TechnoMediaWorx

Increase WIFI signal / range using Windsurfing

2010-09-02T01:31:00.006+08:00

Increasing WIFI signal / range

One of my friend had a problem with her WIFI signal... she's experiencing a very low signal on her PC located at the 2nd flr. while the router is located at the 1st. She wanted to increase the WIFI signal without spending a lot of cash, I did some research and found a simple Do-It-Yourself thing. I was able to increase the WIFI-signal from the Router and the WIFI-reciever(LAN) as well.

Make sure you have the ff:
- Aluminum foil
- Folder (or any type of thin carton for easy cutting & bending later)
- Glue (I want a short drying period so I decided to use rugby instead)
- Scissor

Now follow the video (tutorial) below...

TUTORIAL

or try one of this vid...

video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, and video 5

I was able to increase the WIFI signal from "very low" to "good" level...
Below is my WIFI-windsurfing version.
I use Electric-fan cover as the Sattelite-dish and covered it with foil...

Prototype - Scan Water Tower with HELI

2010-09-02T01:27:00.002+08:00

Have you ever played the "Prototype" game on your PC and got stuck on the mission where you need to scan an infected water tower with heli?

Here's the solution... ^^

First Solution:
-Just go to My Documents\Prototype and delete profile.bin. It just contains the settings, the next time you make a change to the game's settings and save it it'll be recreated, if you're worried about it just rename it instead of deleting it so the game doesn't find it. I guess we somehow messed up our settings after all.

*** OR ***

Second Solution:
- After install
Mouse buttons would swap around ie, assigning Right-click MB would show up as Left-Click MB.
Certain Default Key Maping for Alex, APC and Heli would be missing, eg, consume wasn't assigned a key
Can't quick-change or enter/exit units or buildings because [Press Key] would show no button to actually press and so on...
Basically, what I discovered was an issue with "older mice" with the lack of functionality screwing up the auto mapping of keys during setup, meaning some older mice, trackballs and cheap end mice don't work so well and in some cases * up the key-mapping assignments, and this applies to many older gamepads too ...
Luckily I had an MS Wireless Optical 3 button wheel mouse - I was previously using a 2 button Logitech trackball and was getting all the above - but I installed the MS Mouse, rebooted the game (after deleting the profile.bin) and everything auto-mapped as it should have from the beginning. Not many will have this problem just those using basic or older 2x button mice/trackballs ... a newer mouse or trackball with the three button+ features will fix this problem.
Hopefully that'll help whomever else is having this annoying issue.
- Basically, get yourself an up to date mouse. I just used my brother's mouse for a little while, and I've managed to do the mission with no problems, plus all the keys are mapped correctly as well.

How to play online with Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2010-09-02T01:25:00.001+08:00

How to play online with Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

People are asking me how to play online with Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare, so I decided to make a guide for you guys... ^_^

1. Get a copy of "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare"

2. Download the "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare Patches (usually patches 1.6 & 1.7)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.4 Patch

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.5 Patch

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.6 Patch

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.7 Patch
-----------------------------------------------------------------

3. Download the "PunkBuster setup"

-----------------------------------------------------------------
For Windows

For Linux

For Mac OSX
-----------------------------------------------------------------

4. Install "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare" (during installation, make sure to include "PunkBuster")

5. Install "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare Patches (EXAMPLE: patch 1.6 then patch 1.7)

6. Launch the downloaded "PunkBuster setup"
- under GAME tab, select the "Call of Duty 4" or "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare"
- under GAME PATH tab, click "Browse" to look for the game (usually C:\Program Files\ActiVision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare)
- click "ADD GAME", once added...click "CHECK FOR UPDATES" (wait for the update to finish)

7. Launch the "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare: Multiplayer"
- click "JOIN GAME"
- on the upper part, under SOURCE tab... select "Favorites"
- on the upper-right part, click "New Favorite"
- now type-in the IP address of the game-server you like to join (To get an IP address of public COD4MW game-server, go to www.game-monitor.com or www.espgl.com ...select the nearest game-servers to your location)
- once the new IP address is entered, it will be saved on the "Favorites" (You can add IP addresses as many as you want)
- double-click any of the IP address added to play/join that server

8. Your done, enjoy!

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Tips / Intel

2009-12-09T03:42:00.002+08:00

Museum bonus level
---Successfully complete the game to unlock the Museum bonus level. Go to the single player missions, select the new "Museum" mission at the bottom, and choose a difficulty. When the level begins, it is recommended you first study the layout. Get two weapons, and max out your ammunition through the crates supplied. Go to the desks by the entrance to the rooms. On the desks there is a red bell that is labeled "Don't Press". Once you press this button, enemies will begin coming to life in one room area at a time. About thirty people (all characters from the game) will try to kill you. You will hear a sound once that wave is completed. There are two waves of kills needed to complete it. Note: There are three rooms, one of which nothing happens in. Do not bother shooting anyone prior to using the bell, as it will not count.

Extra Custom Class slots
---Reach Level 70 in Multiplayer mode to unlock Prestige mode. Reach the indicated Prestige level to unlock the corresponding Custom Class slot.
Sixth Custom Class slot: First Prestige
Seventh Custom Class slot: Second Prestige
Eighth Custom Class slot: Fourth Prestige
Ninth Custom Class slot: Seventh Prestige
Tenth Custom Class slot: Tenth Prestige

Professional perks
---Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding Professional perk:

>Bling Pro: Get 200 kills while using a weapon with two attachments. Its effect is two primary weapon attachments and two secondary weapon attachments.
>Cold-Blooded Pro: Destroy 40 enemy Killstreak rewards while using the Cold-Blooded perk. Its effect is undetectable by UAV, air support, sentries, and thermal imaging; and no red crosshair or name when you are targeted.
>Commando Pro: Get 20 melee kills while using the Commando perk. Its effect is increased melee distance and no falling damage.
>Danger Close Pro: Get 100 kills with explosives while using the Danger Close perk. Its effect is increased explosive weapon damage and extra air support damage.
>Hardline Pro: Get 40 Killstreaks while using the Hardline perk. Its effect is that Killstreak rewards require one less kill and Deathstreak rewards require one less death.
>Lightweight Pro: Run 30 Miles while using the Lightweight perk. Its effect is move faster and quick aim after sprinting.
>Marathon Pro: Run 26 Miles while using the Marathon perk. Its effect is unlimited sprint and climb obstacles faster.
>Ninja Pro: Get 50 close range kills while using the Ninja perk. Its effect is invisible to heartbeat sensors and silent footsteps.
>Scavenger Pro: Resupply 100 times while using the Scavenger perk. Its effect is resupply from dead enemies and extra magazines.
>Scrambler Pro: Get 50 close range kills while using the Scrambler perk. Its effect is jam enemy radar near you and delay enemy claymore explosions.
>Sitrep Pro: Destroy 120 detected explosives or tactical insertions while using the Sitrep perk. Its effect is detect enemy explosives and tactical insertions and louder enemy footsteps.
>Sleight Of Hand Pro: Get 120 kills while using the Sleight Of Hand perk. Its effect is faster reloading and aiming.
>Steady Aim Pro: Get 80 hip fire kills while using the Steady Aim perk. Its effect is increased hip fire accuracy and longer hold breath duration.
>Stopping Power Pro: Get 300 Kills while using the Stopping Power perk. Its effect is extra bullet damage and extra damage to enemy vehicles.

Multiplayer weapons and equipment
---Reach the indicated level in Multiplayer mode to unlock the corresponding item:

Assault rifles
FAMAS: Level 1
M4A1 carbine: Level 4
SCAR-H: Level 8
TAR-21: Level 20
FAL: Level 28
M16A4: Level 40
ACR: Level 48
F2000: Level 60
AK-47: Level 70

Handguns
USP .45: Level 1
.44 Magnum (Colt Anaconda): Level 26
M9: Level 46
Desert Eagle: Level 62

Launchers
AT4-HS: Level 1
Thumper x2 (M79 grenade launcher): Level 14
Stinger: Level 30
Javelin: Level 50
RPG-7 x2: Level 65

Light machine guns
L86 LSW: Level 1
RPD: Level 4
MG4: Level 16
AUG HBAR: Level 32
M240: Level 52

Shotguns
SPAS-12: Level 1
AA-12: Level 12
Striker: Level 34
Ranger: Level 42
M1014: Level 54
Winchester 1887: Level 67

Sniper rifles
CheyTac Intervention: Level 1
Barrett .50 caliber (M107): Level 4
WA2000: Level 36
M21 EBR: Level 56

Submachine guns
UMP .45: Level 1
MP5k: Level 4
Vector: Level 12
P90: Level 24
Mini Uzi: Level 44

Secondary weapons
PP-2000 machine pistols: Level 1
Glock 18: Level 22
M93 Raffica: Level 38
TMP: Level 58

Other
Frag grenade: Level 1
Semtex: Level 1
Throwing knife: Level 7
Tactical insertion: Level 11
Blast shield: Level 19
Claymores: Level 31
C4: Level 43

Kill Streak Bonuses
---Get the indicated number of consecutive kills in Multiplayer mode to get the corresponding bonus:
UAV: 3 (reveals enemies on mini-map)
Care Package: 4 (ammo or killstreak air drop that can be collected by anyone)
Counter UAV: 4 (disables enemy radar)
Predator: 5 (guided missile)
Sentry Gun: 5 (airdropped weapon)
Precision Airstrike: 6 (select a location to bomb)
Attack Helicopter: 7 (helicopter backup)
Harrier Strike: 7 (select a location to bomb and defend with a Harrier)
Emergency Airdrop: 8 (four ammo or killstreak air drops that can be collected by anyone)
Pave Low: 9 (armored helicopter backup)
Stealth Bomber: 9 (undetectable airstrike)
AC-130: 11 (operate a plane gun)
Chopper Gunner: 11 (operate a helicopter gun)
EMP: 15 (disables enemy electronics)
Tactical Nuke: 25 (kills everyone)

Sniper Camouflage
---Successfully complete the "Ghillie In The Mist" challenge in Multiplayer mode with the indicated number of one-shot kills with sniper rifles to unlock the corresponding Ghillie camouflage suit:
Arctic camo: 50 one-shot kills with sniper rifles
Desert camo: 200 one-shot kills with sniper rifles
Urban camo: 100 one-shot kills with sniper rifles

Intel Locations
---Search the indicated locations to find all 45 Intel laptops:

Act I: S.S.D.D.
1. The Intel is under the watch tower, straight across from the entrance to the obstacle course.

Act I: Team Player
2. The Intel is in a classroom. Someone will announce "I think I saw one go in that classroom", and your team will go in. It is on the right wall as you enter, on a desk by the barrels.

3. As you exit the school, it is on a crate directly outside, next to a taxi.

Act I: Cliffhanger
4. Directly in front of you when Soap tells you to go ahead alone is a guard tower. Go up the ladder to find the Intel on the catwalk.
5. When you are about to enter the building with Soap, go to the previous building in the alley where the Jet is inside the hanger. Break out the window to find the Intel inside.
6. During the snowmobile sequence, when you are approximately 1850m from the finish, stop. Look for a small wooden fence surrounding some trees in the middle of the path in front of you, and a small wooden building up a hill to the right. The Intel is on the ground inside the fenced area with trees. Just run over the Intel to pick it up.

Act I: Takedown
7. Using the map, go towards the south-west corner when you enter the favela. You should find a motorcycle leaning against a building. In front of it, there is a building with an angled wall and a large window in the wall. Go through the door to the right of that window to find the Intel inside.
8. When you go through the alley and see the building with the ladder on the wall, go up it and through the door. The Intel is on a table inside.
9. Directly across from the previous Intel is a building with a small set of wooden stairs. There are a few guys inside you have to kill. The Intel is inside the building on a nightstand next to the bed.
10. Towards the end of the chase, off an alley, go in the building on the right side of the path. Go downstairs to find the Intel between two beds.

Act II: Wolverines!
11. The Intel is on the counter in the gas station after you go through the alley.
12. The Intel is inside CRB Financial (across from Nate's Restaurant), near the front door, under a sign labeled "Online Banking".
13. The Intel is on a table inside Taco To Go. Enter the building through the blown up corner.
14. The Intel is inside a dumpster (in a small brick enclosure) on the east side of Burger Town. It is visible from the Burger Town roof ladder.

Act II: The Hornet's Nest
15. Near the beginning, after you move forward from the first building, go inside the house to the right of where Soap stops in the road (there is a blue car in the garage). Go past the blue car and into the kitchen to find the Intel on the table.
16. After clearing the small lot (has a bunch of appliances and cars), instead of going right up the stairs between buildings, go left around the three-story house (floors are colored red, yellow, red), and look in the little hut attached to its side to find the Intel on some barrels.
17. As you move up the sloped street, there is a blue car on the right side of the street. In the building on that side is the Intel up on the second floor on the table.
18. When you enter the last open lot and are supposed to go up on the roof, turn to the right, and look in the window behind the goal fence to find the Intel inside a window.

Act II: Exodus
19. In the apartment office, near where the enemies are first repelling in from a chopper. It has red walls and blue curtains inside. The Intel is on the desk.
20. In the right-side building of the structure that forms an arch over the road (has toll booths), on a desk directly to the right as you enter.
21. After you cross the bridge, go into the second house on the right side of the street. Enter from the front door, then go to your right and up the stairs. The Intel is on a yellow couch above those stairs.

Act II: The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday
22. In the room before you go back outside (shortly after breaching), the Intel is on one of the metal racks against the wall.
23. After executing "Plan B", in the room Soap goes into on the right, the Intel is on a metal rack inside the door.
24. After clearing outside, when the team starts going up the stairs, enter the room to the right (you were probably in this building before when you were told to take cover), and look under the stairs on some wooden palettes to find the Intel.

Act II: The Gulag
25. As your team moves towards the arch with the red light, go to the stone stairs before it, and look inside the room on the far wall to find the Intel on some filing cabinets.
26. The Intel is on a desk behind the large wall of monitors you encounter on your way through.
27. After you get the riot shield and leave the room where you got it, turn left, and go down the hallway. In the first open cell on the right-side wall is the Intel on a desk.
28. Once you find the person you have been looking for, turn to your left to find the Intel on the desk.

Act II: Of Their Own Accord
29. Inside the elevator that keeps trying to close (in the hallway after you enter the building), the Intel is to the right of the body sitting inside.
30. In the room with a balcony (out on the balcony is a missile launcher), go to your left as you enter the room, and enter the door straight ahead (near the portrait of Franklin Pierce) to find the Intel on a table down a small hallway.

Act III: Contingency
31. When you reach the three-man patrol standing near the fence, kill them, and go over to where they were. The Intel is about ten feet south on a crate.
32. The building labeled "33" along the angled south-west fence contains the Intel on a metal desk inside the northern door.
33. Just north of building "33", locate the stairs leading to a helipad (has blue lights on the corners) to find the Intel in the north-west corner.

Act III: Whiskey Hotel
34. When you are told to go left to the building, inside that building after the next door has been opened, the Intel is in the hallway on a couch to the left.
35. After you go up the first stairs towards the roof, the Intel is to your right on a desk. This should be about the time when the you see the flares get lit.

Act III: Loose Ends
36. Before entering the house, go behind it, and locate the small boat hanger along the shore. The Intel is on a crate outside of it.
37. In the locked room on the top floor of the house, the Intel is on a desk in front of the door.
38. In the nearest locked room in the basement, go into the arms room to the left. The Intel is straight across from the wall of weapons on a crate.

Act III: The Enemy of My Enemy
39. The Intel is immediately to your right when you begin the mission, in the front of the plane.
40. After you slide out of the plane hull and move across the street and up the hill, look for the plane pointing towards the road. The Intel is inside, near the cockpit.

Act III: Just Like Old Times
41. As you enter the tunnels, go left as instructed. After the patrol passes, kill the guard standing at the monitor, and go straight across to find the Intel on a crate just to the right of the cave entrance.
42. The Intel is to the left on a desk right before you go outside from the tunnels.
43. After going across the ridge, the Intel is in an alcove, on a crate.
44. The Intel is on the desk with soda cans after you breach the room, near where your ally is working on the computer.

Act III: Endgame
45. The Intel is at the beginning of the mission, before you board the vehicle.

NBA 2K10 cheats / cheat codes

2009-12-09T03:20:00.003+08:00

2K Sports team

Enter "2ksports" as a code to unlock the 2K Sports team.
2K Sports China team

Enter "2kchina" as a code to unlock the 2K Sports China team.
NBA 2K development team

Enter "nba2k" as a code to unlock the NBA 2K development team.
Visual Concepts team

Jerseys

Enter "vcteam" as a code to unlock the Visual Concepts team.
Alternate jerseys

Enter "classicthreads" as a code to unlock alternate jerseys.
Blazers "Rip City" jersey

Enter "ycprtii" as a code to unlock the Blazers "Rip City" jersey.
Grizzlies, Hawks, Mavericks, and Rockets secondary road jerseys

Enter "eydonscar" as a code to unlock the Grizzlies, Hawks, Mavericks, and Rockets secondary road jerseys.

ABA ball

Enter "payrespect" as a code to unlock the ABA ball.

NBA 2K10 Review

2009-11-29T19:09:00.011+08:00

I know most of the game enthusiast are blown by the good graphics and gameplay that NBA 2K9 provided, and after taking over last year game charts... 2K Sports is now back with one of the most anticipated game of the year, the NBA 2K10. First thing I noticed was the game menu, it was presented with different animation and some are NBA highlights :) Pretty neat right?

(click image to enlarge)

Game Introduction on the court are appealing as well, each team and their star player/s has their own style which makes it more fun to watch... like when Shaq shoot his teammates like bowling pins, vujacic giving Koby a hug, Dwight throw some robot moves and Lebron playing with some hand powder.

(click image to enlarge)

Now let's proceed to the gameplay. 2K Sports added a lot of signature moves and style to each player that makes 2K10 the best basketball game on PC and other console. I've been playing 2K9 a lot but the thing I noticed with 2K10 is the tighter defense... you wont get to the basket that easy using spin move or cross-over like in 2K9 which is nice with 2K10. There are times that players are also interacting with people on the sideline after a hard drive to the basket. Alley-oop, dunks/follow-up dunks are also eye-popping and fun to watch, especially when the commentators/host goes crazy about it providing more realistic gameplay. Wide variety of camera angles and occassional news around the league are also added to the game. Regarding with Online features, they adopted most of the 2k9 features.

(click image to enlarge)

2K Sports introduce "MY PLAYER" mode in this game. In "MY PLAYER" mode, you'll be able to create your own player by adjusting from physical attributes to skills/moves you want your player to have. As you play through it, your player will be invited by different teams for assessment. The skills improvement of your player will depend on how you pass, how you choose your shot selection and steals... generally said, its how you play. If any of the team that invited your player saw some potentials, you'll be on the NBA court in no time... but of course, you'll start as bench player like everybody else. Simply put, this is your CAREER MODE.

(click image to enlarge)

Also, 2K Sports added a "Reel Maker" feature, a tool where you can create or edit your own Reel/Highlights from your saved replays and share it with your friends by uploading.

(click image to enlarge)

The few glitch that i noticed on this game was, some of the replay (like the replay on "JORDAN player of the game" after a match-up), the background were off and out of sync as the camera zoom-in and out... so the result, the audience are bigger than the players and players are out of the court :( Check some snapshots I took below.

(click image to enlarge)

Other than that, all replays are gorgeously fine. Second glitch is when the referee took 3x handing-over the ball for an inbound pass before it was caught by the player. Though you rarely see this glitch, I found it annoying sometimes. I think by this time 2K Sports has already released a patch for the said glitches.

So considering all this, I'll give 2K10 a 9 out of 10 rating ^_^
This game really is worth a try... a good job 2K Sports.

Video Conversion / Converting Tool

2009-11-29T17:10:00.007+08:00

Sorry for the delay, been busy for the past few weeks. Ok, lets proceed.

I'll introduce you to one of the best video conversion tool. Based on my opinion and review, this is simply the best so far... the ImTOO MPEG Encoder Platinum. What i like about it is that it's user-friendly, easy to use and it support wide variety of video and audio file-types. You can convert any video optimized for your DVD/VCD player, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Mobile Phone, PS3, PSP, Windows Mobile, HD Video, Xbox/Xbox360, Portable Media (Zune, Creative Zen Vision, iRiver PMP-100, Archos) even Pictures and Animation. You can easily select what type of video output and for what player (see image below).

(click image to enlarge)

This Software also support multi-Core CPU which makes the video conversion much quicker. In my case, I have a Dual-Core CPU (see image below).

(click image to enlarge)

You can even set how many CORE/s you want to use. Lets assume that you have a Quad-Core CPU and you only want to utilize 3 of them so you can use the remaining 1 to another application you are running. Go to "Tools" button, select "Preferences" then choose "Convert" tab. Set the CORE value to 3 (see image below).

(click image to enlarge)

Another good feature of ImTOO MPEG Encoder Platinum is the clip tool... you can choose one or more segments, or even several crossed segments, and then convert them to individual file respectively, or merge them to one file. Moreover, you can also convert video file to various audio formats. You can convert a portion/video to any of the ff:

---------------------------------------------
***General Video***
ASF - Advanced Streaming Format
AVI - Audio-Video Interleaved
DivX Movie
DVD - MPEG2 PS Format
DV - Digital Video Format
MOV - QuickTime
MP4 - MPEG-4 Video
MPEG-1 Movie
MPEG-2 Movie
MPEG-4 AVC Video Format
RM - RealVideo
Super VideoCD - MPEG2 PS Format
Video CD - MPEG2 PS Format
VOB - MPEG2 PS Format
XviD Movie

***General Audio***
AAC - Advanced Audio Coding
AC3 - Dolby Digital AC-3
SUN AU Format
M4A - MPEG-4 Audio
MP2 - MPEG Layer-2 Audio
MP3 - MPEG Layer-3 Audio
OGG - Ogg Vorbis Audio
RA - RealAudio
WAV - Waveform Audio
WMA - Windows Media Audio
AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format

***iPod***
iPod (320x240) MPEG-4 Excellent
iPod (320x240) MPEG-4 Mini
iPod (320x240) MPEG-4 Normal
iPod touch MPEG-4
iPod touch MPEG-4 480P
iPod touch MPEG-4 Extra
iPod touch MPEG-4 Wide Screen
iPod touch MPEG-4 (320x240)
iPod touch MPEG-4 (480x320)
iPod Video2 for TV
iPod Video2 (640x480) MPEG-4 Normal
iPod Video2 (640x480) MPEG-4 Mini
iPod Video2 (640x480) MPEG-4 Excellent

***iPhone***
iPhone MPEG-4 480P
iPhone MPEG-4 Extra
iPhone MPEG-4 Video
iPhone MPEG-4 Wide Screen
iPhone MPEG-4 (320x240)
iPhone MPEG-4 (480x320)

***Apple TV***
Apple TV h264 (320x240)
Apple TV h264 480P (640x480)
Apple TV h264 720P (1280x720)
Apple TV MPEG-4 High 480P (640x480)
Apple TV MPEG-4 Normal 480P (640x480)
Apple TV MPEG-4 Low 480P (640x480)

***Mobile Phone***
3GPP - 3rd Generation Partnership Project
3GPP2 - 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2
BlackBerry AMR Audio
BlackBerry 3GP Video
BlackBerry AVI Video
BlackBerry MPEG-4 Video

***PS3***
PS3 Video 1080P MPEG-4
PS3 Video 720P MPEG-4
PS3 Video 480P Excellent MPEG-4
PS3 Video 480P MPEG-4

***PSP***
PSP - PSP MPEG-4 Video
PSP AVC Video Format
PSP AVC Video (480x720)
PSP MPEG-4 Video - Excellent Quality
PSP MPEG-4 Video - Minimal Size
PSP Video(480P) MPEG-4

***Portable Media***
Zune MPEG-4 Video
Zune MPEG-4 AVC Video Format
Zune WMV - Windows Media Video
Creative Zen Vision Video
iRiver PMP-100 Video
Archos AV500/GMini402 Video
Archos AV700 Video

***Windows Mobile***
Dell Axim X51 Video
Dell Axim X51v Video
General Pocket PC Video
General Pocket PC-Excellent Quality Video
General Pocket PC-Minimal Size Video
HP iPAQ hw6500 series Video
HP iPAQ hx2000/rx3000/rx1900 series Video
HP iPAQ hx4700 series Video

***Picture and Animation***
FLV - Flash Video Format
Picture - BMP Format
Picture - GIF Animation Format
Picture - JPEG Format
Picture - PNG Format
SWF - SWF Format

***HD Video***
HD ASF Video
HD AVI Video
HD H.264 Video
HD Quick Time Video
HD MPEG2 Video(*.mpeg)
HD MPEG2 Video(*.mpg)
HD MPEG2 TS Video
HD MPEG4 Video
HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
HD MPEG4 TS Video
HD VOB Video
HD WMV Video

***Xbox Video***
Xbox MCE HD WMV Video
Xbox360 HD H.264 Video
Xbox360 HD MPEG4 Video
Xbox360 HD VOB Video
Xbox360 MCE HD ASF Video
Xbox360 MCE HD AVI Video
Xbox360 MCE HD MPEG2 Video(*.mpeg)
Xbox360 MCE HD MPEG2 Video(*.mpg)
Xbox360 MPEG2 1080pTV Movie
Xbox360 WMV 1080pTV Movie
Xbox360 MPEG4 Video
Xbox360 WMV Movie
Xbox360 H.264 Video
Xbox360 MCE AVI Video
---------------------------------------------

For advance users, you can set more video properties like interlace (see below). Otherwise, leave it on default settings.

(click image to enlarge)

Antivirus for USB flash drive/disk or thumb drive/disk on the go

2009-07-23T23:54:00.013+08:00

Did some research and found this ClamWin Portable Antivirus that can be included/extracted/installed to your USB flash drive/disk... you can scan your USB flash drive/disk anywhere even the PC you plugged into. What makes this ClamWin Portable Antivirus stand-out is that it is FREE and updatable anytime. ClamWinPortable is a stand-alone program that can be saved to your USB flash/thumb drive without installing it to your PC also.

ClamWin Portable Additional Description: (from www.portableapps.com)
ClamWin Portable is the popular ClamWin antivirus packaged as a portable app, so you can take your antivirus with you to scan files on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Features:
ClamWin is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows. It provides a graphical user interface to the Clam AntiVirus engine. It features:
--- High detection rates for viruses and spyware --- Regular virus database updates. ClamAV team regularly updates virus databases to include a new virus/variant immediately after it appears --- Standalone Virus Scanner
Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner, that is, you need to manually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware. Also, ClamWin Portable has scheduled scans and updates disabled as they are not used in a portable scenario.

How to install ClamWin Portable on your Portable Drive:
Just download the portable package at the top or click HERE, then double-click it. Select the location or the portable drive/USB drive you wish to install to and click OK. A PortableClamWin directory will be created there and all the necessary files installed are inside it.

I tried it on my USB flash disk and it works great on any PC, i was able to update it as well. Launch the ClamWinPortable.exe inside the PortableClamWin folder then click the update button to have the latest updates and virus definition/library.

Scanned it with Bitdefender Total Security '09, Superantispyware Pro, Trojan Remover and Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus... it's 100% clean, nice work ClamWin ^_^

I also added autorun features on my USB flash drive with ClamWin Portable Antivirus so I can scan immediately once my USB flash/thumb drive is connected to any PC. (See image below)

Enjoy a Clean and Portable Antivirus on the go!
Visit PortableApps.com for more info

What kind of memory do i have in my computer / pc?

2009-06-23T01:51:00.012+08:00

If you are looking to upgrade the memory in your computer, you are probably wondering what type of memory is already installed, and what you need to buy for an upgrade...

Here’s an option for detecting the type/size of memory already installed in your system without having to open your computer. This Tool is also helpful so you can easily check other specification on your system.

Download "System Information for Windows Tool" HERE... or visit their site.

This useful free application/tool should be a standard in any geek’s toolkit. It comes bundled as a single file, no installation required.

Once you open it up, navigate to Hardware and then Memory on the left-side panel, you’ll see what type of memory is already installed in your computer.

See pic below, looks like my DESKTOP system can support up to 4GB of memory and I got a total of 1.5GB memory already installed. I have two memory module... on the first slot, I have 1GB DDR2-667 module and 512MB DDR2-667 module on the second slot.

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

This tool also lets you know that you need the SODIMM form factor memory if you run it on LAPTOP...it shows 1GB DDR2-533 SODIMM memory module.

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

How to remove | Removing trojan.dropper/sys-nv virus

2009-06-20T05:39:00.012+08:00

I got infected with trojan.dropper/sys-nv virus last week. Superantispyware was able to remove the infection, but everytime I reboot my pc...the virus keeps coming back trying to run itself or infect my system files so the Superantispyware keeps detecting/blocking and cleaning the same virus over and over, arghh! The other partitions on my hard drive which are my backup got infected too thats why formating all of it is not an option for me :)

I had a hard time looking for a simple solution on the internet since most of the things i found was too complicated like editing a lot of stuff on the registry system which got me worried since it can make your system unstable with one mistake. After trial and error with different antivirus, only KASPERSKY ANTIVIRUS 2009 was able to capture this virus. So I decided to post an easy way on how I cleared the virus and fixed the side effect on the registry.

1. First, download the trial version of KASPERSKY ANTIVIRUS 2009 and free SUPERANTISPYWARE.
2. Install both KASPERSKY ANTIVIRUS and SUPERANTISPYWARE.
3. Make sure you update both with the latest virus definitions from their respective sites.
4. Launch the SUPERANTISPYWARE and go to Preferences and select the Scanning Control tab, check the ff boxes like shown on the image below then click Close.
5. Run a full/deep scan using both KASPERSKY ANTIVIRUS and SUPERANTISPYWARE at the same time on ALL hard-drives/partitions.

5. Wait for both application to finish scanning, after it...
>> I. You will notice that KASPERSKY found the ff:
---------- a .CMD file on each root directory of ALL the hard-drives/partitions (this are the infected files).
---------- GBM6N.EXE files (this file is the culprit and the one that keeps placing the trojan.dropper/sys-nv on your system).
>> II. and SUPERANTISPYWARE found:
---------- trojan.dropper/sys-nv (trojan placed by GBM6N.EXE)
---------- adware.vundo variant (I keep detecting this together with trojan.dropper/sys-nv so I'm assuming that this is also with trojan.dropper/sys-nv or GBM6N.EXE)

6. KASPERSKY will prompt that it automatically delete all the GBM6N.exe and .cmd files after scanning.
7. SUPERANTISPYWARE will also remove the trojan.dropper/sys-nv and adware.vundo variant
8. SUPERANTISPYWARE will ask you to restart your PC... but first, make sure that KASPERSKY already deleted all the GBM6N.exe and .cmd files
9. Restart your PC...
10. Use the search tool on your pc to look for any file that has GBM6N on the filename (on my case,I found several GBM6N-prefetch files)... DELETE those files.
11. Restart your PC again...
12. Notice that when you click any of your drive, it doesnt open and will just show an "open with" window. Don't panic, all your files are still inside :) ...that's only the side effect of the virus we cleared a while ago.
13. Now to fix this "open with" issue... download the FixDrive-Tool HERE, this tool will fix your system registry that causes your drives/partitions not to open.
14. Once downloaded, unzip the file and extract the contents (FixDrive.exe and readme.txt) to a folder
15. Click the extracted FixDrive.exe to run the program.
16. Select the drive-letter from the list that exhibiting the problem then click Fix.
17. Your done... :D

Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Glitch Compilation

2009-05-22T19:26:00.005+08:00

Compiled this to give you some advantage on COD4... enjoy!

OLD SCHOOL:

MAP: AMBUSH

MAP: BLOC

MAP: CRASH

MAP: BACKLOT

MAP: SHOWDOWN

MAP: STRIKE

MAP: VACANT

MAP: WETWORK

MAP: CREEK (OLD and NON-OLD SCHOOL)

MAP: CHINATOWN

MAP: KILLHOUSE

NON OLD SCHOOL:

MAP: AMBUSH

MAP: crossfire and BACKLOT

MAP: BACKLOT

MAP: CROSSFIRE
This tutorial will show you how to get on almost every rooftop and out of the map crossfire. All of these glitches are done in non old school and with only one person. You will need an RPG and the Juggernaut perk. Remember to comment, rate and subscribe. More vids to come.

MAP: BLOC

MAP: COUNTDOWN

MAP: CRASH

MAP: DISTRICT

MAP: DOWNPOUR

MAP: OVERGROWN

MAP: PIPELINE

MAP: VACANT

MAP: CHINATOWN

MAP: KILLHOUSE

More Than 2,000 Movies on a Single DVD Disc

2009-05-21T22:16:00.004+08:00

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

PARIS (AFP) - - Scientists unveiled new DVD technology on Wednesday that stores data in five dimensions, making it possible to pack more than 2,000 movies onto a single disc.

A team of researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, used nanotechnology to boost the storage potential nearly 10,000-fold compared to standard DVDs, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

"We were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc," said Min Gu, who lead the team.

Discs currently have three spatial dimensions. By using gold nanorods Gu and colleagues were able to add two additional dimensions, one based on the colour spectrum, and the other on polarisation.

Because nanoparticles react to light depending on their shape, it was possible to record information in a range of different colour's wavelengths at the same physical location on the disc.

Current DVDs record in a single colour wavelength using a laser.

The fifth dimension was made possible by polarisation. When light waves were projected onto the disc, the direction of the electric field within the waves aligned with the gold nanorods.

"The polarisation can be rotated 360 degrees," explained co-author James Chon.

"We were, for example, able to record at zero degree polarisation. Then on top of that, were able to record another layer of information at 90 degrees polarisation, without them interfering with each other," he said in a statement.

The researchers are still working out the speed at which the discs can be written on, and say that commercial production is at least five years off.

They have signed an agreement with Korea-based Samsung, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers.

Last month, US technology giant General Electric said its researchers had developed a holographic disc which can store the equivalent of 100 standard DVDs.

Dual-layer Blu-ray discs hold the equivalent of 10 standard DVDs.

Thermalright CPU | VGA | MEMORY Fanless Cooler

2009-05-17T12:54:00.031+08:00

Lots of CPU and VGA cooler are now being released on the market but here are some heatsink/cooler that stand on the crowd. Thermalright is one of the top CPU and VGA cooler on the market, what makes it different is its capability to dissipate heat even without fan... you heard it right "without fan". That means that you can have a quiet and 0dB environment without sacrificing your computers temperature. Here are some pictures using Thermalright heatsink for each component.

click on the images for higher resolution

CPU: Thermalright IFX-14 with 120mm fan and backside heatsink
MEMORY: 2 Thermalright HR-07 type L
VIDEOCARDS: 2 Thermalright VGA heatsink with fan
(fans are optional)

CPU: Thermalright HR-01 plus with backside heatsink
MEMORY: 2 Thermalright HR-07 type L and 2 HR-07 type H
VIDEOCARD: Thermalright VGA heatsink
MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET: 2 Thermalright chipset heatsink

CPU: Thermalright IFX-14 heatsink
MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET: 2 Thermalright chipset heatsink

CPU: Thermalright ULTRA-120A heatsink
MEMORY: 2 Thermalright HR-07

not quite sure if this casing is with Thermalright but its a very nice modification anyway...

But that's not all, Thermalright included attacheable clips so you can add any 80mm fan for their VGA heatsink and any 120mm fan for CPU heatsink (see pictures below), several small heatsink for VGA-memory/VRAM are also included together with installation manual for easy referrence. Thermalright also released copper-type heatsink for VGA and CPU.

Thermalright TRUE-copper heatsink for CPU

Thermalright V2 VGA cooler (copper-type heatsink)
80mm fan add-on for VGA heatsink

VGA: VRAM heatsink are also available

Backside heatsink are also available for CPU and VGA making sure that no heat can escape for both (pictures below).

Thermalright HR-11 VGA Backside heatsink

Thermalright IFX-10 CPU Backside heatsink

Top-10 PC cooler by frostytech
click on the image for higher resolution

Using Intel CPU

Using AMD CPU
Click here to see the complete review on Top-10 by frostytech

For More info, visit Thermalright official website

Tekken 6 on PSP

2009-04-29T17:33:00.009+08:00

Found this on the net... and good news to all gamers!

The high definition and #1 anticipated fighting game Tekken-6 on PS3 and xbox360 was announced today by NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. to be released and get squished for portable Playstationing. Yes, you heard it right... Tekken-6 will be released on PSP.

The PSP system version will be essential companion for players who want their fighting skills on-the-go. Unbridled vengeance will be served worldwide this Fall when each version of the game delivers pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat action with bone-jarring punches and gut-wrenching grapples.

Tekken-6 will not only contain all the explosive action but also feature additional stages, content, items, and an ad-hoc multiplayer mode. Fighting amongst friends is encouraged as players can battle wirelessly against each other using original or fan favorite characters. Rounding out its list of impressive features is the return of the “Ghost” Infrastructure mode, which allows players to upload their “ghost” character data and download others’ from the Internet onto their PSP system. When players have reached the height of their TEKKEN fighting skills, they will be able to see how they stack up against others through the game’s network support.

Tekken-6 will be optimized for the PSP system. It means that Tekken-6 graphics/features will be adjusted to fit the PSP while maximizing the possible graphics that PSP console can support. Things will be adjusted such as...

-64-bit for PS3/xbox360 will be converted to 32-bit or 24-bit for PSP
-smoke, glare and lighting effects will be reduced
-background details will be adjusted in some ways like removing or reducing some particles
-character details will be altered as well while maintaining the stunning look
-resolution is also reduced to fit PSP screen

I know most of the gamers are dying to see Tekken-6 on PSP so here are some screenshots from PSP courtesy of IGN :)

PSP 2000 vs PSP 3000

2009-04-21T15:29:00.012+08:00

PSP-3000 support the same games & offers the same media support as the older PSP models but Sony has upgraded the PSP 3000 with an improved LCD screen like increased color range, five times the contrast ratio, half the pixel response time to reduce ghosting and blurring effects, a new sub-pixel structure, a microphone, a new disk tray design, new button designs and logos, and anti-reflective technology to improve outdoor playability.

Silver PSP-3000 (top) compared to white PSP-2000 (bottom)

Here's the official Sony PSP-3000 versus PSP-2000 LCD comparison image

But some LCD screen problems were also found soon after PSP-3000 release. It has been shown that the new screen possesses a new horizontal subpixel structure (visible scanlines), which is thought to be the main contributing factor to the screen's scanline-like appearance. The exact cause of the interlace-style artifacts is unknown, but has been confirmed by SCEI as being an intrinsic characteristic of the new LCD panel.

PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 screen comparison, showing different subpixel structure.

Sony Japan has responded to this criticisms about visible scanlines on the new PSP-3000 systems. While Sony America is looking into the situation, Japan's statement doesn't offer much. It seems that the scanline problem is a feature of the new LCD screens. SCEI says that the "PSP-3000 has a new LCD device with vastly improved picture quality, achieving a more natural and vivid picture than older models...by improving LCD response time to reduce ghosting, the horizontal-line phenomenon becomes more visible."

The worst news is that there's no fix. "Since this is caused by hardware characteristics, there is no plan to fix it with system software update." Looks like it's here to stay. Check SCEA statement below...

SCEA RESPONSE
"On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000. Installed with this new LCD device, PSP-3000 offers more natural and vibrant colors on its screen, but the scan lines have come out to be more visible as a result of improving response time to alleviate the afterimages on PSP-3000. Since this is due to hardware specification, there are no plans for a system software update concerning this issue."

By the way, keep in mind that PSP-3000 screen still has the same size with PSP-2000 ;)

The only PSP-3000 feature that caught my eyes was the new built-in microphone which can be useful to some games especially online. But here's the down side of PSP-3000 for some users when it comes to games... since PSP-3000 comes with firmware ver5.0 or higher and has a new CPU (motherboard revealed to be TA-90v2) which does not support the PRE IPL Exploit used in hacking the previous versions, you wont be able to play "homebrew" games. Homebrew refers to game-emulators or old games that came from PS1 way back up to family computer games... all this old games add more choices to gamers.

psp 2000 (top) and psp-3000 (buttom)

rear view: psp 2000 (top) and psp-3000 (buttom)

psp 2000 (top) and psp-3000 (buttom)

In my opinion, psp-3000 new features did NOT come a long way compared to PSP-2000 since all of them has a down side. About the psp-3000 new look, its like SONY just replaced PSP casing just to have a new look. Honestly, If I really want my PSP-2000 to look good and stand-out on the crowd... I wont buy a default psp-3000 case even if some people on the net already confirmed that psp-3000 case fits psp-2000. But instead, I'll get one of those clear casing (picture below).

PSP-3000 Anti-reflective technology just makes reflection lesser but still exist so I dont think its worth-it to spend more cash and take the hassle just to upgrade/exchange your psp-2000 to PSP-3000... if I were you, I'll buy "Add-on Keyboard for PSP"(picture below) instead.

"Look, who's going to play PSP while under the sun, getting a tan or while walking? ...c'mon! no one, right?? ...well unless you want to be hit by a car or truck while walking and playing PSP :D "

Crystal / Transparent Case for PSP-2000

Add-on Keyboard for PSP

Most of us use our PSP 80% of the time on a vehicle, indoors (school, home, restaurant, coffee shop) or while chillin' with our friends so Im not that die-hard fan of anti-glare feature unless they upgraded the graphics of the PSP not just the LCD display. Most gamers will appreciate PSP-3000 if SONY added right analog-stick instead of built-in microphone :(

Things you dont know about Windows XP | Secrets of Window XP

2009-04-20T09:59:00.006+08:00

Found some of Windows XP's secrets on my research...just want to share it with you. Hope this will help, enjoy!

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

Xbox360 Issues and Reports

2009-04-19T02:53:00.005+08:00

The first time i heard about the news that microsoft and nvidia will team-up for the xbox360, i was shocked. I knew that this console will definitely hit the top chart knowing that nvidia came a long way when it comes to graphics. But after a year, I was starting to change my mind because of the technical & stability issues buzzing around the internet on the said console. I did some research and considered the ff issues...

THE RING OF DEATH

Lets start with what they call THE RING OF DEATH. This tittle refers to a "general hardware" failure or "core digital" failure, 3-flashing red lights appear (known as the "Red Ring of Death" or the "Three Red Lights of Death") around the power button. In normal operation, there are four green lights around the power button. Warning signs of it are freeze-ups, where screen has strange and spontaneous graphical problems in the middle of gameplay such as checkerboard or pinstripe patterns on the display, sound is frozen then changed to a strange, static-like sound, and the console only responds to power-off.

These may happen once or several times before general hardware failure occurs, or not at all. Does'nt mean that the error will occur just because your Xbox freezes once in a while. But when the error occur, the three red lights will appear and your console will not function.

As a response to high rate of failure... last July-5-07, the VP of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division published a letter recognizing the console's problems and announcing a three-year warranty extension for every Xbox 360 console that experiences the "general hardware failure" indicated by three flashing red LEDs on the console.

As per research, a source that has been identified as a team leader and key architect in the creation of the Xbox/Xbox 360 and a founding member of the Xbox team provided insight on the high rate of failures. Interviews shows that Xbox 360 units that fail early in their life was because of problems in the system design, parts supply, material reliability, and manufacturing issues as well as a system not tolerant to faults. These are the end results of the decisions of management in Microsoft's Xbox team with inadequate testing resources prior to the console's release. A second source stated that, at one time...there was just a 32% yield of one of the test production runs. 68 on every 100 units were found defective.

Cold solder joints and insufficient Cooling system are just some of the few things that caused many console to fail. As the temperature inside the console rises, the more the peripherals/parts inside becomes brittle as time goes by...which may lead to thin cracks that are almost irreparable.

SCRATCHED DISCS
Next issue will be SCRATCHED DISCS. Consumers began reporting rounded scratches found on discs used in their Xbox 360 consoles late 2005. "The Llamma's Adventures" investigated this and saw that some Xbox 360 drives lack a mechanism securing the disc solidly in place. Tilting or moving consoles with these drives when operating with a disc spinning inside can potentially cause damage to the disc, sometimes permanently. Disc can also be scratched by a xbox drive tray not functioning in the right way, the tray will close the disc in an odd position and scratch up the disc which can result in the laser being obliterated. Although this problem is not covered by the warranty, Microsoft's Xbox Disc Replacement Program will replace a limited range of scratched discs that are published in countries where the Xbox was originally sold for a $20 fee and a list of games that qualify for replacement were released.

Here are the reports courtesy of "BBC Watchdog Investigation of Xbox 360 disc scratches (2009)"
On March 23 2009, BBC's Watchdog TV show took an investigation into how the console scratches its own discs. One person featured in the investigation was 13-year-old boy Michael Mowatt, who saves up for his games by collecting pigeon droppings from his neighbor's pigeon coop. It usually takes him around a month to save up for new games for his console. When he tried out one of his newly-bought games, the game suddenly stopped reading and when he took the disc out, he found a carved circle around the inside of the disc. His mother (Rachel Mowatt) thought that Michael had been misusing the console and told him off for damaging the disc. But the same problem happened again with another of his discs a few days later, and this time Rachel knew that something was wrong. The console was still in warranty, so he sent it off to Microsoft for it to get looked at - but the scientists at Microsoft found nothing.

Same thing happened with Robert Monaghan and his family. They bought an Xbox 360 and a copy of Rock band (with all of the instruments) so that there was something for the family to do, but after a while playing the game, the game disc also was subjected to the carved inner ring problem on the disc. Robert thought that the children in his family were misusing the console as well, so he punished them. After a while, the same family bought Guitar Hero World Tour for the console instead, so that they still had something to do. Same thing happened, but this time dad Robert knew there was something wrong with the console. So, like Michael, he also sent his console away to be looked at - but again, no problems.

I felt so bad for this kid who worked so hard just to save up for his games by collecting pigeon droppings from his neighbor's pigeon coop... i just hope Microsoft will do someting about it :(

Below are the additional issues I found on the web involving XBOX console...

VIDEO FAILURE
In mid 2007, technology and gaming blogs began reporting about new problems with the Xbox 360 losing video output. The problems are characterized by a blank or staticky video output with a proper functioning audio output and no flashing red lights on the console. The complete video failure is sometimes preceded by other graphical glitches such as an irregular saturation of green and/or red colors.

E74 ERROR
An E74 error is when the lower-right quadrant of the ring-piece indicator flashes red and displays an error message in multiple languages: "E74 System Error. Contact Xbox Customer Support". The error is caused when there's a video problem, either because the audio/video cable is broken or when the Xbox 360 hardware scaler chip is damaged. As of April 14, 2009, the E74 error is now covered by the three-year extended warranty, and customers who previously paid Microsoft for out-of-warranty service to correct the E74 error will receive a refund.

Conflicker eye chart / Conficker eye chart, how it works?

2009-04-14T13:06:00.003+08:00

I found a report about Conflicker eye chart and how it works. Conflicker eye chart is the easiest way to determine if your computer is infected with Conflicker worm. Basically, Conflicker eye chart consist of 2-parts... the upper portion are images from various antivirus websites while the images on the lower part are feed from various open source operating system distributions. These images are drawn directly from the six different websites to which each logo belongs. If your computer is infected with Conflicker worm or other type of malware (which are set to block access on different antivirus sites)... one of these images will not show.

The only other reasons that these images will not show is either you're image loading turned off in browser, poor internet connection OR the source of the images are currently down. Here are some websites hosting the exact same Eye Chart and which will work exactly the same way just incase you want to double check... joestewart, talkbiz, and confickerworkinggroup. Want to learn more about Conflicker Worm or widely known as April Fool's Day Virus? Click HERE.

NBA 2K9 cheats

2009-04-13T00:12:00.004+08:00

For those NBA fan... here are some cheats for NBA 2K9, enjoy!

Cheat mode
At the main menu, select the "Features" option, choose the "Codes" selection, then enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function:

2K Sports team

Enter "2ksports" as a code to unlock the 2K Sports team.

NBA 2K9 development team

Enter "nba2k" as a code to unlock the NBA 2K8 development team.

Superstars team

Enter "llmohffaae" as a code to unlock the Superstars team.

Visual Concepts team

Enter "vcteam" as a code to unlock the Visual Concepts team.

ABA ball

Enter "payrespect" as a code to unlock the ABA ball.

Feel free to add a comment for more cheats on NBA 2k9 just in case I miss something, thanks!

How to overclock NVIDIA chipset videocards / graphic cards

2009-04-09T04:48:00.013+08:00

There are few things you need to consider before overclocking your NVIDIA chipset videocard.

Things to consider:

>> If your videocard still with warranty...do not overclock it. Overclocking and upgrading the heatsink will void its warranty.
>> Make sure you videocard is an Nvidia chipset.
>> Second is your heatsink, you need to keep in mind that overclocking will definitely increase your videocard's temperature. So you need to upgrade your videocard's stock heatsink. I prefer using large copper-type heatsink or if you're rich enough, buy a liquid-cooling system. Those 2 can dissipate heat faster compared to stock :D (We will be upgrading the heatsink on STEP 10)
>> Check and take note your videocards average temperature for 1-hr usage before replacing your videocard's stock heatsink and overclocking. You can download the NVIDIA overclocking/monitoring tools HERE. Install it then go to START MENU > ALL PROGRAMS > NVIDIA CORP > NVIDIA SYSTEM MONITOR to see the average temperature.

Copper-type heatsink

Liquid-cooling

Proceed with OVERCLOCKING steps below once you meet the requirements above...

1. Install the NVIDIA overclocking and monitoring tools
2. Take note of the average temperature of your videocard before replacing your videocard's stock heatsink and overclocking like i mentioned above...lets assume that your average temp is 35-degrees celcius for 1-hr usage
3. Now go to START MENU > ALL PROGRAMS > NVIDIA CORP > NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL > PERFORMANCE

OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE TWEAK: Select the "adjust image settings with preview" tab on the left. Below the preview, select "USE MY PREFERENCE EMPHASIZING:" then drag the arrow below it leaning towards the PERFORMANCE side. You can skip this step if you want your card's settings to be BALANCE (by default) between performance and quality

4. Select the "PERFORMANCE" tab on the left then choose "DEVICE SETTINGS" below it
5. On the right, select the "CUSTOM" then take note the default value of CORE CLOCK and MEMORY CLOCK...lets assume that default values are CORE CLOCK: 400 and MEMORY CLOCK: 333, like whats on the picture below

6. Now press the "FIND OPTIMAL" button, this tool will find/suggest the optimal overclock for CORE and MEMORY...lets assume that the suggested are CORE CLOCK: 632 | MEMORY CLOCK: 425
7. Click the "TEST" button so the system can check the suggested settings...if test are successful, click the "APPLY" button on the lower part of the window.
8. Go to START MENU > ALL PROGRAMS > NVIDIA CORP > NVIDIA SYSTEM MONITOR again to check the difference on the temperature...lets assume that you now got 41-degrees celcius (after overclocking), thats 6-degrees higher compared to the average temp: 35-degrees celcius (before overclocking)
9. All the values we got are...

DEFAULT VALUES with STOCK HEATSINK
CORE CLOCK: 400 mhz
MEMORY CLOCK: 333 mhz
with 35-degrees celcius for 1-hr usage

SUGGESTED/OPTIMAL OVERCLOCK VALUES with STOCK HEATSINK
CORE CLOCK: 632 mhz
MEMORY CLOCK: 425 mhz
with 41-degrees celcius

10. To address the increase in temperature, turn-off your PC. Now upgrade/replace the stock heatsink with the new one, make sure you clean the chipset surface before applying the thermal paste that came with the new heatsink.
11. After upgrading/replacing your heatsink, take note your videocards average temperature again for 1-hr usage using SUGGESTED/OPTIMAL OVERCLOCK VALUES (CORE CLOCK: 632 | MEMORY CLOCK: 425) ...lets say that the temperature now decreases to 34-degrees celcius

SUGGESTED/OPTIMAL OVERCLOCK VALUES with NEW HEATSINK
CORE CLOCK: 632 mhz
MEMORY CLOCK: 425 mhz
with 34-degrees celcius

12. Your videocard is now overclocked while maintaining the default temperature 34-35 degrees celcius using the new heatsink.
13. Try testing the new videocard settings on any 3D games. My suggestion is Call of duty 4 since you can display the FPS on it for easy referrence ;-) ...but any 3D games will do.

"All the CLOCKS used here are the values I got when I overclocked my own videocard before"

Rocket Launched by Korea

2009-04-06T16:21:00.001+08:00

Rockets has been part of technology for decades and commonly used by military and outer space research. North Korea stated that the rocket launched from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east last 4-04-09 was for "experimental communications satellite", it was a three-stage rocket blast off. The rocket reached the Tokyo, Japan airspace.

North Korea clearly violated the Security Council resolution 1718 (adopted in October 2006) as per Washington, Tokyo and Seoul. US, Japan and South Korea suspect the launch was a cover for a long-range missile test.

UN Security Council has approved a Japanese request for an emergency session and meeting will surely take place to prevent the spread of these weapons. Even China and Russia called on all sides to act while UK pressure North Korea to stop all missile-related activity.

South Korean official told Yonhap news agency that the rocket did appear to be carrying a satellite but defense and intelligence officials assessment will still take place as per White House.

As per news, International talks involving the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China on an aid-for-nuclear disarmament deal are currently stalled.

Here are some reports...

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New VIRUS on Facebook, MySpace & other Social-Network

2009-04-04T07:18:00.010+08:00

Facebook has been one of the most successful and widely known social-networking site today. But beware, new worm is lurking around to steal the identities of the friends, fans and brands that connect though the social-networking site.

Trend Micro showed that several new hoax applications are trying to trick members in giving their usernames and passwords. Facebook also seen several security threats. It's surely a new variant of the Koobface worm, installing malware on the victim's computers who clicked on a link to a fake YouTube video. Computers can also be infected by other malware and downloaded unknowingly by a user when visiting malicious Web sites based from Trend Micro.

As the worm developers execute the malware, it searches for cookies created by online social networks. The latest was Facebook and even MySpace.

This worm uses the social-networking cookies and makes a DNS query to check IP addresses of remote domains. Once connected, the bad-guys can now remotely perform commands on the victim's computer.

The worm's agenda is to transform the victim's computer like a zombie and form botnets for its purpose. Koobface attempts to do this by composing a message and sending it to the user's friends. The message contains a link to a Web site where a copy of the worm can be downloaded by unsuspecting friends then the cycle repeats itself.

Facebook and other social-networking sites are the targets since Facebook alone has more than 175 million users, which makes it a good target. I know that this worm will continue to plague social-networking sites as long as the bad-guys get what they wanted. People can protect themselves by updating their antivirus software and thinking twice before clicking on links from friends. Never install a codec from some random Web site as well.

NBA 2K9

2009-04-03T16:19:00.021+08:00

I'm one of those people who never forget NBA games on my list, whatever type of console im playing with. I've been a fan of EA sports - NBA LIVE for years now but things change. Since I played 2K sports - NBA 2k9, its definitely the best NBA game on PC, PS3 and Xbox as of date. T-MAC's dunk in NBA 2K9 on the left is one of the proof. After playing NBA 2k9 for months now, the gap between the two franchises appears to be wider.

One of the best feature of NBA 2k9 is the Living Roster which enable players to constantly have the most updated rosters possible (you need to be online for this of course). The Association (counterpart of NBA live's Dynasty mode) enables you to control everything about your team, from contract signing, trades, practice schedule/priorities, and even scouting. Other GAME-MODES are Season, Playoffs, Rookie Challenge, Practice, and Situation. You can practice on tight situation like buzzer-beater and clutch time plays using the Situation mode. NBA BLACKTOP which consist of Dunk Contest, Pick-up Games, 3-pt Shootout, Game of 21 and Dunk school is also included to add more flavor on this game.

Controls are less complicated but the movements, highlights and court actions are stunning, much better compared to NBA LIVE for me. Even the court/stage layout, lighting and dynamic glow are fantastic. Using high-definition monitor, you can also notice the player's sweat dropping from their faces specially when lights are reflected on it. Each one has their own shot release, expression, and trademark moves based on the real NBA players. Wide-variety of plays, dunks, cross-over, lay-up and alley-oop spice-up every game and actions. Those are the little things that blew me away with the 2k9 graphics and features... i can't wait to see the the 2K10/2KX

Still not convinced, here's some pictures and videos taken from NBA 2K9...

...more HIGHLIGHTS

Call of Duty 4 quotes / COD4 quotes

2009-04-03T13:06:00.006+08:00

Here's all the quotes displayed on COD4 everytime your character dies in campaign mode...just incase you're one of the few people looking for it.

"In war, truth is the first casualty" -Aeschylus

"Incoming fire has the right of way." -Unknown

"They'll be no learning period with nuclear weapons. Make one mistake and you're going to destroy nations." -Robert McNamara

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." -General Norman Schwarzkopf

"Any soldier worth his salt should be anti-war. And still, there are things worth fighting for." -General Norman Schwarzkopf

"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it." -General Douglas MacArthur

"Let your plans be as dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." -Sun Tzu

"Anyone, who truly wants to go to war, has truly never been there before!" -Larry Reeves

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." -John F. Kennedy

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left" -Burtrand Russell

"A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons." -Admiral David D. Porter, USN

"Cost of a single AC-130U Gunship: $190 million"

"Cost of a single F-117A Nighthawk: $122 Million"

"Cost of a single B-2 Bomber: $2.2 Billion"

"So long as there are men, there will be wars." -Albert Einstein

"Aim towards the Enemy." -Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

"I think the human race needs to think about killing. How much evil must we do to do good?" -Robert McNamara

"Any military commander who is honest will admit he makes mistakes in the application of military power." -Robert McNamara

"You can make a throne of bayonets, but you cant sit on it for long." -Boris Yeltsin

"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!" -General John J. Pershing

"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty." -Ronald Reagan

"Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist." -Yassar Arafat

"Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." -Winston Churchill

"War is delightful to those who have not yet experienced it." -Erasmus

"Friendly fire - isn't." -Unknown

"Diplomats are just as essential in starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it." -Will Rogers

"I think that technologies are morally neutral until we apply them. It's only when we use them for good or evil that they become good or evil." -William Gibson

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die." -Herbert Hoover

"The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise." -Colin Powell

"Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share." -Ned Dolan

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -Albert Einstein

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." -Norman Schwarzkopf

"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe." -Unknown

"Five second fuses only last three seconds." -Infantry Journal

"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." -Infantry Journal "The press is our chief ideological weapon." -Nikita Khrushchev

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!" -Nikita Khrushchev

"If the enemy is in range, so are you." -Infantry Journal

"Cost of a single Tomahawk cruise Missile: $900,000"

"Cost of a single F-22 Raptor: $135 million"

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." -Colin Powell

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." -U.S. Army Training Notice

"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." -John F. Kennedy

"Cost of a single Javelin Missile: $80,000"

"A leader leads by example, not by force." -Sun Tzu

"If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed toward you." -Unknown

"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion." -General William Thornson

"The more marines I have around, the better I like it." -General Clark, U.S. Army

"Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder." -Unknown

"Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find." -Colin Powell

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." -Infantry Journal

"The world will not accept dictatorship or domination." -Mikhail Gorbachev

"Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them." -Voltaire

"Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just brave five minutes longer." -Ronald Reagan

"In the end, it was luck. We were *this* close to nuclear war, and luck prevented it." -Robert McNamara

"Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don't have that problem." -Ronald Reagan

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." -U.S. Air Force Marshal

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us." -George Orwell

"If at first you don't succeed, call an air strike." -Unknown

"Tracers work both ways." -U.S. Army Ordinance

"Teamwork is essential, it gives them other people to shoot at." -Unknown

"The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war." -Ralph Waldo Emmerson

"We're in a world in which the possiblity of terrorism, married up with technology, could make us very, very sorry we didn't act." -Condoleeza Rice

"All warfare is based on deception." -Sun Tzu

"The indefinite combination of human infallibility and nuclear weapons will lead to the destruction of nations." -Robert McNamara

"In war, you win or lose, live or die - and the difference is just an eyelash." -General Douglas MacArthur

"You cant say civilization dont advance - for in every war, they kill you in a new way." -Will Rogers

"Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain." -Vladimir Putin

"My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth." -George Washington

"Cluster bombing from B-52s are very, very, accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground." -USAF Ammo Troop

"If a man has done his best, what else is there?" -General George S. Patton

"The bursting radius of a hand-grenade is always one foot greater than your jumping range." -Unknown

"The tyrant always talks as if he's preserving the best interests of his people when he actually acts to undermine them." -Ramman Kenoun

"Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom - for himself." -Elbert Hubbard

“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” -Sun Tzu

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -Abraham Lincoln

"If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merits of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning." -Robert McNamara

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." -Thomas Jefferson

If you want to know some TIPS and TWEAKS on how to increase FPS on Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, click HERE .

To give you some advantage on COD4... here's a compilation of COD4 glitch, click HERE.

For some preview and review regarding Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, click HERE.
Thanks for taking time to read... visit us again. :)

Call of Duty 4 console commands / tweaks

2009-04-03T12:34:00.012+08:00

If you want to tweak some graphics to increase your FPS in the game, use the console by pressing "~" button then type this commands.

cg_drawfps 1
diplays fps in top right corner

cg_drawlagometer 1
draw your Lagometer on screen

com_maxfps 125
(One of the most important commands in cod4 is the FPS command, and Ill tell you why. You probably already know that more fps makes the game feel much smoother. What you might not know is that COD4 is based on the q3 engine and is designed to work at 125 FPS.What this means for you is that your going to have problems interacting with the game under 125 FPS. This can mean any thing from not being able to climb objects, or even bad hit detection during fire fights. The problem is your fps is set to 85 by default, lets fix it. Bring down you console and type com_maxfps 125. If you want to remove the limit, type com_maxfps 0.

cg_fov 80
Next up is the field of view command. FOV(field of view) is basically how much you can see on your monitor at one time. The higher the number the more you can see, which will give you a huge advantage over those who don't use this command. Default is 65 max is 80, to change it bring down your console and type "cg_fov 80".

r_drawdecals 1
Another helpful command is "r_drawdecals", set it to 1 for on and 0 for off. Its off by default, and don't be surprised if you turn it on then have to turn it off to get into certain servers. It basically cleans up some of the random paper and trash on the ground, and gives you an fps boost. But some servers want you to have bad fps and wont let you in unless its set to 0(note that the other commands will work fine on any server).

maxpackets 100
Maxpackets next, this command command usually helps people who have good fps but bad hit registration. Default is 30 if your fps is set to 125 you should set maxpackets to this "/maxpackets 100".

snaps 30
This command tells your cod4 server how many times to update positions of players, bullets ect per second. Default its 20 setting it to "/snaps 30" should make movement look smother and hits register better.

r_drawsun 0
Disables the sun and a bunch of effects that is causes saving you a few fps.

cg_brass 0
Turns off shell ejection. Not having to render them should send a few more fps your way, a good addition to your CoD4 config.

cl_packetdup 1
Duplicates packets send between player and server - players with a good connection and no packet loss should use 0, players with packet loss should use a higher number (0-5) most players use 1-2

sm_enable 0
Turns off unique Shadows ingame, it boosts FPS more than most commands

r_multigpu 1
can add more FPS

r_cachemodellighting 1
can add more FPS

r_cacheSmodellighting 1
can add more FPS

r_aaAlpha 0
remove the anti-aliasing / smudge effects, this can free up more FPS also

r_texfiltermipmode 2
Turns it to bilinear filtering, which should give you the best fps

r_rendererPreference 0
to use Shader Model 2.0 instead of 3.0 which will increase fps for those people using old videocards

Now Type...
/vid_restart

You're done... enjoy! ;)

To give you some advantage on COD4... here's a compilation of COD4 glitch, click HERE.

If you're one of the few person looking for the quotes displayed on COD4 everytime your character dies in campaign mode, click HERE for the list.

For some preview and review regarding Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, click HERE.

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2009-04-02T20:44:00.021+08:00

I've been a game enthusiast since i started working with computers. Games with good graphics and gameplay always catches my eyes. INFINITY WARD did a great job on Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare. First of all, the game looks very realistic and stunning...one of the few games that support/utilize DirectX10.

In Single-player, you'll be switching between the perspectives of two soldiers, a U.S. Marine and a S.A.S. British soldier. Both team has the same goal, to extinguish a terrorist threat. Every mission of each team is linked to one another which makes it more understandable. Story is presented so well with such a raw and gritty fashion so it's easy to be drawn into it... and I have to say, dramatic twist and some of the sequences will shock and leave you breathless.

The modern settings adds some very interesting features. First will be the guns, some of the primary weapons has grenade launcher and a lot of the guns now have laser-sights, making it easier to shoot your enemies. Here's the interesting part, you can shoot through thin walls, wood, or anything that looks like it that could provide poor cover on your target. Just a reminder, always watch your six...some of the bad guys dont give up easily and can still kill you with a "last stand shots" which makes it more life-like. You even have stuff like night vision, flash-bangs, air strikes, bombing runs, claymores, and other various explosives to give you an upper hand over your enemies so use it wisely. Your enemies are smart so don't underestimate them, they'll take advantage of cover, grenades, and if they're given the chance, they'll outflank you.

The only problem I saw was a short campaign, you can even finish the game in just one sitting... but I assure you it's a thrill ride which makes this game stand out.

Multi-player mode offers a lot of things, you can choose between deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, territories and so on. It can be addictive as well because of the level-up and perks system... the higher level you get, the more guns are unlocked (more powerful ofcourse). Perks are also unlocked at the same time like claymore, grenade laucher, deep penetration (for shooting walls), last stand, increase bullet damage, and more. You have to select 3-perks wisely... that will depend on what type of guns and match-up your going to play. Camo patterns and different iron sights are also available on this game. You can even call a chopper and air-strike on multi-player, that is if you're able to kill 5-7 enemies without dying.

Call of Duty 4 is one of the most eye-pleasing games to date. With gorgeous destruction, eye-piercingly sharp gun models, and dynamic shadows...this one is worth checking out.

Here are some pictures taken from Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

and for some videos...

By the way Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 is coming this 2009... here's a teaser.

April Fools Day Virus | Conflicker C

2009-04-01T22:09:00.003+08:00

I was surfing the net few days ago when I saw the news about this Conflicker-C virus posted on yahoo...which they call "April Fool’s Day Virus". I read a few lines then I started thinking if my computer is already infected as well. Here's the deal, Conflicker-C virus is a worm type virus and even Microsoft has offered $250,000 bounty just to catch its developers. I started thinking back about the Love-bug virus and how it hits Microsoft and even Pentagon.

Research proves that this Conflicker-C worm already infected at least 3 million PCs, and set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday (April Fool's Day). That's when the infected PC's (which is called "botnet") will get more aggressive about "phoning home" to the worm's developers over the Internet. When that happens, the worm developers will be able to trigger the program to send spam, spread more infections, clog the networks traffic, or even bring down Web sites. Even legit sites can be co-opted for this purpose, once hackers make it through...it uses the sites servers to send out malicious commands.

Infected computers have been trying to connect each day to 250 Internet domains (spots on the Internet where Web sites are parked). The worm developers need to get just one of those sites under their control to send their commands to the botnet.

They say that it will get harder to track On April 1 and it is said that infected machines will generate a list of 50,000 new domains a day that they could try. Of that group, the botnet will randomly select 500 for the machines to actually query. This worm tries to crack administrators' passwords, disables security software, blocks access to anti-virus vendors' Web sites to prevent updating, and opens the machines to further infections by Conflicker's authors.

This virus trick people into downloading a malicious program, Conflicker is so good at spreading because it finds vulnerable PCs on its own and doesn't need human involvement to infect a machine.

Here's some reports regarding the April Fool’s Day Virus | Conflicker C

Some Anti-virus company offers Removal tools for this but keep in mind that your Windows/Operating System should be updated as well. You can check Symantec Website for more info about Conflicker-C and how to remove this worm...click HERE.

I also found a report about Conflicker eye chart and how it works. Conflicker eye chart is the easiest way to determine if your computer is infected with Conflicker worm. For more info on how this "Conflicker eye chart" works... click HERE.

DirectX9, DirectX10 and DirectX11

2009-03-31T23:09:00.001+08:00

Microsoft already released directx10 but only for WindowsVISTA since DirectX10 is built from ground up, on a totally different architecture. They started with a clean slate which means that more than half of the games and applications you used to run under XP with good old DirectX9 simply don’t work anymore with DirectX10 installed.

Directx is a collective name for a programming interface, Direct3D, Direct Draw, DirectSound etc, and is used to handle tasks in multimedia applications. Mainly used with video games, basically how well a video game looks.

If you want to fully utilize the power of directx10...you need to buy a new graphic card that support directx10 (as far as i know Nvidia 8800 series/ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT or higher) and obviously, you also need to buy a new OS "windowsVISTA" if your still using windowsXP. Oh and by the way...buy new games and applications that already support/utilize directx10. Sounds like we're going to spend a lot of cash just to catch up with directx10.

Here's some pictures taken from games regarding the difference of Dx9 and Dx10...

FLIGHT SIMULATOR X
with DirectX9

with DirectX10

AGE OF CONAN
with DirectX9

with DirectX10

Sample Videos from games:
CRYSIS with DirectX9 vs DirectX10

COMPANY OF HEROES with DirectX9 vs DirectX10

If you have windowsXP it stops at DirectX9.0c. DirectX10 is NOT backwards compatible as they claim at Microsoft. People call it "artificially" backwards compatible which means it will only "emulate" DirectX9, but that’s not the real step back since it’s built on a totally different architecture.
It will take years for most gamers to catch up and take advantage of DirectX10 since Microsoft excluded XP and Xbox360. Bad move for their marketing strategy and I hope Microsoft will realize that they needs to work on the backward compatibility issue since its a big deal especially with end-users.

Here's some benchmark from the game ‘Lost Planet’ DirectX9 vs DirectX10

More info about DirectX10

There is an on-going project for DirectX10 to run on WindowsXP which is called ALKY PROJECT by an independent group. Its already on ALPHA version and it is said to be working for some users. So if this group pull this one out for XP, then we can use those money to upgrade videocard instead of buying a new Operating System...hahaha!

About DirectX11, Microsoft will release it for Windows7...hopefully this one will have better review when it comes to backward compatibility. For more info about DirectX11, click here.

Batch conversion of audio files MP3, WMA, OGG, and WAV

2009-03-30T18:15:00.002+08:00

I found this software that converts/support multiple audio format like MP3, WMA, OGG and even WAV files. What makes it different is that it can support BATCH conversion even if you're going to convert multiple file-types together. So it means you can convert MP3 to WMA, OGG to WAV and WMA to MP3 at the same time... you can just sit and relax while this software converts all your audio files :)

Its "Advance WMA workshop" by LITEXMEDIA

this converts...
MP3 to WMA
MP3 to WAV
WMA to MP3
WMA to WAV
OGG to WMA
OGG to WAV

it also support the ff Bit Rate, and Sample Rate with added features...
FOR MP3
- bit rate: 32kbps, 40kbps, 48kbps, 56kbps, 64kbps, 80kbps, 96kbps, 112kbps, 128kbps, 160kbps, 192kbps, 224kbps, 256kbps, and 320kbps (can also convert to VBR "variable bitrate")
- sample rate: 32000hz, 44100hz and 48000hz
- Channel mode: choose between joint-stereo, mono or dual-channel mode
- with options like: enable ID3 tag, automatically load ID3 tag from source, delete source file after processing

FOR WMA
- bit rate: 5kbps, 6kbps, 8kbps, 10kbps, 12kbps, 16kbps, 20kbps, 22kbps, 32kbps, 40kbps, 48kbps, 56kbps, 64kbps, 80kbps, 96kbps, 112kbps, 128kbps, 160kbps, 192kbps, 224kbps, 256kbps, and 320kbps
- sample rate: 44100hz and 48000hz
- with options like: enable digital rights management, enable ID3 tag, automatically load ID3 tag from source, delete source file after processing

FOR OGG
- bit rate: 32kbps, 40kbps, 48kbps, 56kbps, 64kbps, 80kbps, 96kbps, 112kbps, 128kbps, 160kbps, 192kbps, 224kbps, 256kbps, and 320kbps (can also convert to VBR "variable bitrate")
- with options like: enable ID3 tag, automatically load ID3 tag from source, delete source file after processing

This software helps me to organize my audio files in a fast and easy way...if you want to know more about Advance WMA workshop, click here.

How to Boost XP Performance

2009-03-29T19:42:00.000+08:00

I usually tweaks or adjust my windows settings together with virtual paging file to boost the performance of my PC. I prefer to use a fast and simple look on my operating system rather than having an eye-candy settings but suffers in loading and performance.

Here are some TIPS and basic TWEAKS to maximize the performance of your PC.

1. To adjust the look of your windowsXP
-----go to CONTROL PANEL and select SYSTEM
-----select the ADVANCED tab (upper portion)
-----under the PERFORMANCE, press the SETTINGS button
-----you'll notice that "LET WINDOWS CHOOSE WHAT'S BEST FOR MY COMPUTER" is selected and all the BOXES below is checked, now select the "ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE" instead and notice that all the BOXES below is now unchecked.
-----then check this 3 boxes only..."USE A BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR EACH FOLDER TYPE", "USE COMMON TASKS IN FOLDERS", and "USE DROP SHADOWS FOR ICON LABELS ON THE DESKTOP"...now click the APPLY button (your windows will now look like windows98). This setting will help decrease the loading time.

2. Adjusting the VIRTUAL PAGING FILE/VIRTUAL MEMORY on windowsXP
-----go to CONTROL PANEL and select SYSTEM
-----select the ADVANCED tab (upper portion)
-----under the PERFORMANCE, press the SETTINGS button
-----select the ADVANCED tab (upper portion)
-----under VIRTUAL MEMORY, press the CHANGE button

by default, SYSTEM MANAGE SIZE is selected...but the thing is, the default size is not enough to launch large applications/games so it means that the smaller your system VIRTUAL MEMORY is the more often your system needs to refresh that space just to compensate the required virtual file needed for the aplication/games being launch or used...which eat-up performance of course. So I prefer this VIRTUAL MEMORY to be large.

-----select the CUSTOM SIZE then set the INITIAL & MAXIMUM SIZE between 3500 (MB) to 5000 (MB), usually I set mine to 4000 (MB)... well it depends on how much size you can spare for this.

3. Remove rarely used programs automatically added on the system tray

-----As much as possible, just maintain minimal programs running on the system tray (active/running programs beside the clock)... since most of the time, programs automatically add icons on the system tray as you install them (apps like: winamp, winzip, nero, bearshare, limewire). Removing them on the system tray does'nt mean you're uninstalling it, you're just removing those icon to keep the apps/programs inactive while not in use. This will decrease loading time as well. Check each program's setting on how to disable it OR you can use REGEDIT command if your familiar with it.

4. Defrag your harddrive, to use your Windows default disk defragmenter
-----go to START MENU then select PROGRAMS
-----select ACCESSORIES then SYSTEM TOOLS, click Disk defragmenter
-----select the drive you want to Defrag and click ANALYZE
-----after analyzing, windows will advise you if you need to defrag your hard disk already

Fragmentation is usually caused when an operating system breaks a file into pieces because there is not enough space on the storage device where the file was originally saved. One example of this would be where a file was originally saved, then modified causing the file to be larger in physical space than first anticipated, the operating system will then break the file into 2 or more pieces and store them in different parts of the storage area. The system would then keep arecord of where the different parts of the file are stored, this is achieved through the use of a File Allocation Table (FAT) or similar file system such as NTFS. Then, when the operating system requires the file again, it will query the file system (FAT/NTFS/ or other) to find out where the different parts of the file are located on the partition (drive).

Defragmentation is the term given to the process of scanning the file system and rejoining the split files back into consecutive pieces. The process of defragmenting can be time consuming, but it is one of the easiest ways to increase the performance of your PC, the frequency of which a PC should be defragmented will directly depend on the amount of usage.

I tried using PARAGON Hard Disk Manager 2009 for defragmenting and it works great. Result is way better than using default Windows Defragmenter. If you want to know more about this software, click here.

5. Be sure to keep your Windows Registry clean
Using some "registry cleaner software" you can clean, repair and optimize your Windows® registry. Problems with the Windows® registry are a common cause of Windows® crashes, slow performance and error messages. Problems can occur for many reasons including being left-behind after the un-installation or incorrect removal of software, by missing or corrupt hardware drivers, or orphaned startup programs. Using a registry cleaner regularly and fixing registry errors your system should not only be more stable but it will also help improve your system performance. I prefer using "PCtools Registry Mechanic" for this since it can perform deep scan on Windows Registry... you can check its features and latest version (HERE)

6. Delete Temporary Files
Some of us take this for granted and say "its just temporary files"... WRONG. We should realize that Temporary Files dont just eat-up space on our hard drives, it also increase the loading time of a computer.

Go to this directories and delete all the files on it... don't worry, all the files on it is temporary files and you can delete it with no harm.

For WindowsXP...
-----go to C:\Documents and Settings\"your user name"\Local Settings\Temp
-----go to C:\Documents and Settings\"your user name"\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
-----go to C:\WINDOWS\Temp

For Windows98
-----go to C:\WINDOWS\Temp

As you delete all the files, Windows will sometimes prompt you that "file name" is currently in use and cannot be deleted. Skip the mentioned file and continue removing all the remaining temporary files.

What games & image quality can my VideoCard Play?

2009-03-28T22:35:00.000+08:00

VII. What games & resolutions/image quality can my Video Card Play?

This compilation was done by Guru3d.com and i thought it best to add it under the request of other members. :) Note that only recent cards are included and please do not request for other cards/games from me since i wasn't the one who compiled this.

From Guru3d:
Examples how you could use these charts:

* If you want to purchase a certain graphics card, yet do not know how well a certain game will perform at 1280x1024. You just check the card versus resolution and look at the color coding or pictogram for your answer.
* You want to play F.e.a.r at a decent framerate at 1600x1200. What would be the cheapest card for that ? Just look up F.e.a.r. versus 1600x1200 and observe where performance is acceptable enough for you.

Test Setup:

*
nVIDIA nForce 680i SLI (eVGA) (FOR SLI)
Asus P5E3 Deluxe X38 (For CrossFire)
nVIDIA nForce 790i SLI (For 3-Way and Quad SLI)
*
Core 2 Duo X6800 Extreme (Conroe)
Core 2 Duo E8400 (Penryn)
Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (For 3-Way and Quad SLI Tests
* 2048 MB (2x1024MB) DDR2 CAS4 @ 1142 MHz Dominator Corsair
2048 MB (2x1024MB) DDR3 1333 MHz Corsair
* Enermax Galaxy 1000 Watt Power Supply
* WD Raptor 150 GB
* Dell 3007WFP - resolutions up-to 2560x1600

OS related Software

* Windows Vista 32-bit
* DirectX 9/10 End User Runtime
* Latest graphics cards drivers available
* NVIDIA nForce 590/680iplatform driver 9.53

This is gonna be long... First UP!!
3DMark 06
Default Settings

3DMark Vantage
Default Settings (Performance)

Crysis V1.1
Medium Graphics settings (DX10 where compatible), No AA, 16X AF

Call Of Duty 4
All Settings MAX, 4x Anti-Aliasing, 16X AF

F.E.A.R
All Settings MAX,Soft Shadows Disabled, 4x Anti-Aliasing, 16X AF

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW2)
* Edge Smoothing Anti Aliasing
* 16x anisotropic filtering
* Dynamic shadows HIGH

FrontLines: Fuel For War (GRAW2

Warfront: Turning Point
4x AA
16x anisotropic filtering

World In Conflict
Medium Dx9
4x AA
16x anisotropic filtering

S.T.A.L.K.E.R
* In-game Software Anti Aliasing enabled
* 16x anisotropic filtering
* Dynamic lighting enabled

LASTLY

Enemy Territory - Quake Wars
* 4x Anti Aliasing
* 16x anisotropic filtering
* Soft Particles disabled (as it's not supported by the Radeon HD cards).

Again, this all came and was done by Guru3d.com. Hope this may help you in your problems/inquiries. :)

if you want to learn more about graphic cards / video cards performance, speed, ranking and benchmark, (click here)

Video Card AVOID list

2009-03-28T21:56:00.000+08:00

I know a lot of you guys are lost when it comes to videocard specifications. I found this on tipidpc... just want to share this guide/referrence with you, enjoy!

NOTE: These are mostly based on PC-EXPRESS and various tipidpc sellers' price lists

AVOID THE FOLLOWING:

I. PCI
well actually, you only have the MX440, FX5200 and FX5500 to contend with.. and ALL of them should be avoided because they are overpriced and perform poorly compared to AGP and PCI-E cards of the same price

II. AGP 2/4/8X
ATI
Radeon 7000 = really really really old. did i say it's really old?
Radeon 9200/9250 = DirectX 8 pa to.
X700/9550SE/9550ULTRA/9550pro = very slow and very old. Unless the most graphically intensive game you're gonna play is DOTA, avoid.
9600XT = A 7600GS AGP for 4k is even faster than a 9800XT in Crossfire! (if ever there is one -which of course there isn't ) hehehe
9700Pro/9800Pro/9800XT - A 7300GTDDR3 will beat the crap out of these old school "monsters"
X1300pro = Being similarly priced as its bigger X1600 bretheren, and bested by its Nvidia competitor the 7300GT, this overpriced card is not a good deal.
NVIDIA
Geforce 2 MX400/Geforce 4 MX4000/MX440 etc.. = old outdated technology and sometimes overpriced. AVOID at all costs. Geforce4 MX440 is just a Geforce 2 MX400 on steroids. Don't be deceived.
Geforce 3 Ti300/500 = Magmano kayo when you see these because they should have been buried a long time ago. Still if you see a used one selling for only around 300 bucks, then it's a steal :)
Geforce 4 Ti4200/4400/4600/4800 = Once king of the hill 5 years ago is no longer an option to buy..Even for second hand.
Geforce FX5200/5500/5600/5700/5800/5900 = many people fall for this especially the 5200... poor shader performance, and very deceiving despite their costs. (many people will think.. ok na to geforce 5 naman eh. WRONG.)
Geforce 6600 series = these older gen cards should have died along with its 5 series predecessors. If you really need to have one of these, make sure to stay away from the "LE" ones.
Geforce 7600 512mb DDR2 = This is marketing at its best, giving people delusions of greater speed with 512megs of memory. But the truth is, the 7600 128bit architecture won't be able to fully use this to its advantage, making it just the same speed with the 256mb version. Get that instead.

III. PCI-Express 1.0/2.0
ATI
X300/X550/X700/X700Pro = very old and very slow. period.
X1300hi mem/X1300 = also old and slow.
X1300PRO = "No Thank you. For the same price, im way faster than you!" - 7300GT DDR3
X1550 = this is an X1300 on steroids.
X1600PRO/X1600XT = the newer HD3xxxs are out and for the same price
X1650XT = Now that the affordable 8500/8600 series has come, i dont see any reason to buy this.
X800GTO/X800GT - SM2.0 lang, getting old narin because it's twice more expensive and just a bit faster (the GTO) than a 7300GT ddr3.. the X800GT is even slower.
X800XL/X800XT/X850XT = Thankfully nobody's selling these anymore! If you see one, they're not worth any more than 1.5k :)
X1800XT 512MB = its more expensive yet slower than an X1900XT 256/512mb. also try to avoid any other X1800 series of cards as newer, faster and cheaper alternatives are already out
X1900XTX / X1950XTX = Yup the HD4850 is twice faster and will eat this alive. not worth any more than 3.5k second hand.
HD2900 XT = Power hungry, and needs a big *ss power supply. It's performance is also not too inspiring. I'd get the HD4830 or the 9800GT, both of which are faster and cheaper....and consume less power.
HD2400 and HD2600 = No. Just no.
HD3450 and 3650 DDR2 version = The 3450 is simply pathetic. The 3650 however shows it can be faster than an 8600GT given that it has gDDR3 memory. So avoid the DDR2 version.
HD3850 = Unless you can source one for around 3k, then this card would be overpriced.
HD3870 gDDR3/gDDR4 The 4670 and the 4830 have now replaced this card, and should be priced no more than 4k brand new or second hand.
HD4870X2 = OH YES. As of March 12, the 4870X2 remains equally priced to the GTX295 (locally) even if the GTX295 beats it hands down. This does not help the fact that the X2 is still being plagued by poor driver support in some games. So unless prices come down to around 21k, avoid.
NVIDIA
Geforce 6200/6500/6600LE = They shouldn't be selling these anymore!
Geforce 6600/6600OC/6600GT/6800XT = these were once the best performing cards for their price, but the 9500gt ddr3 now trumps all these for only 2.8k!!!
Geforce 6800/6800GT/6800ULTRA = The fastest of the 6 series back then is now 4 generations old... don't buy these unless given at a low 2nd hand price(<2k)>Geforce 7100GS = oooh you can SLI this thing! but who cares? unless you need a simple GPU then stay away from this!
Geforce 7300LE = Again, the 9500GT is here.
Geforce 7300GT DDR2 / 7300GT DDR3 = DX10 is here and so is the 9500GT priced the same as the 7300GT DDR3 in some stores. The 9500GT is a lot faster, and has more features. The rest is common sense. :)
Geforce 7600GS = DX10 has come and so has the 8500GT/8600GT/and 8600GTS which will replace the 7600GS/7600GS(T)DDR3/7600GT! The 8500GT will be the wiser choice vs. the 7600GS ddr2. It has roughly the same performance but is future-proofed by DX10, is cheaper, and supports all new G86 features like accelerated H.264 decode.
Geforce 7600GT = Almost all Geforce 7 series cards have now been put into the avoid list since the 8 and 9 and GTX series has come out, and despite the 7600GT's replacement the 8600GTS not quite living up to it's name.
Geforce 7800GT/7800GTX = these are the older and slower and more expensive cards that are slower than the 7900gt in almost everything, except for the 7800GTX 512. so avoid :)
Geforce 7900GS = Unless priced under 3k, the 8600GTS would be faster, but then again, you should avoid that card too.
Geforce 7900GT = like the 7900GS, only get this if selling for less than 2k, second hand. :)
Geforce 7900GTX 512mb & Geforce 7950GX2 1gb ddr3 = These cards should be avoided since everyone knows that the 8 series has already come out. Now unless you can get used/2nd hand samples of these under 3k since the HD 4670 512mb (4k) is faster than these. A single 8800GT 512mb is also FASTER than two 7900GTX in SLI :o :o or Even two 7950GX2s in QUAD SLI :o :o :o :o :o
Geforece 8500GT (all models) = no point in buying this now since the 9500GT costs 500-1000 more but is 2x faster. ...not unless you REALLY REALLY need that 500 elsewhere... you're still wasting your money though
Geforce 8600GT gDDR3 = The advent of the newer and faster 9500GT(but not much faster) costing cheaper than this is enough to make you stay away.
Geforce 8600GTS = Honestly, i was very disappointed with its performance, slotting in between the 7900GS and the X1950Pro. I was expecting more performance (7900GT levels) just like the 6600GT and 7600GT did when they came out. (6600GT faster than 5950XT ; 7600GT faster than 6800ultra). Stay away from this.
Geforce 8800GTS 320mb AND 640mb = with the release of the 8800GT 512 and the 8800GTS 512mb, these two cards suddenly became obsolete. don't buy unless offered 2nd hand under 4k. The 9600GT costing 4.5-5.5k is even faster than these.
Geforce 8800GTS 512mb = This is debatable... The 9800GTX is dropping its price to around 9-10k, so old stock of the 8800GTS will sell for 11k. That's the only reason this should be avoided, if ever.
Geforce 8800GT (G92) 512mb = Yep! You can find the new 9800GT much cheaper than this. Although the 9800GT is a renamed 8800GT, there are small differences such as hybridSLI and HybridPower which allow for huge power savings... given you are using the right Nvidia board and chipset
Geforce 8800GTX 768mb AND 8800ULTRA 768mb = These older model G80 chips are phased out and for its performance should cost around 7-9k second hand, with the Ultra costing around 10k.
Geforce 9400GT (all variants) = unless you really need that 500, I'd suggest using that and get the 9500GT (256mb gDDR3) instead and experience a 50% increase in performance. The 9400GT is no more than a rebadged 8500GT.
Geforce 9500GT 512/1gb & DDR2 = the best performing 9500GT (and the cheapest) is the 256mb gDDR3 version as well.
Geforce 9800GTX/GTX+ = As of March 12, These 2 cards have already been replaced/rebranded as the GTS250 which comes in at a very affordable php7,500. While the GTS250 is essentially a rebranded 9800GTX+, which is a smaller die 9800GTX, which is a rebranded 8800GTS 512, avoid the GTX/GTX+ unless you can have them for 7500 or less brand new.
Geforce GTX 260 896mb = This is the non-core 216 version, and of course the older 65nm fab. Avoid this card if priced above 11k brand new or second hand.
Geforce GTX 280 1gb = The advent of the GTX285 suddenly made owners of 280s insecure. Avoid this card if priced above 16k brand new or second hand, as the faster GTX285s can be had for 17k

"Feel free to add more cards and comment on my post :) Obviously its not perfect :) "

IV. On Multi-GPU Gaming (SLI/TRI-SLI/QUAD SLI/CROSSFIRE/HYBRID CROSSFIRE/HYBRID CROSSFIREX) (OMGG)
Multi Core gaming is now becoming mainstream. Whereas SLI and Crossfire before is reserved for enthusiasts, mainstream consumers are realizing the potential that SLI and Crossfire wields.

Crossfire and SLI performance scaling has also been improving with each generation of video cards and each release of drivers.

Years ago, you'd have to spend 50+k on a single 7950GX2 dual core video card. Now, you can get two 9800GX2's with less money, or beat the monstrous GTX280 with two HD4870's!. The GT200 chip of Nvidia and RV770 chip of AMD has definitely made things more interesting. Nvidia now holds the fastest single and dual chip graphics cards in the world (GTX280 & GTX295), while ATI is holding on to the best value for money cards right now.

With the new releases, Nvidia and AMD are fighting once again for market share. Here is a rough breakdown (in philippine PESO)

2-4k = 9500GT/HD4670
4k = 9600GT
5-6k = 8800GT/9800GT/GTS240/HD4830
7-8k = HD 4850, GTS 250
11-13k = GTX260 Core 216/ HD4870 512/1gb
17-18K = GTX285
23-27k = HD4870X2 / GTX295

- HD4850X2 still has no pricing here.

- The GTX260 has finally dropped its prices locally to compete with the 4870! The GTX260 is faster than the 4870 with AA enabled, while the 4870 is faster w/o AA, but overall, the GTX260 is now faster due to newer drivers. Get the Core 216 version. It's faster than the 4870 1gb.

- The 9800GT has been rereleased and renamed as the GTS240

- The 9800GTX+ has also been rereleased and renamed as the GTS 250

V. Warning!!!! READ THIS!!! (WRT)

AVOID and do not be fooled by cards with DDR2 (as much as possible, get cards equipped with at least gDDR3), lowend cards with 512mb RAM, or midrange cards with 1gb of ram.

Let's do a little example. Examine these cards and their prices
512mb Palit 8600 GT Super (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php2810
1gb Palit 8500 GT Super+ (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php2840
256mb Palit 8600 GT Regular (128bit) DDR3 pcie ---- php 3050
256mb Palit 8600 GT Sonic (128bit) DDR3 pcie ---- php3450
1gb (1024mb) Palit 8600 GT Super+ (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php3560
-they are arranged according to price, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO PERFORMANCE/SPEED.

Here is the real list from slowest to fastest:
1gb Palit 8500 GT Super+ (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php2840
512mb Palit 8600 GT Super (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php2810
1gb (1024mb) Palit 8600 GT Super+ (128bit) DDR2 pcie ---- php3560
256mb Palit 8600 GT Regular (128bit) DDR3 pcie ---- php 3050
256mb Palit 8600 GT Sonic (128bit) DDR3 pcie ---- php3450

1. See how the most expensive card with 1Gb is not the fastest?
2. See how the 8600GT with 512mb DDR2 is slower than it's 256mb gDDR3 counterpart?

if you want to learn more about graphic cards / video cards performance, speed, ranking and benchmark, (click here)

Maximum amount of memory for Video Cards

2009-03-28T16:35:00.001+08:00

What is the maximum amount of memory for my Video Card without wasting money?

Since there are a lot of new versions of cards coming out with varying amounts of memory, many of which make it more confusing for the consumer which one is the faster and better buy, I have come up with a simple guide on what is the optimal amount of RAM a particular GPU can fully utilize. This is so that buyers may become aware of products that offer tons of RAM, but in reality are not really that much faster with a similar GPU with half the RAM.

THIS IS APPLICABLE TO MOST, BUT NOT ALL SITUATIONS.

These are cards currently being sold in the market (03/12/09)
Video Cards Optimized for NO MORE THAN 256mb RAM
- 7300GT
- 7600GT
- 8500GT
- 8600GT
- 9400GT
- 9500GT
- HD 2600XT (gDDR4)
- HD 3450

Video Cards Optimized for NO MORE THAN 512mb RAM
- 8600GTS
- 9600GT
- 9600GSO (768mb)
- 8800GT
- 9800GT
- HD 3650
- HD 2900XT
- HD 3850
- HD 3870 (gDDR4)
- HD 4670
- HD 4830
- HD 4850

Video Cards Optimized for NO MORE THAN 1GB RAM
- 8800GTS (G92)
- 9800GTX/9800GTX+
- 9800GX2
- 3870X2
- HD4870
- GTS 240
- GTS 250
- GTX260
- GTX280

Video Cards Optimized for MORE THAN 1GB RAM
- HD4870 X2 1/2/4Gb Versions
- HD4850 X2 2gb
- GTX260 Core216
- GTX 285
- GTX 295

BEST BUYS (BBU)

LOWEND
X1550Pro AGP
9500GT 256mb gDDR3 (3k)
HD4650 512mb gDDR3(3k)

LOWER MIDRANGE
HD3650 512mb DDR2 (4k) AGP
HD4670 512 (4k)
HD4830 512 (6k)
9600GT 512mb gDDR3 (4k)
9800GT 512mb gDDR3 (5k) (Formerly 8800GT) (Soon to be GTS 240)

UPPER MIDRANGE
HD3850 (6k)AGP
HD4850 512mb (7.5k)
9600GT SLI (8k)
9800GT SLI (10k)

HIGHEND/Enthusiast
HD4850 512mb CrossFire (15-18k)
HD4870 512mb gDDR5 (11-12k)
HD4870 1gb gDDR5 (12-13k)
HD4850X2 1/2gb (13-16k)
GTX 260 Core 216 (13.8k)
GTX 285 (17k)
GTX295 (24k)

PCI slot:

AGP slot:

PCI-E slot:

For AGP, it is getting harder and harder to find good value cards as this is soon becoming a legacy interface. Good luck in finding Geforce 8 Series or ATI HD cards for AGP. The most abundant offerings are the geforce 7s. The 7300gt ddr2 is just as fast as the 6600gt, sometimes faster, but the 7300 is cheaper. The 7600gs is just a bit slower than the older 6800gt so any of the two is fine HOWEVER, ATI seems to have captured the highend AGP market with the X1650XT and the X1950Pro. Nvidia only has the older 7800GS and the rare 7600GT to compete with it. Both of which are like needles to be found in this massive haystack market. There is an HD3850 for AGP systems... good luck finding that as well. What's more, AGP cards offer a high premium since demand is low. So you get much much less performance for your money. Better skip the AGP upgrade and save up for a PCI-E system.

If you're still using PCI interface, chances are your processor is old as well.. skip the video card upgrade for there are no good ones and buy a new processor and mobo :) some onboard videos on mobos offer decent (bare minimum) gaming performance like ATI's HD3200 chipset, Intel's GMA X4500 (offering DX10) or nVidia's Geforce 9200/9300. Avoid Intel GMA/Extreme Graphics/S3 etc if you plan to play games using onboard video. Onboard video is temporary fix only until one gets enough money to buy a more decent solution. For a temporary solution, ATI currently offers the fastest onboard graphics with its HD3200/3400 780/790 chipsets. But don't expect high quality gaming with those..

if you want to learn more about graphic cards / video cards performance, speed, ranking and benchmark, (click here)

CONTACT

2009-03-28T16:32:00.014+08:00

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SERVICES

2009-03-28T16:32:00.005+08:00

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about latest technology, software and games.

ABOUT

2009-03-28T16:30:00.003+08:00

WELCOME to TechnoMediaWorx!
We came up with this site to share information
that could satisfy your needs when it comes to
TECHNOlogy, multiMEDIA software / application and WORX or news related to it.
If you have something in mind to add on a topic, feel free to post a comment...enjoy.