Have you ever spent what felt like hours on end
looking for a decent gaming keyboard in your local computer store? I
know I have. Keyboard after keyboard after keyboard. After a while
they all start to look the same. Normally that's because they are.
If anyone knows how hard it is to find a good keyboard it's me.
After all, I must spend 4 to 8 hours a day behind one typing away
and that's not counting game time. Over the years I've definitely
wore out my share of keyboards so I know how important it is to
choose a good keyboard that is not only comfortable, but built with
certain level of quality that can withstand the abuse of gaming. Now find a
keyboard that is all that plus includes great gaming features like
programmable macro keys. While you're at it, keep the price down around
$30. Impossible you say? Well OCZ Technology, famous for
their high quality overclocking memory, has done just that with
their new Alchemy Series Elixir Keyboard.
Check it out right
here at Club Overclocker!
7/25/2008
Today, here at the club we are going to take a
look at a product from a company we haven't dealt with at The Club
before. That company is called "ineo", and they specialize in
various gadgets to store your hard drives. From external
enclosures to wireless RAID NAS units, ineo aims to provide products
that add storage flexibility to your home or office network.
The first product to go under the microscope is the
ineo NA203 High Speed 2.5" External Hard Disk
Enclosure.
Let's
tear her open and see what she is made of.
University of
Pittsburgh Cancer Institute issues warning to employees:
"Limit cell phone
use because of the possible risk of cancer"
I knew it was only a matter of time before doctors started making
the link between brain cancer and cell phones... In fact anyone who
knows the basics of radio waves understands the dangers of placing
any transmitting device up to your head or any other body part. Our
understanding of the properties of radiation hasn't changed, but yet
society has ignored the warnings. Keep an eye on this subject
because I'm willing to bet this subject will explode into something
even bigger than smoking or global warming over the next couple
years.
Read the article over at CNN.
ASUS
Lion Square Review
Asus has sent over The Lion
Square which is another cooler from their growing line of PC Thermal
Solutions. Developed for both AMD and Intel processors, the Lion
Square is aimed at PC enthusiasts and Overclockers. They are
highlighting some innovative features while still trying to
accomplish a near silent PC experience.
While the heatpipe design now
dominates the air cooling industry, it's pretty easy to
get tired of looking at the square box or orb shaped
coolers with big gangly fans hanging off the side. So
while it's hard to totally get away from that basic
design, Asus has added some aesthetics to the Lion
Square to break up the monotony.
First, let's look at what we can expect.
Intel Outlines Plans for New Category of
Smarter, Purpose-Built 'System on Chip' Designs,
Products SANTA CLARA,
Calif., July 24, 2008 – As Internet access
continues to be added to all kinds of computers and
devices, Intel executives outlined a plan to use its
chip design expertise, factory capacity, advanced
manufacturing techniques and the economics of Moore's
Law to usher in a new category of highly integrated,
purpose-built and Web-savvy System on Chip (SoC) designs
and products. The company also unveiled its first eight
such products under its Intel® EP80579 Integrated
Processor family for security, storage, communications,
and industrial robotics. Read the details
here.
OCZ
Technology Introduces “Behemoth” Mouse Pads for Ultimate
Gaming Comfort Sunnyvale, Calif.—July 23, 2008—OCZ
Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative,
ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and
components, today announced the expansion of its gaming
accessories with the introduction of its Behemoth mouse
pads that offer users a high-quality mouse surface.
Aptly named, “Behemoth” mouse pads more than double the
area of a typical mouse surface, offering copious laser
mousing space.
“Prior to the design of the Behemoth mousepad we
listened to customer feedback at numerous LAN events
asking us for a premium yet portable mousing surface,
one designed specifically for the latest high dpi laser
mice,” commented Eugene Chang, Product Manager of the
OCZ Technology Group. “The Behemoth is the latest
offering in our accessory and peripheral lineup, and is
designed to be a quality solution for hard core gamers
and graphic designers alike.”
With no need to reposition your mouse, the extra-large
surface provided by the Behemoth provides the ultimate
playing field for PC gaming or CAD applications. The
exclusive “TriggerGrip” material is designed to be
sensitive to even the smallest movements to optimize
mouse accuracy and movement. The combination of the
ultra-sensitive fiber and vast size allows for maximum
mobility with the latest laser mice on the market and
the washable, non-slip rubber base won’t budge even
during intense gameplay or meticulous media editing.
The OCZ Behemoth mouse pads’ surface area is 380 x 260mm
(4mm high) and has an MSRP of $9.99. For more
information on the OCZ Behemouth Regulator mousepads,
please visit the product page
here.
Cooler Master Reveals CM Storm at Games
Convention 2008 Games
Convention 2008 — July 21, Leipzig, Germany, Cooler
Master, a global leader in high performance computer
components will exhibit a number of exciting new
products and also reveal their ground-breaking CM Storm
Gear at this year’s much anticipated Games Convention.
Through long-standing research programs, CM Storm is
co-developed with the world’s most prolific enthusiasts
and eSport prodigies. Thanks to intensive testing and
continuous feedback, the CM Storm division has been able
to encompass and improve upon gamers’ needs and their
tough to handle scenarios.
By working directly with the gaming
community, CM Storm has injected Storm Tactics into each
and every product we make. Storm Tactics, with a heavily
dedicated focus on Strength, Security and Control, will
keep your most vital gear fortified and well tuned at
all times. As 2008 marks a new era for Cooler Master,
its fierce Storm Gear stands ready at bay to mobilize
and back up your gaming skills.
Cooler Master will officially launch
CM Storm in late 2008. However, GC gamers will have a
unique chance to get a sneak preview of the Storm Sniper
chassis prototype, fully injected with Storm Tactics,
during GC 2008. The gamers who are not able to attend GC
can also witness the birth of CM Storm online from Aug
20th by visiting the Cooler Master GC Microsite.
Read the full press release here.
WD® ANNOUNCES 2.5-INCH, 10,000 RPM
ENTERPRISE SATA HARD DRIVES
LAKE FOREST, CALIF. - July 23, 2008 - WD® (NYSE: WDC)
announced today the WD VelociRaptor™ 10,000 RPM
enterprise SATA hard drives in an enterprise-class
2.5-inch form factor for blade servers and 1U and 2U
rack servers. The newest WD VelociRaptor hard drive is
built for business-critical applications with
enterprise-class mechanics and packs up to 300 GB of
capacity into the enterprise small form factor bays,
while consuming 35 percent less power than the
previous-generation WD Raptor® drive. Read more about it
here.
Microsoft Transforms Community Game
Developers Into Entrepreneurs Xbox 360 creates marketplace for user-generated
content with Xbox LIVE Community Games
SEATTLE — July 22, 2008 — During the keynote address
today at the Gamefest 2008 Microsoft Game Technology
Conference, Microsoft Corp. revealed that it will allow
anyone to turn the hobby of game-making into a
full-fledged career. Through what is now officially
called “Xbox LIVE Community Games,” Microsoft makes its
marketplace of millions available to members of the XNA
Creators Club to create, sell and share in the profits
generated by their unique creations.
Microsoft has already
opened up game development to the masses by offering the
easy-to-use, affordable XNA Game Studio toolset. With
this newly announced business model, Microsoft will have
truly democratized game distribution by enabling XNA
Creators Club members to participate in the
multibillion-dollar-a-year console gaming industry.
Newly appointed to his
role as chief technology officer of Microsoft’s
Interactive Entertainment Business Group, Chris Satchell
said the business model was designed to create the best
possible experience for both consumers and developers.
Community games that have been submitted by XNA Creators
Club Premium members and have successfully passed a
rigorous peer-review system will be added to the Xbox
LIVE Marketplace catalog for sale to consumers. Creators
will be able to choose from three suggested preset
retail price points varying from 200 to 800 Microsoft
Points to sell their creations and will receive up to 70
percent of the total revenue generated by their game.
Gold Medal Storage: Seagate To Provide
Nearly Half A Million Gigabytes Of Storage For NBC's
2008 Olympic Games Coverage
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.-July 21, 2008-The
Seagate® Barracuda® ES Series has been selected as the
hard drive of choice for the Omneon MediaDeck™ media
servers and MediaGrid™ active storage systems that will
enable NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, to
be held August 8-24. The media servers and storage
systems will allow NBC to produce an unprecedented 3,600
hours of coverage during the Beijing Olympic Games – a
three-fold increase over the coverage during the 2004
Athens Olympic Games.
Read the full story here.
AMD's ATI Radeon HD
4800 Series Custom Filtering AA @ [H]
AMD’s new ATI Radeon HD 4800 series provides shader powered
antialiasing features! We examine in-game IQ and AA scaling. We’ve
got all the information on using the Edge-detect Custom Filtering AA
and what it will do for you in-game. If you are not sure how to best
leverage your new 4870 or 4850 video cards, we show you how.
"AA was broken in the Radeon
HD 2900. We can confidently say that AMD has fixed
their AA performance woes in the Radeon HD 4800
series. Do not let the stigma of lacking AA
performance concerning previous Radeon series sway
your decision with the Radeon HD 4800 cards. The HD
4800 series is a new animal and the 4850 and 4870
cards are beasts and a great value."
OCZ Technology
Unveils First Fatal1ty Brand DDR2 and DDR3 Memory Sunnyvale,
Calif. - July 18, 2008 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a
worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and
high reliability memory and PC components, today announced
the first memory modules available in their Fatal1ty Series
after the partnership was announced last month. These
high-performance memory kits were co-developed with the
expertise of Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, 12-time World
champion, to meet the specific needs of fellow gamers. OCZ
Fatal1ty Professional Series kits are the official memory
modules of Championship Gaming Series (CGS), and feature
incredible performance to power through the latest PC titles
and contribute to the success of professionals and everyday
gamers.
“OCZ worked closely with Fatal1ty and his team to design new
memory kits that pair perfectly with the top selling
motherboards for a superior gaming experience,” commented
Alex Mei, Chief Marketing Officer of the OCZ Technology
Group. “Fatal1ty knows what it takes to win at the highest
level of eSports, and these new kits deliver superior
stability and performance to gamers whether you are a
professional player on the Championship Gaming Series, or a
weekend warrior looking to dominate when playing the latest
titles.”
“The launch of Fatal1ty Brand memory is very exciting
because I am working with OCZ Technology who makes top
quality products,” says Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel.
“Fatal1ty Gaming Gear is all about bringing equipment to the
highest possible level to improve the gaming experience."
The first memory kits to be introduced under Fatal1ty
Professional Series line include:
Games
Convention 2008 — July 21, Leipzig, Germany, Cooler
Master, a global leader in high performance computer
components will exhibit a number of exciting new
products and also reveal their ground-breaking CM Storm
Gear at this year’s much anticipated Games Convention.
Through long-standing research programs, CM Storm is
co-developed with the world’s most prolific enthusiasts
and eSport prodigies. Thanks to intensive testing and
continuous feedback, the CM Storm division has been able
to encompass and improve upon gamers’ needs and their
tough to handle scenarios.