and running, I started testing the games that flat out refused to run on my Intel GMA3100 integrated graphics. have been able to play EVERY game that I have tried. So far, I ran the Crysis SP Demo with every setting maxed (including AA), flawlessly. My old CRT monitor more or less limits me to 1024x768, so I can only speak for that resolution.

Games that I tested (and ran perfectly at maxed out settings):

- Crysis SP Demo
- COD4 SP Demo
- Hitman Blood Money Demo
- Team Fortress 2 (also Episode 1, HL2, and Portal, but I hear that most Source games run more or less the same on any given setup)
- Doom 3
- Far Cry
- F.E.A.R.

So far, everything that I have tried has run at max settings, without a hiccup. I'm also impressed with all the included adapters -- this card allows for connections to HDMI, VGA, DVI, s-video, composite, and component. Basically everything out there. The HDMI even allows for passthrough of 7.1 channel audio, and has two DVI ports so you can run dual monitors.

In Short:
Buy it. The card is $161 at Newegg, and it can run any game currently on the market. This is definetly a mid-range card in terms of price, and from some other reviews I've seen, some people saw slightly lower frame-rates when running Crysis at 1080p at max settings (who would have thought?). Installation is easy, it can handle anything, and you won't regret it.

Update: (03/04/09)
I thought it was worth mentioning that my Vista Experience scores skyrocketed after installing this card. My 'Graphics' and Gaming Graphics' scores went from lowly 3.4's with my integrated Intel GMA 3100 graphics to 5.9 each (the maximum possible).

My computer

OK, so before I post future reviews about hardware and my new Sapphire Radeon 4850 1GB video card, I should talk a little bit about my PC. It's a few weeks old, and I love it. It has 64-bit Vista Premium, which I hear a lot of people gripe about, but I haven't had a single problem. I encode video in AutoGK 3x faster with this PC then my old P4 3.0ghz that eventually died on me.

Video editing and such has been great on this PC, better than I could have hoped for. Games are another matter. I don't have a lot of time for gaming, but I like to be able to pull up a quick game of Hitman or an emulator when I have a free moment.

My new PC is a Gateway DX4710-05. Let's take a look at the specs:

The Good:

- Intel Core Quad Q6600 2.40ghz
- 6GB ram
- 640GB HD

The Bad:

- Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics
- 300w power supply.

With my factory setup, games like Hitman: Blood Money, Crysis, Supreme Commander, or Soldier of Fortune: Payback won't even load. I think that has to do with the fact that most of these games requier Vertex Shader 2.o, and my integrated graphics weren't up to the task.

Games like HL1, Hitman 2, etc load fine. That pretty much limits me to games that came out in the 1990's. Considering the raw power of this computer's quad core processor and ram, I'm amazed how bad the integrated graphics cripple any attempt at gaming.

To remedy this issue, I bought a Rosewill 550w power supply and a Sapphire Radeon 4850 1gb video card, both from Newegg. These were my first purchases from Newegg, and I was really happy with the service. Fast shipping, the best prices I could find anywhere, and the items were well packed.

Stay tuned for the in depth Sapphire Radeon 4850 1GB review...

NEWS: Beware Facebook

You've probably already heard the news -- if you're a Facebook user, Facebook has the rights to each and every photo that you post on your personal account. So any private photos that you upload becomes Facebook property. You can cancel your account at any time, but Facebook maintains the rights to take your Cancun vacation photos and make an ad out of them. Go read their Terms of Service and see for yourself.

NEWS: Economy is in turmoil, Netflix is prospering

I love Netflix, so I thought I'd post this article. It seems despite the economy's current state, Netflix is making record numbers. They have reached 10 million subscribers, with a surge of new customers in recent months.

If you aren't already down with Netflix, you should really give them a try. I have the two DVDs out at a time plan (unlimited rentals per month, no late fees ever) and I couldn't be happier. Plus, their streaming movies catalog is getting bigger every day. I can stream movies for free on my netbook -- or better yet, watch them on my TV through my Xbox 360.

Keep up the good work Netflix.

NEWS: Kindle 2 Text-To-Speech Legal Drama

I'm sure you've already heard reports about Amazon's new Kindle 2, a device that lets you store thousands of e-books on it's internal hard drive and read them on it's revolutionary electronic-ink screen.

Well, it seems that a new feature in the Kindle 2, previously unavailable in the first Kindle, may come under legal attack. Amazon decided to include a text-to-speech feature that will enable the Kindle 2 to read aloud any e-book.

This is a big no-no, because legal reps for audiobook companies feel that this may be a form of infringement.

Considering Amazon's prowess, I would have to believe that a decent percentage of all audiobooks sold go through Amazon. We will see in the near future how this one pans out. I anticipate some sort of a mutual agreement, I doubt the situation will get messy.

MAME machine

For the arcade people out there, I converted a 1985 Gauntlet II arcade machine into a MAME machine. Mind you, I didn't corrupt a perfectly good arcade game. When I bought it second hand, it had been stripped of it's art, the PCB had been replaced with Battletoads, and the control panel had been replaced. I took it upon myself to add a MAME computer, ArcadeVGA (v2) card, J-PAC, I-PAC4, and some basic custom art. I'll post some pictures of the machine, and I might post some MAME machine-related guides.

Possible MAME guides:

- Wiring a control panel (including grounding the wires)
- Wiring a J-PAC or IPAC4
- Installing the ArcadeVGA

Check back soon for updates!

Tech-related guides

I also will post some easy to follow tech-related guides, stuff that I learned the hard way and I can possibly make easier for some of you. I have a 200+ positive feedback rating with 100% feedback on eBay. I'll probably make an easy to follow guide showing you how to list an item painlessly on eBay in under 5 minutes.

Possible tech-related guides:

- How to turn an old (or new) internal hard drive into an easy, portable external hard drive
- How to install a PCI-Express x16 video card
- How to add RAM to your computer
- How to install a second hard drive in your computer
- How to install a PCI-card peripheral

First post

From time to time, I'll post reviews of some gadgets and PC parts that I've bought. If you happen to be considering one of these items, you can use these as an extra piece of reference information.

Possible reviews:

Gadgets:
- Western Digital HD Media Player
- MSI Wind U100-420US Netbook
- Boom USB N64 controller adapter
- Thermaltake BlacX Universal Docking Station for SATA HD

PC Parts:
- AcomData 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 Enclosure
- Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS 1TB SATA HD
- G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
- SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-Ex16 2.0 Video Card
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS500 500W Power Supply
- Rosewill NEC 4+1 Model RC-101 Port USB2.0 PCI CARD
- Rosewill RFX-100B 90mm PCI Slot Case Cooler