Intel G45 uses 4-5%CPU while playing back Blu Ray title
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 04:28 PM


In our ongoing test of the Gigabyte Intel G45 chipset mainboard, we have
discovered that Intel promises what it claimed.

With the latest version of PowerDVD 8, we are able to playback Blu-Ray title
"League of the Extraordinary men" at around 5%. That is the average cpu
utilisation playing the movie for the first 42 minutes. At certain scenes,
it even drops below 3%. The test is done using the latest driver and Intel
QX9770 with 2GB DDR2-800 modules.

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Intel Atom sub 3W at 1.86GHz delivers full HD (1080p,30fps)
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 12:34 PM


IntelR AtomT Processor-Based Platforms Continue to Get More Compelling -
Chandrasekher discussed how Intel's Atom processor delivers the highest
performance in the sub-3W segment while consuming dramatically lower power.
Chandrasekher demonstrated Intel's highest performance Intel Atom processor
running at 1.86GHz on an OQO Productivity MID and showcased "World of
Warcraft," one of the most intensive Web sites on the device. He also
announced the support of Full HD (1080p, 30fps) in the IntelR System
Controller Hub and showed the world's first demo with this capability in a
handheld device.

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Intel introduces SoC CE 3100 (800MHz) with MPEG-2, H.264 and VC-1 with HDMI
1.3a support
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 12:31 PM


Intel Launches First IA System-on-Chip for Consumer Electronics - Kim
introduced the Intel Media Processor CE 3100, the company's first purpose
built IA SoC for CE devices such as optical media players, advanced cable
set top boxes, digital TVs and other connected CE devices. Formerly
codenamed "Canmore," the highly integrated SoC pairs a powerful IntelR
PentiumR M processor core at 800MHz and 256K L2 Cache, with leading-edge
multi-stream high-definition video decoding and processing hardware,
including support for MPEG-2, H.264 and VC-1 with HDMI 1.3a output, and
featuring advanced 4-field per pixel motion-adaptive de-interlacing and
9-tap, 128-phase, independent horizontal and vertical scalers. It also adds
a 3-channel 800 MHz DDR2 memory controller supporting tiled memory mapping
and channel interleaving, dedicated multi-channel dual audio DSPs with
support for 7.1 surround sound implementing advanced audio codecs, including
support for Blu-ray requirements. The media processor also features the
powerful 2-D/3-D Intel R Graphics Media Accelerator 500 supporting
multi-threaded dual universal scalable shader architecture for pixel/vertex
processing, accelerated BLTs/Alpha BLTs, programmable anti-aliasing and
compliance with industry-standard APIs: OpenGL ES 1.1, Open GL ES 2.0 and
Open VG 1.0.

In addition, the Intel Media Processor CE 3100 features IntelR Media Play
Technology. The technology enables the SoC to decode video content from
broadcast, stored and broadband sources using a combination of on-chip
hardware decoders and software codecs running on the IA processing core.
Together, this combination will allow the viewer to easily switch among the
media sources. The ability to decode multiple video and audio formats in
software will also provide the industry with greater flexibility to evolving
standards and technologies. Intel will ship to Intel Media Processor CE 3100
customers starting next month. Additional product details can be found at
www.intel.com/go/celink.

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TV Widgets Bring "Best of the Internet" Experience to Complement TV Viewing

Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 12:23 PM


TV Widgets Bring "Best of the Internet" Experience to Complement TV Viewing

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20, 2008 - Intel Corporation and
Yahoo! Inc. today previewed plans for the Widget Channel, a television (TV)
application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics (CE)
devices that use the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel will allow
consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while
watching their favorite TV programs. The Widget Channel will be powered by
the Yahoo! Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform that will
enable TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of "TV Widgets," or
small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the
traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and
community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote
control. The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use JAVASCRIPT,
XML, HTML and AdobeR FlashR technology to write TV applications for the
platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer
programs to TV and related CE devices. In addition to supporting the Yahoo!
Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets
that are customized based on its category-leading Internet services.

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Rumours at Intel IDF - NVIDIA launching x86 CPU at NVISION next week
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 12:13 PM

According to inquirer, there is a widespread rumour at Intel IDF that NVIDIA
will launch a x86 processor at nVISION next week.

This is not a surprise as we have seen NVIDIA claiming that they have better
GPUs which are more complex than the Intel CPUs. Furthermore, When Intel
Core architecture replaced the Netburst technology, a group of engineers
left INtel and formed a company Stexar.

In 2006, NVIDIA bought Stexar, thus acquiring an experienced group of x86
engineers. Early this year, NVIDIA launched APX 2500 procesor for the mobile
phone using ARM architecture. Thus, NVIDIA is not only capable of making
GPUs, it is able to handle CPUs too. Early this month, Transmeta also
announced that it sold some technology patents to NVIDIA for 25 million.

I think it is only a matter of time we see a processor from NVIDIA, maybe
based on the older NetBurst technology.
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NVIDIA to release nForce 780a with AMD's ACC technology?
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 10:44 AM


According to NordicHardware, NVIDIA has informed partners that NVIDIA will
have two major projects. Firstly, it will be making revisions to existing
chipsets, secondly, they will release a new series of chipset products to
counter AMD and Intel.

Reports claim that NVIDIA is upgrading it's nForce 780a chipset to support
ACC, the technology supported in AMD SB750 allowing a boost in overclocking.
It is unclear if NVIDIA has the license to do that or did they find out a
way to do it. NVIDIA connects the 780a to the JTAGm upgrade the BIOS to
support ACC, boosting the o/c limit by another 10%.

NVIDIA is soon to release the new design to partners. It is said that
Foxconn already release a ACC version of the 780a board.

In addition, NVIDIA has plans for a nForce 770i to challenge the P45
chipset. the nForce 770i will incorporate DDR3 support.

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Starhub to release History Channel in HD
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 10:37 AM


According to this site <http://hdtvsg.blogspot.com/> , Starhub recently move
the Sports HD channel to the sports group. Ch 303 on Starhub will soon be
substituted with a new HD channel History Channel HD. It will begin
broadcast on the 1st September 2008.

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Catalyst 8.8 is released
Posted on 08/21/2008 ( -at -) 10:19 AM

Catalyst Software Suite (32 bit) English Only 43.0MB 8.8 August 20, 2008
Display Driver
ATI WDM Integrated Driver
Catalyst Control Center
(English Language Only)
For the 32 bit version of Windows Vista.

The CatalystT software suite 8.8 contains the following:

* RadeonT display driver 8.522
* Multimedia CenterT 9.16 (Windows XP only)
* HydraVisionT for both Windows XP and Vista
* HydraVisionT Basic Edition (Windows XP only)
* Remote Wonder 3.04 (Windows XP only)
* WDM Driver Install Bundle
* Southbridge/IXP Driver
* CatalystT Control Center Version 8.8

CatalystT Control Center: New Avivo video features

This release of CatalystT introduces new Avivo video features:

* Dynamic Gamma/Contrast correction, available on the ATI RadeonT HD 4800
Series, improves video image quality by delivering more vivid color in
content with sharp contrasts and scenes with low and bright images.
* Improved video presets, available for the ATI RadeonT HD 3000 and ATI
RadeonT 4800 Series, delivers a newly optimized video presets that users can
select depending on what kind of video content they are viewing.
* Windows XP support: Edge enhancement, which adjusts the level of sharpness
of video content and Noise Reduction, which removes ghosting artifacts while
preserving details of the original video. The new slider controls can be
found in the All Settings page of the Avivo Video tab found in the CatalystT
Control Center

Hybrid Graphics Support for Windows XP

This release of CatalystT introduces Hybrid Graphics support. Hybrid
Graphics delivers a significant 3D performance boost for systems featuring
an AMD 780G/780D integrated graphics motherboard and an ATI RadeonT HD 3400
Series or ATI RadeonT HD 2400 Series graphics accelerator. It also provides
support for up to four independent displays

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the
ATI CatalystT Software Suite for Windows Vista. These include:

* Setting the language option to Greek no longer results in cropped text
being noticed in the CatalystT Control Center->Component Video page
* Adobe After Effects: Exiting the application no longer results in the
Windows Vista (64 bit version) operating system intermittently failing to
respond
* Call of Duty 4: Corruption is no longer noticed when having Quad
CrossFireT enable and an HDMI 1080p display device connected. Further
details can be found in topic number 737-35112
* Devil May Cry 4: Anti-Aliasing no longer fails to function when playing
the game with CrossFireT enabled
* Dirt: Playing the German Crossover track (Rally World Event) no longer
results in the grand stands and chain link fences not being display
correctly when CrossFireT is enabled and MSAA is disabled
* Hellgate London: Setting the display resolution to 2560x1600 no longer
results in the game failing to respond
* Linage II: Switching between the game and the Windows desktop no longer
results in the desktop appearing brighter than its original setting. Exiting
the game and restarting the operating system may also result in the desktop
brightness failing to be restored to its original setting. Further details
can be found in topic number 737-35108
* Lost Planet (DX9): Enabling CrossFireT, AA to 4x, AF to 8x, and having all
of the in-game options set to high no longer results in the game failing to
respond when running the performance test
* Mahjongg Artifacts: Flickering is no longer noticed when playing the game
on pre-configured name brand systems
* Mass Effect: Playing the game with CrossFireT enabled no longer results in
corruption being noticed on the AA menu
* NASCAR demo: Setting all the in-game options to the highest levels no
longer results in corruption being noticed on systems containing an ATI
RadeonT HD 2400 series of product and running Windows Vista
* Quake 4: Corruption is no longer noticed when starting a new game on
systems running either Windows XP or Vista and containing an ATI RadeonT HD
48x0 series of product
* Second Life: Playing the game on a CrossFireT configured system (ATI
RadeonT HD 2400 and above) no longer results in corruption and slow
performance being noticed
* Unreal Tournament 3: The game no longer intermittently fails to launch
when a map has texture detail set to maximum. Further details can be found
in topic number 737-31189
* World In Conflict: Setting the video quality to high no longer results in
corruption being noticed
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Starhub new DemandTV requires additional broadband connection
Posted on 08/20/2008 ( -at -) 06:55 PM

Starhub new DemandTV requires additional broadband connection. If you are a
subscriber to Starhub Cable TV with a Digital HD or Digital TV box. You will
noticed that when you press the PPV.VOD button on your remote will give you
an error - network not found.

A check on Starhub's website reveals that the new Demand TV service requires
a hubstation. We all know that Hubstation supports recording but the rest of
the features remain the same.

Why is it that Demand TV requires a HubStation? That is because it requires
the broadband connection that the it provides. What that means is that, if
you just hook your Set top box to the RF connector, Demand TV won't work.

If you use the standard Digital set top box or the Digital HD set top box,
you will need to have MaxOnline (internet service) connection. To use the
feature, just connect a ethernet cable to the ethernet port at the back of
the set top box. Once that is done, the Ethernet LED light on the set top
box will be lit up.

Once that is done, you can now enjoy Demand TV on your non Hubstation set
top box. We can conclude that the VOD service is actually a form of IPTV.
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Intel G45 DX10 performance lags behind AMD 790GX
Posted on 08/20/2008 ( -at -) 03:31 PM


A lot of talk has been going on about the G45 performance. In our own test
running the QX9770 processor, the performance on the G45 seems to be lagging
behind a Phenom 9550 equipped AMD 790GX mainboard.

In 3DMark06, the G45 scored 1180 marks while the 790GX paired with a slower
processor is able to churn out performance values of 1787. If sideport is
enabled on the 790GX, it could shoot up to 2000 points.

From the results of 3DMark06, we can see that the a Phenom 9550 (2.2GHz)
with 790GX performs 50% to 100% faster (depending on whether sideport is
enabled) against the Intel G45 paired with the 3.2GHz QX9770.

It remains to be seen when will Intel be able to come out with a IGP that is
faster than the AMD variant. Will a G55 be able to improve by another 50% to
match it?

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