Ultra Products X-Finity 600W Power Supply
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
“Here is the biggest feature (besides the sweet 600W of power) that this PSU has; the cables. The X-Finity isn’t a modular PSU but it does offer unique flat cables instead of round cables. This allows you to run them places where you couldn’t with normal cables like under the mobo. One great advantage to running flat cables is you are able to make 90 degree turns by simply folding it over Origami style. Ultra claims a 30% increase in airflow due to the flat cables.”
Perfect Dark Zero Review (Xbox 360)
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
At last year’s E3 Expo, Perfect Dark Zero for the 360 was being touted as the early “heir apparant” to the HALO mantle. Which made a certain amount of sense, since the Master Chief was not expected to be seen in the first year of the 360 and Microsoft Studios had a certain amount of expectations to fullfill. I mean, what would an Xbox launch be without a futuristic first person shooter with an enigmatic main character? Sorry Quake 4, but I’d rather see a hot chick shooting bad guys then yer ugly butt slogging through an alien war.
Since this is a prequel, you do get to learn how Joanna became the woman she eventually becomes. Working with her hardass ex-cop/ex-Marine Father, Jack Dark and the mysterious intel agent Chandra, Joanna has her hands full as the newest member of Dark Bail Bonds. A sort of Private Investigation cum trouble shooting outfit that takes a lot of jobs that the police won’t even go near. Well, I can tell you that the single player game leads Joanna and her team through a rather dangerous conspiracy that (not to ruin anything for you) eventually may have the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Does Perfect Dark Zero get a Perfect Score?
Velleman K8020 high-end tube preamplifier
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Preamplifiers come in all shapes and sizes, most feature transistors or integrated circuits, a few of them however use vacuum tubes. We take a closer look at Velleman’s K8020 tube preamplifier kit and detail how to extract every last bit of performance from it.
Perfect Dark Zero Puts the ‘Ass’ in Assassin
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
At last year’s E3 Expo, Perfect Dark Zero for the 360 was being touted as the early “heir apparant” to the HALO mantle. Which made a certain amount of sense, since the Master Chief was not expected to be seen in the first year of the 360 and Microsoft Studios had a certain amount of expectations to fullfill. I mean, what would an Xbox launch be without a futuristic first person shooter with an enigmatic main character? Sorry Quake 4, but I’d rather see a hot chick shooting bad guys then yer ugly butt slogging through an alien war.
Since this is a prequel, you do get to learn how Joanna became the woman she eventually becomes. Working with her hardass ex-cop/ex-Marine Father, Jack Dark and the mysterious intel agent Chandra, Joanna has her hands full as the newest member of Dark Bail Bonds. A sort of Private Investigation cum trouble shooting outfit that takes a lot of jobs that the police won’t even go near. Well, I can tell you that the single player game leads Joanna and her team through a rather dangerous conspiracy that (not to ruin anything for you) eventually may have the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Scosche’s BlueLife: The FM Transmitter Killer
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Quote: Using Bluetooth technology, Scosche has revolutionized iPod integration with both your car and home stereo systems. Scosche’s BlueLife System™ allows your iPod to move wirelessly from your home to your car.
Intel’s New Vision: Finesse Over Brute Force
OCModshop :: Monday, February 27, 2006
“Only a few years ago Intel’s roadmap was aimed at failure. Many comments regarding Intel’s ill-witted trajectory were made by analysts, investors, consumers, as well as traditional and online press publications. Intel took the backlash, but by the Fall of 2004 Intel had announced plans for a complete roadmap change, perhaps the most profound roadmap change in the last decade from the chip giant, that would allow it to better compete with other processor manufacturers – namely Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).”
Icemat 2nd Edition Gaming mouse mat
OCModshop :: Monday, February 27, 2006
“The originally Icemat was hailed the world over my gamers and enthusiasts for its sleek looks, gaming prowess, and the all important part of aiding the experienced gamer in making fragging those “noobs” just that bit easier. Today I have with me the newer, sleeker and sexier looking Icemat 2nd Edition, let’s see how it does when put through its paces.”
How Does 95th Percentile Billing Work?
Friday, February 24, 2006
Many web businesses are hosted through a datacenter, and there are many pricing plans depending on your bandwidth needs. If your site is heavily text based without a lot of images and steady traffic, then a flat rate might be best for you . If you are like most web businesses, then you need dynamic bandwidth that can handle spikes, but don’t want to overpay for unused traffic. Much like cell phone plans, you don’t want to overpay for minutes you’re not using but don’t want to guess too short and have to pay overage charges. A 95th percentile pricing schedule can dynamically bill you based on your bandwidth needs, but is a little complicated to follow.
95th Percentile is a method of measuring bandwidth that bases your bill on peak utilization. Your bandwidth is measured from the switch or router and recorded in a log file. At the end of the month, your usage statistics are sorted, and the top 5% (approximately 36 hours of a 30-day billing cycle) of data is thrown away, and that next measurement becomes your ‘billable utilization’ for the month. Usually only a few services are billed using 95th percentile pricing: Dedicated T1 and Colocated servers. DSL and Wireless customers are usually billed on the total bandwidth used over the entire billing period.
Understand Bandwidth Billing here
How Does 95th Percentile Billing Work?
OCmodshop :: Friday, February 24, 2006
Many web businesses are hosted through a datacenter, and there are many pricing plans depending on your bandwidth needs. If your site is heavily text based without a lot of images and steady traffic, then a flat rate might be best for you . If you are like most web businesses, then you need dynamic bandwidth that can handle spikes, but don’t want to overpay for unused traffic. Much like cell phone plans, you don’t want to overpay for minutes you’re not using but don’t want to guess too short and have to pay overage charges. A 95th percentile pricing schedule can dynamically bill you based on your bandwidth needs, but is a little complicated to follow.
95th Percentile is a method of measuring bandwidth that bases your bill on peak utilization. Your bandwidth is measured from the switch or router and recorded in a log file. At the end of the month, your usage statistics are sorted, and the top 5% (approximately 36 hours of a 30-day billing cycle) of data is thrown away, and that next measurement becomes your ‘billable utilization’ for the month. Usually only a few services are billed using 95th percentile pricing: Dedicated T1 and Colocated servers. DSL and Wireless customers are usually billed on the total bandwidth used over the entire billing period.
Understand Bandwidth Billing here
ButtKicker promises to shake your money-maker
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
PC games are becoming more advanced these days, implementing better visuals and audio for a complete entertainment experience. Games are starting to make their way into the living room and the family home theater, as many PC games and consoles feature Dolby Digital and other sound positioning technologies. Many games and DVD movies feature Low Frequency Effects (the low rumble you hear in an IMAX movie) to complete the “theater at home” experience, but mostly go unheard in the average home theater and gaming setup. Home theater and gaming enthusiasts will both be pleased with this great new product from The Guitammer Company Inc: The ButtKicker Gamer. It ties inline with your sound system to finally allow you to “feel” the bass with similar technology used in professional movie theaters, and aims to make the PC gaming and multimedia experience that much better.
The ButtKicker is a small, linear motor, which reacts to an audio signal sent by an amplifier. It is similar to a loudspeaker, but instead of moving a cone, and transferring sound waves through the air, it attaches to seats and floors, and sends low frequency sound directly into the listener’s body. The effect is amazing.
Get your Butt Kicked here
Ultra Products Aluminus ATX Case
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
“When we put our hard earned money down for any purchase it is nice when we get what we pay for, much less getting something with all the bells and whistles. So the key word for this review is definitely options. The Aluminus ATX Full-Tower Case seems to have thought of everything that would make building your own computer easier. While also throwing in the practical, and functional components that will make it look like a professional did the work.”
ButtKicker promises to shake your money-maker
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The ButtKicker is a small, linear motor, which reacts to an audio signal sent by an amplifier. It is similar to a loudspeaker, but instead of moving a cone, and transferring sound waves through the air, it attaches to seats and floors, and sends low frequency sound directly into the listener’s body. The effect is amazing.
World Exclusive: The TJS0005 Heatpipe Chipset Cooler from JingTing Review
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Quote: “ Out of the blue we received a small box containing a new kind of chipset cooler. The company that send it to us goes by the name of “JingTing”. I must say I have never heard of them before, but when I took a peek at the content in the box it looked very impressive. If you have a noisy chipset cooler you might want to check out this cooler. ”
Antec Vcool
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
“Antec say they are the #1 brand in computer cooling, but graphics card cooling seems to be a new branch for the huge Antec company. Does their first attempt meet the mark?”
Low-end PC Buying Guide
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Build your budget box right. Creating a cost-effective PC is more than just assembling from the cheapest parts you can find. It is an important balance of quality, features and cost. For this reason, you will quickly discover that getting the most for your money becomes a major headache. Fortunately, this guide serves as a cheat sheet for choosing the most appropriate equipment and a reference for real-world street prices.
The goals for this article were based on four major criteria: budget-friendliness, adequate performance, upgradeability and useful features. The intended use for such a system is primarily office work, web surfing, common multimedia and modest creative content creation.
Corepad’s Eyepad
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
“At 18 years old I am probably reaching the peak of my gaming career. I have the previous experience of many games to help me make decisions in new ones. I have good reflexes that will probably only deteriorate over time. I am at the age where money is not so hard to come by, so my gaming equipment is generally top notch. However recently something has seemed to be missing. I realized what that was when trying out this fine piece of gaming equipment from CorePad (kindly supplied to us by Everglide.co.uk), a true gamers mouse mat”
Final Fantasy 12 Preview
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The mysterious cloud surrounding Final Fantasy XII is finally beginning to lift. With several press releases regarding the plot and characters, as well as a short playable demo included in Dragon Quest VIII, fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the next game in this popular series. Between wiping the drool off my chin and viciously fighting off Sleipnirs, I was able to gather some information about this juicy upcoming game.
From the looks of it, FF12 seems extremely promising for both loyal fans of the series and any newcomers. Square Enix continues to push the limits of graphics and sound, even in this bite-sized demo. I found that the battles are a little more difficult than before, however they shouldn’t be difficult enough to discourage the Final Fantasy rookie. The story is told through cut scenes, where the graphics are second to none. Although the demo doesn’t hint much at the storyline, as always it looks to be dramatic and gut-wrenching.
Final Fantasy 12 Preview
Monday, February 20, 2006
he mysterious cloud surrounding Final Fantasy XII is finally beginning to lift. With several press releases regarding the plot and characters, as well as a short playable demo included in Dragon Quest VIII, fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the next game in this popular series. Between wiping the drool off my chin and viciously fighting off Sleipnirs, I was able to gather some information about this juicy upcoming game.
From the looks of it, FF12 seems extremely promising for both loyal fans of the series and any newcomers. Square Enix continues to push the limits of graphics and sound, even in this bite-sized demo. I found that the battles are a little more difficult than before, however they shouldn’t be difficult enough to discourage the Final Fantasy rookie. The story is told through cut scenes, where the graphics are second to none. Although the demo doesn’t hint much at the storyline, as always it looks to be dramatic and gut-wrenching.
News: Aluminum Spire Mod
OCModshop :: Saturday, February 18, 2006
“I decided to turn the old plans vertical and mod my girlfriends PC, because her computer was noisy and ugly (some old compaq case). Because of the comments I have received from my friends, I have to state that this case has nothing to do with Xbox360. I Designed my case before I ever saw the xbox.”
LCD Image “Screen Burn” on Dell 2005FPW
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 16, 2006
WidescreenGamer.com is discussing something that is becoming a nuissance for owners of the popular Dell 2005FPW widescreen monitor: Image ‘Screen Burn’ after prolonged periods of use.
It’s actually not really ‘screen burn’ at all, and you’ll be relieved once you read what we have to say about this phenomenon.
SteelPad 5L Mouse Surface review @ CyberwizardPit
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 16, 2006
“Established gaming manufacturer Steel Series have been manufacturing gaming equipment for quite some time now, from mousepads to headphones and even their own clothing line, releasing new items from time to time – and Steel Series are at it again with their latest product, the SteelPad 5L Mouse Surface. A cloth-plastic hybrid, is the 5L just a giant napkin, or a full-fledged, professional-grade mousepad? CyberwizardPit puts the new Steelpad 5L to the test in this article, and whether or not it stands its own ground in today’s competitive market of pro-gaming surfaces.”
Cooler Master NanoFusion Thermal Compound
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 16, 2006
We have a new, quick review up on an outstanding thermal transfer paste from Cooler Master named NanoFusion. This stuff managed to perform better than Arctic Silver.
Mad Dog Multimedia 37″ UV S-ATA cable Review
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
S-ATA’s small transfer cable has caught the attention of modders because they are more flexible and allow users to easily route the cable throughout their cases. Up until recently there really weren’t a lot of modded SATA cables, and we were stuck with the standard red or black cables that came with our motherboards. These OEM SATA cables are generally very short, at around 15 inches, which prevents a lot of clever cable routing even in smaller cases. Serial ATA cables are begging to be routed, as they are so thin they can easily fit behind case components and can be tucked away without being seen, leaving one’s case looking so much neater.
Mad Dog Multimedia has answered the modder’s pleas for a tricked-out SATA cable. These cables feature the standard speeds for SATA-2 as well as some additional enhancements. These cables are UV reactive and are slightly more responsive than an OEM cable. Mad Dog Multimedia has also implemented a locking mechanism in the connector head to prevent accidental unplugging. They come in 3 different colors (blue, green, and clear), which provides more than just a custom look: you can use a set of colors to visually designate particular drives or clusters of drives.
Pet the Mad Dog here
Mad Dog Multimedia 37″ UV S-ATA cable Review
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
S-ATA’s small transfer cable has caught the attention of modders because they are more flexible and allow users to easily route the cable throughout their cases. Up until recently there really weren’t a lot of modded SATA cables, and we were stuck with the standard red or black cables that came with our motherboards. These OEM SATA cables are generally very short, at around 15 inches, which prevents a lot of clever cable routing even in smaller cases. Serial ATA cables are begging to be routed, as they are so thin they can easily fit behind case components and can be tucked away without being seen, leaving one’s case looking so much neater.
Mad Dog Multimedia has answered the modder’s pleas for a tricked-out SATA cable. These cables feature the standard speeds for SATA-2 as well as some additional enhancements. These cables are UV reactive and are slightly more responsive than an OEM cable. Mad Dog Multimedia has also implemented a locking mechanism in the connector head to prevent accidental unplugging. They come in 3 different colors (blue, green, and clear), which provides more than just a custom look: you can use a set of colors to visually designate particular drives or clusters of drives.
Corsair Flash Voyager 1GB USB 2.0 Drive
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
“The drive is good looking enough and completely covered in a rubber that looks and feels like neoprene. That would explain it’s water-resistant attribute. The drive is 2 7/8 inches long and 7/8 of an inch wide (7.3 cm L x 2.22 cm W) which makes in a little smaller than a disposable lighter and is flat enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. The only drawback with the black rubber coating is that it allows lint and other sundry objects to stick to it so when you pull it out of your pocket it can look kind of fuzzy.”
Hard Drive Cooler – The Silent Savior
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
“As a hardware reviewer, many pieces of equipment have passed through my hands. I have sampled coolers for almost every place in my current rig. Radiator, CPU, RAM, graphics card, chipset, and case fans. However I have never had the chance to review a hard drive cooler, well thanks to CooLink, now is my chance.”
i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Headphone Review
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Bluetake i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Headphone has set the bar for wireless stereo headphones. Because of its comfort, superb sound quality and the simple fact that it allows you to listen to stereo music while being able to move about freely, we feel the i-PHONO mini is a definite hit.
New XSR Review
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
“Although you may not have heard of Hiper, over the past few years they have produced some of the finest power supplies available to the mainstream user and enthusiast alike. However, their new TypeR range of PSUs is scheduled to blow competitors out of the water; with its huge 580W power output, and flashy looks. The particular model I will be reviewing is the Modular TypeR 580W model. TypeR, a name synonymous with speed and power. Let’s see if Hiper’s flashy boy racer can stand up to this prestigious name.”
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AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU
OCModshop :: Monday, February 13, 2006
“Since these days the Athlon 64 3200+ isn’t a just released CPU and AMD seems to have once again forgotten to send me my twenty page PR folder with the pretty graphs and a listing of all the new architectural innovations most sites get , I figured I would focus this review on the areas that I thought most of the readers–as well as myself–would be interested in: price, performance, overclocking, and temperatures.”
News: Act-On AMD 0520 – MicMouse Review at nV News
OCModshop :: Monday, February 13, 2006
The Act-On AMD 0520 – MicMouse is a one of a kind mouse as it combines the everyday mouse and desktop microphone into one product. The MicMouse is great for Internet telephone conversations or everyday voice recording.
Cooler Master Real Power 550W PSU
OCModshop :: Monday, February 13, 2006
“While Cooler Master might not have always been the best, they have always been in the top 5. Not once have they backed down from a faulty product. One step back for Cooler Master makes them take 2 steps forward. Heaven forbid if they take a step forward, can we say Juggernaut? Cooler Master had great success with the Real Power 450 ACLX PSU, and here they are trying to continue that success with the Real Power RS-550-ACLY PSU and looking to take those extra 2 steps forward once again.”
America’s Army Tweak Guide
OCModshop :: Monday, February 13, 2006
I’ve had the opportunity to go through and update my America’s Army Tweak Guide for the new Version 2.6 release. For the most part there are no major changes, since Version 2.6 is almost identical to Version 2.5 in almost every respect. The main changes are the new Server Browser options and PBSetup utility, both covered on Page 5 of the guide. If you’re having problems with the game, or haven’t read the guide before, or are new to America’s Army I suggest you read through it thoroughly for all the details of how to setup, optimize and play this great game.
Blu-Ray and DVD comparision
OCModshop :: Monday, February 13, 2006
Description: An article that compares the two new storage devices – DVD and Blu-ray, and compares both the storage systems used as well as the read speeds between the two.
aquacomputer Multiswitch Review
OCModshop :: Friday, February 10, 2006
Quote: “Of aquacomputer-berlin we received an extremely innovative product which be interesting for electronics, modder and Watercooling Friends. The multiswitch. ”
SanDisk Cruzer Mini USB 1Gb Flash Drive
OCModshop :: Friday, February 10, 2006
Snippet: “With the phenomenal acceptance of USB (by both users and manufacturers alike), a new portable data storage medium has become all the rage. Flash drives, jump drives, intelligent sticks, call them whatever you like – they’re here to stay. Sandisk is a prominent maker of such USB drives – including a very popular series, the SanDisk Cruzer Mini 1Gb.”
64-Bit FAQ
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Over the last year, CPUs extending the IA-32 instruction set to 64 bits have hit the streets. There are two incarnations of it, AMD’s AMD64 and Intel’s EM64T. While very similar, there are in fact a few differences between the two. Not huge differences, but they do exist. First let’s discuss what CPUs have what capabilities. Here’s a brief list:
For the crib sheet to that, 64 bit Integer calculations are one of the things that make 64 bit CPUs so great – they can make 64 bit calculations in hardware rather than emulating it with a bunch of 32 bit calculations. The address space is the logical address space the CPU can handle. The AMD64 and EM64T CPUs do not have a full 64 bits of address space, as they won’t need it for a while. They use 64 bit addresses and truncate them internally to save on die space.
BlueTake BT510 Mouse and BT007Si Dongle
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
Placing the BT510 next to a MX700 shows the relative size of this mouse. Underneath there is an on/off switch for transportation, the connect button and the 800 dpi optical sensor. It is on the small side and very light even with the batteries installed.”
Corsair Flash Voyager 128MB USB Drive Review at HardwareXL
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
“There are a lot of portable storage devices, but not all of them are practical. Most USB drives are made of hard plastic or have a shiny coating which wears of after using the drive for a while. The people at Corsair found a good solution to prevent the USB stick from getting easily damaged. They just packed the flash memory in a rubber casing. Finally a product I can test indoors as well as outdoors. I will be dropping the Flash Voyager Memory Drive from a 14 story building, wanna know more? Read on.”
64-Bit FAQ
OCmodshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
Over the last year, CPUs extending the IA-32 instruction set to 64 bits have hit the streets. There are two incarnations of it, AMD’s AMD64 and Intel’s EM64T. While very similar, there are in fact a few differences between the two. Not huge differences, but they do exist. First let’s discuss what CPUs have what capabilities. Here’s a brief list:
For the crib sheet to that, 64 bit Integer calculations are one of the things that make 64 bit CPUs so great – they can make 64 bit calculations in hardware rather than emulating it with a bunch of 32 bit calculations. The address space is the logical address space the CPU can handle. The AMD64 and EM64T CPUs do not have a full 64 bits of address space, as they won’t need it for a while. They use 64 bit addresses and truncate them internally to save on die space.
Seasonic S12-600 (600W) PSU Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
Timeline of Major GPU Announcements (2001 – 2006)
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
Hi guys, just a little timeline of major GPU technology announcements from ATI & NVIDIA. We’ve added this to our previous and popular article on the history of desktop 3D graphics (circa 1995 ~ 2001). As these more modern events are well documented across the Web, we have included a more lighthearted and slightly veiled narrative.
Thermalright V1 Ultra VGA Cooler Review
OCModshop :: Thursday, February 09, 2006
“Finally, after waiting many years, Thermalright has entered the video card cooling market. The long time maker of quality CPU heat sinks has released the V1 Ultra, a cooler for the latest and greatest video cards from both ATI and NVIDIA. The V1 Ultra is similar to the SI-120 CPU heatsink in terms of design and technology, utilizing aluminum/copper construction and heat pipes. In this review we will examine Thermalright’s new video card cooler and see if its performance level can match that of the famous Thermalright CPU coolers.”
Call of Duty 2 Review
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
The quality of the first-person shooter genre outside of the PC platform has been debated by countless fanboys in numerous forums on infinite parallel Internets. However, it is safe to say that yes, there have been some good shooters on consoles. It is my belief that since the Goldeneye/Perfect Dark era of the Nintendo64, the Xbox has had the most success in delivering quality first person shooters to console owners. Also available for the PC, Call of Duty 2 does its best to fill the Halo-shaped hole in the 360 lineup and performs admirably although it is hardly revolutionary.
As before, the game divides its single player campaign among three soldiers of different nationalities—Russian, British, and American—which allows it to tackle different fronts of the global conflict. You don’t strongly identify with the characters you play, but Call of Duty 2 isn’t worried about plot—the important thing is that World War II is on and there are Nazis that need slaying.
Read how COD2 refines the WWII genre
Call of Duty 2 Review
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, February 08, 2006
The quality of the first-person shooter genre outside of the PC platform has been debated by countless fanboys in numerous forums on infinite parallel Internets. However, it is safe to say that yes, there have been some good shooters on consoles. It is my belief that since the Goldeneye/Perfect Dark era of the Nintendo64, the Xbox has had the most success in delivering quality first person shooters to console owners. Also available for the PC, Call of Duty 2 does its best to fill the Halo-shaped hole in the 360 lineup and performs admirably although it is hardly revolutionary.
As before, the game divides its single player campaign among three soldiers of different nationalities—Russian, British, and American—which allows it to tackle different fronts of the global conflict. You don’t strongly identify with the characters you play, but Call of Duty 2 isn’t worried about plot—the important thing is that World War II is on and there are Nazis that need slaying.
Read how COD2 refines the WWII genre
Athena Power SNT-2132B2 External HDD Enclosure
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
In today’s world, people need to carry their data with them wherever they go. Memory sticks and USB drives are fine for small files, but transporting large amounts of data from work to home is impractical. An external portable hard drive can be just the thing to lug alot of data between home and the office, and can also be used as expanded storage for laptop users. Using an external hard drive enclosure makes it possible to transform a normal 3.5″ internal hard drive into a portable data expansion. These can be used on any computer with USB. Athena Power’s SNT-2312B2 external 3.5″ enclosure hopes to wrap its aluminum arms around your hard drive’s bits and bytes for your data expansion needs.
The enclosure has a silver aluminum body that has been textured to shimmer more light, with smoked acrylic end caps. The actylic looks like it can easily crack or scratch, but is actually pretty rugged. There are 4 rubber pads on the bottom of the enclosure for stability. There are no rubber pads for the sides, so this drive is intended to be laid flat on your desk. There are no cutouts or holes to dissipate heat, and there’s no fan to be found, either. The rear of the enclosure houses the power switch and connector, and a USB 2.0 port. There are also two screws here that secure the drive tray within the enclosure.
feel the embrace of Athena here
Athena Power SNT-2132B2 External HDD Enclosure
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, February 07, 2006
In today’s world, people need to carry their data with them wherever they go. Memory sticks and USB drives are fine for small files, but transporting large amounts of data from work to home is impractical. An external portable hard drive can be just the thing to lug alot of data between home and the office, and can also be used as expanded storage for laptop users. Using an external hard drive enclosure makes it possible to transform a normal 3.5″ internal hard drive into a portable data expansion. These can be used on any computer with USB. Athena Power’s SNT-2312B2 external 3.5″ enclosure hopes to wrap its aluminum arms around your hard drive’s bits and bytes for your data expansion needs.
The enclosure has a silver aluminum body that has been textured to shimmer more light, with smoked acrylic end caps. The actylic looks like it can easily crack or scratch, but is actually pretty rugged. There are 4 rubber pads on the bottom of the enclosure for stability. There are no rubber pads for the sides, so this drive is intended to be laid flat on your desk. There are no cutouts or holes to dissipate heat, and there’s no fan to be found, either. The rear of the enclosure houses the power switch and connector, and a USB 2.0 port. There are also two screws here that secure the drive tray within the enclosure.
feel the embrace of Athena here
Day of Defeat: Source Free This Weekend
OCModshop :: Tuesday, February 07, 2006
This weekend Valve is inviting everyone to try Day of Defeat: Source for free via Steam. Visit Steampowered.com to pre-load the game and be set to play at 12:00 pm PST on Friday, when the Free Weekend begins. Join the ranks as Axis or Allies troops located in Western Europe during the height of the war in 1944. For more information, visit www.steampowered.com.
AplusCase Dacapo Review
OCModshop :: Monday, February 06, 2006
Quote: “The meaning of the word “Dacapo” is to be found in the music-scene and means an instruction from the front to begin the music piece in a certain place. That applies also to that the Technic3D editorship available silver Case from the house AplusCase very well”
New XSR Review
OCModshop :: Sunday, February 05, 2006
“Over the last few years, the name Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel has become synonymous with gaming prowess. In the same way ABIT’s line of motherboards under the same name have themselves become synonymous with being the powerhouses of gamers computers the world over. Today I have managed to get my mitts on the Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SLI, lets see how well it lives up to its reputation.”
A news post on your site would be very much appreciated. We would also love you to add us to your news list, so if you are interested in us posting your news on our site, then please send all news to the email below! If you like our site and would like to swap links and become a site affiliate then please email us as well.
Silverstone Strider ST56F PSU Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Sunday, February 05, 2006
Quote: “The available “smaller brother” from the ST60F was allowed with his 560 Watts still playing with each SLI/CF – system become finished”
Cooler Master Susurro CPU Cooler
OCModshop :: Friday, February 03, 2006
“No need for a Rocket Science degree to install the Susurro. It is a simple task with the standard motherboard bracket in place. Just a matter of clipping it in down, and locking the bracket. The clearance on the heatsink was only tight in one location, and that was the first memory slot. It just took some creative maneuvering, and it worked fine.”
How Digital Technology Is Changing The Face Of Music
OCModshop :: Friday, February 03, 2006
“Look at how this have evolved. In the past we had to buy our music in a fixed format – normally 10 to 14 songs on a CD, LP, cassette, or 8 track (for those who remember what those were). But with the advent of the always connected home computer, services have emerged that allows us to pick and choose, like internet radio. There are so many ways digital technology has changed the way we consume music. Let’s look at how this happen and where it’s heading.”
OCZ Gold PC3700EB Review
OCModshop :: Friday, February 03, 2006
“OCZ pc3700EB has gone up in the halls of fame for classic overclocking ram due to the outstanding performance it gave to users back in it’s prime in 2004. Today, a little less than 2 years later, we clean the dust off the trophies as we look at a 2x512mb kit of EB”
Setting up a Backup Server
OCModshop :: Friday, February 03, 2006
Quote: “/If you don’t backup your data, you have a disaster waiting to happen! This article will show you how to setup a backup server./”
Hello Halo 3!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
An industry insider revealed today that Halo 3 is finished and is at the mastering plant, awaiting the green light. The final artwork has been finished for the disk, booklets and box art.
It is likely that Bungie will try to build the hype for Halo 3, adding to the frenzy right before its release. Some of the rumored features of Halo 3 include the following:
read what we know about Halo 3!
Intel announces Pentium 4 stepping changes
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
The 661 is a 3.6GHz MPU, the 651 a 3.4GHz chip, the 641 is a 3.2GHz microprocessor, while the 631 is a 3GHz CPU. These are Cedar Mill cores. They supersede the 6×0 series of CPUs.
Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT @ VelocityReviews.com
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Quote: “Ready for overclocking? or is your ram holding your overclocking ability? Well this is going to make you drool. *Drools on keyboard*”
Hello Halo 3!
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
It is likely that Bungie will try to build the hype for Halo 3, adding to the frenzy right before its release. Some of the rumored features of Halo 3 include the following:
read what we know about Halo 3!
Juice – PC Power Supply Load Calculator
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Fu3lman has released a new application which is an advanced PC wattage calculator for determining the power usage of your system. (This is an expanded power calculator that goes beyond what his previously released Overclockulator could do and is a totally rewritten application.)
Noctua NH-U9 and NH-U12 CPU Coolers
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
“The biggest drawback to the NH-U12 is the size and you have to really ensure that you have clearance for your RAM, video card, and case door before you consider buying one. But you know what? Even if you don’t have the room for the big boy, you will have room for the NH-U9 which also performed better than any heatsink I had tested before. Noctua not only took the performance crown with a single cooler, they did it with both of their very first products.”
Thermaltake Hardcano 14 Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Quote: “With the Thermaltake Hardcano 14 comes a further HDD-Cooling into the trade. Technic3D looked at itself it more exactly”
Camera Phone VS Digital Camera
OCModshop :: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Cell phones with cameras are everywhere nowadays. It really makes us think whether we now have a mobile phone with camera or a camera with telephone capability. In this article, we’ll take a look at camera cell phones and see who they stack up against today’s digital cameras.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted Review (Xbox 360)
Monday, January 30, 2006
If waking up to the smell of burnt rubber is your idea of a perfect day, then Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the game for you. This game is classic arcade-racing fun, in addition to many car customization and upgrade options, an interesting (although un-stimulating) career path, and high speed escapes from the cops.
The plot for this game is simple: to become the biggest bad-ass in the city. Basically this means three things: raising the price on your head by running from the cops and demolishing federal and public property, climbing up the blacklist by systematically beating other opponents, and winning drag and other kind of races against AI opponents.
You have the Need? (for speed)
Backup4all Version 2.3.4, build 761
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
Quote – When I got Softland’s BackU4all I was a sceptic. This a back up utility, but I back up anyway? Now the problem for me is, I am very used to backing things up. I run websites, I have music, I beta test and format all the time. So I back up possibly twice a month, onto DVD, and I cross files, so one back up will have some of anothers files backed up! Simple… I wish.
Tomb Raider Legend Preview @ OCmodshop
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
Crystal Dynamics has been working on the highly anticipated Tomb Raider Legend for the Xbox 360 and other platforms. They have created a totally new graphics system to exploit the power available on the Xbox 360, with support for real-time per pixel lighting, shadows and normal-mapping. These graphical enhancements make the game very photo-realistic and lifelike: environments feel more organic and detailed, and are even part of the gameplay as many puzzles are physics-based. In addition to Lara’s new photo-realistic body and hair, she has intricately animated expressions and fluid movement. Alot of attention has been paid to her hair, as it sways and reacts to her movements.
OCmodshop’s preview of Tom Raider: Legend provides a glimpse of the gaming goddess in all her pixellated glory. The new model for Lara features more polygons, realistic skin and hair, and even facial expressions. Lara’s motion is more fluid and acrobatic. The environement is also highly detailed with bump maps, per-pixel shading and other next-gen rendering techniques. This video also shows how Lara has evolved, while gameplay has retained much of the puzzle-driven platforming that made the previous games instant hits.
Digital Zoom Versus Optical Zoom
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
The digital camera is but a technological advancement of the conventional analog camera. And thus every component of the analog camera must have been upgraded or changed to bring in some improvisations. This discussion is an effort to unravel alteration and make one comparison between what was and what is! This discussion is thereby focused upon a very critical component of a camera (analog as well as digital), the zoom!
Icemat Siberia USB Combo Headset @ VelocityReviews.com
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
Quote: “A relatively new entry into the PC audio scene, Icemat brings over its gaming know-how into the Siberia Headsets, and over to the professional gamer.”
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox 360) Review @ OCmodshop
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
If waking up to the smell of burnt rubber is your idea of a perfect day, then Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the game for you. This game is classic arcade-racing fun, in addition to many car customization and upgrade options, an interesting (although un-stimulating) career path, and high speed escapes from the cops.
The plot for this game is simple: to become the biggest bad-ass in the city. Basically this means three things: raising the price on your head by running from the cops and demolishing federal and public property, climbing up the blacklist by systematically beating other opponents, and winning drag and other kind of races against AI opponents.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted Review (Xbox 360)
OCmodshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
The plot for this game is simple: to become the biggest bad-ass in the city. Basically this means three things: raising the price on your head by running from the cops and demolishing federal and public property, climbing up the blacklist by systematically beating other opponents, and winning drag and other kind of races against AI opponents.
You have the Need? (for speed)
Thermalright V1-Ultra
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
Madbox PC has a review of the Thermalright V1-Ultra heatsink
Thermaltake Muse eSATA
OCModshop :: Monday, January 30, 2006
Quote: “Are you in the need for an External SATA HDD Enclosure? Do you also fancy some bling bling? check out the new Thermaltake Muse eSATA.”
Tomb Raider Legend Preview for the Xbox 360
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Crystal Dynamics has been working on the highly anticipated Tomb Raider Legend for the Xbox 360 and other platforms. They have created a totally new graphics system to exploit the power available on the Xbox 360, with support for real-time per pixel lighting, shadows and normal-mapping. These graphical enhancements make the game very photo-realistic and lifelike: environments feel more organic and detailed, and are even part of the gameplay as many puzzles are physics-based. In addition to Lara’s new photo-realistic body and hair, she has intricately animated expressions and fluid movement. Alot of attention has been paid to her hair, as it sways and reacts to her movements.
OCmodshop’s preview of Tom Raider: Legend provides a glimpse of the gaming goddess in all her pixellated glory. The new model for Lara features more polygons, realistic skin and hair, and even facial expressions. Lara’s motion is more fluid and acrobatic. The environement is also highly detailed with bump maps, per-pixel shading and other next-gen rendering techniques. This video also shows how Lara has evolved, while gameplay has retained much of the puzzle-driven platforming that made the previous games instant hits.
Xilence X2 Case Review
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 29, 2006
Quote: “Technic3D takes itself exclusively the Newcomer in the following Review more exactly under the magnifying glass”
Customer Service Rant
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 29, 2006
snip: In my travels through the retail/service world, I have come to realize that a great reform is needed. I have begun to realize that Customer Service is almost extinct. This is true of almost every aspect of my world (New Jersey/Florida). My theory is that a lot of these people that work or own these businesses feel that my money isn’t important and they don’t need my business.
Tomb Raider Legend Preview for the Xbox 360
OCmodshop :: Sunday, January 29, 2006
OCmodshop’s preview of Tom Raider: Legend provides a glimpse of the gaming goddess in all her pixellated glory. The new model for Lara features more polygons, realistic skin and hair, and even facial expressions. Lara’s motion is more fluid and acrobatic. The environement is also highly detailed with bump maps, per-pixel shading and other next-gen rendering techniques. This video also shows how Lara has evolved, while gameplay has retained much of the puzzle-driven platforming that made the previous games instant hits.
PCToys System Maxx Fan Controller
Friday, January 27, 2006
If you have more than 4 fans (or have some obnoxiously loud fans), then most likely a fan controler could do you some good. Fan controllers are available in many different sizes and shapes, and feature different lights and goodies. PCToy’s System Maxx 4-channel fan controller promises to downgrade these hurricane winds into a gentle summer breeze.
The fan controller itself is rather nice to look at. The main plate is aluminum and has been anodized wither silver or black. The four knobs are of decent size are are spaced apart enough to so they are easily gripped. The unit’s circuit board is powered by a standard 4-pin molex connector. Each knob has its own dedicated set of power filtering electronics and has a blue LED on either side of the knob. Four 3-pin fan connectors are clearly marked on the circuit board.
PCToys System Maxx Fan Controller
OCmodshop :: Friday, January 27, 2006
If you have more than 4 fans (or have some obnoxiously loud fans), then most likely a fan controler could do you some good. Fan controllers are available in many different sizes and shapes, and feature different lights and goodies. PCToy’s System Maxx 4-channel fan controller promises to downgrade these hurricane winds into a gentle summer breeze.
The fan controller itself is rather nice to look at. The main plate is aluminum and has been anodized wither silver or black. The four knobs are of decent size are are spaced apart enough to so they are easily gripped. The unit’s circuit board is powered by a standard 4-pin molex connector. Each knob has its own dedicated set of power filtering electronics and has a blue LED on either side of the knob. Four 3-pin fan connectors are clearly marked on the circuit board.
Tame the beast within your case
3200+ Venice, Ramsinks and a long ramble!
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 26, 2006
It’s kinda a long ramble about some things that have happened recently, covering the performance of a 3200+ Venice, some issues with DFI Nf4 motherbaords, some ramsinks, and a quick hint of what’s coming. While it’s not a review in a normal sense, there is a lot of stuff covered. If your readers would be interested, I would appreicate it a lot if you could post this in the news :)
Roundup: ASUS and GB Geforce 7300GS
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 26, 2006
“As we can see from the photos, both cards differ considerably from first appearances. The ASUS model, if it weren’t for the VGA connector’s back sticking out, is almost a low profile design with an active fan. The Gigabyte model, on the other hand, is far closer to a full card design, but it features a passive cooling solution, meaning there is no fan to speak of. In reality, vertical height of a videocard is not a huge factor for most systems, so neither card really has the better design per se, just two different approaches that both work well.”
Thanks, a news post if possible would be great. Please send your news to news@hardavenue.com for us to return the favor. At times we may accidentally or unintentionally stumble across an email address which does not represent a news box for any technology news website – If this is the case, or for any other reason, and you wish to be removed from this news send out list, please reply to this email with the address you want removed and I’ll get on it right away.
XCM360 “Ocean Blue” Faceplate Revealed!
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 26, 2006
In the long standing tradition of quality and innovation that the Xbox Gaming and Modding community has come to expect from TeamXtender.com and it’s leading and unchallenged line of products including the original XCM Xbox Cases for the original Xbox, TeamXtender has been working feverishly towards the release of the New XCM360 products mentioned a few days ago.
The XCM360 Faceplate will be the first product launched. As previously stated, it will come in 10 launch colors, with many more to follow. Here at team Xtender we are listening to our customers, and to the scene in general to bring you the products you actually want, use, and need. The first 10 launch faceplates will all be translucent. A modder’s dream to be sure. In colors you want, you’ll now be able to light up the front of your 360 to completely customize the look and feel of the Xbox360. Finally.. make the 360 your own.
Demand is already incredible.. and we thank you for your interest, and patience while we work hard to answer all of your questions. We are working to get the faceplates into the hands of our trusted shops and affiliates within the next 30-45 days. As Always, you can order them from our affiliates and trust that you are getting the best quality products from Shops you can trust, with a history of being there for the customer. While we’ve got your attention, we still have some of the original Xbox XCM cases in various popular and attractive colors for sale at www.Modchipworld.com; www.Decalgirll.com; www.Modchipman.com; www.Divineo.com
The best gaming mouse: Logitech G5 vs. Razer Copperhead
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 26, 2006
In our last gaming mice showdown, the Logitech MX518 came on top of both the Razer Diamondback and Razer Viper. Since then however, new products have been released by both companies, and we are glad to inform you we have had several weeks to test them and report back to you. The contenders: the Logitech G5 and the Razer Copperhead, both considered the companies’ flagship gaming products, both corded mice, and both tracking at an impressive 2000dpi. This is a head-to-head showdown to see which company has the best gaming mouse currently available.
The Power of the Xbox 360 GPU
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 26, 2006
Back in 2003, ATI Technologies and Microsoft announced a technology development agreement under which ATI would develop custom, leading-edge graphics technologies for use in the Xbox successor. This broke the previous relationship Microsoft had with nVIDIA and saw a new contractor taking care of the Xbox graphics.
Fast forward to 2005, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox 360 will feature a custom ATI graphics processor that clocks in at a blistering 500 MHz, with 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines and 10 MB of embedded RAM. Do all those numbers mean nothing to you? Don’t worry.
Xbox 360 Controller (for Windows) Review
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
I’ve been looking for the perfect gamepad ever since I had a PC, which was way before the original Doom debuted. Back then, the Super Nintendo presented its revolutionary controller, and many companies like Gravis tried to create knock-off solutions for the PC gamer. They were quite innovative at the time and had several improvements over Nintendo’s controller: supported left or right-handed orientation, 4 colorful buttons, and a mountable joystick for the D-pad, all with the ugly 15-pin PC gameport connector. Somehow these products never reached the same acceptance as console controllers, whose innovation and simplicity fueled the booming gaming industry.
Microsoft has solved all the problems by introducing a gamepad that works on both its popular Xbox 360 system and PCs. Microsoft adorned the Xbox 360 with standard USB ports for cross-platform compatibility with nearly any device, and the Xbox 360 controller for Windows is the fruit of this forethought.
Check out one of the best PC gamepads
NEWS: AMD Hits Market Share of Over 20%
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 25, 2006
For the first time, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) has surpassed 20% in processor market share. Next week Mercury Research will announce the new market share results, which may come as a surprise to many. AMD’s share of the processor market was 17.7% in the third quarter and surged up 20% to give AMD a 21.4% market share.
Scythe Ninja Plus CPU Cooling Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 25, 2006
“Expectations of the Technic3D editorship are corresponding high and we compare the High-End Cooler with 37 others.”
Xbox 360 Controller (for Windows) Review
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, January 25, 2006
I’ve been looking for the perfect gamepad ever since I had a PC, which was way before the original Doom debuted. Back then, the Super Nintendo presented its revolutionary controller, and many companies like Gravis tried to create knock-off solutions for the PC gamer. They were quite innovative at the time and had several improvements over Nintendo’s controller: supported left or right-handed orientation, 4 colorful buttons, and a mountable joystick for the D-pad, all with the ugly 15-pin PC gameport connector. Somehow these products never reached the same acceptance as console controllers, whose innovation and simplicity fueled the booming gaming industry.
Microsoft has solved all the problems by introducing a gamepad that works on both its popular Xbox 360 system and PCs. Microsoft adorned the Xbox 360 with standard USB ports for cross-platform compatibility with nearly any device, and the Xbox 360 controller for Windows is the fruit of this forethought.
Check out one of the best PC gamepads
Quake 4 Review (Xbox 360)
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Taking place after the events in the second installment, Quake 4 picks up in the full-on fray of battle against the Strogg. You, Mathew Kane are a member of Rhino squad, an elite group of marines distpatched to the Strogg homeworld in order take the fight to “them”. But that certainly won’t be an easy undertaking; tons of Strogg footsoldiers are everywhere as are all sorts of other Strogg beasties, all there to shut you down.
But, through an otherwise undesirable series of events you are captured and subjected to torture and the eventual transformation into a Strogg. Lucky for you (cool scene) you are spared the full transformation and are now one ugly, mean son-of-a-gun looking Strogg/human hybrid: Stroggification if you will. It’s a painfull and grotesque process that isn’t fit for a rabid dog and you sadly go through 90% of it. You’re as tough as they are, but in you still beats the heart of a human, and a heroic one at that.
There’s also a downloadable video demonstrating gameplay at the end of the article.
Read about Quake part Quatro
BlueTake BT510 Bluetooth Mini Mouse & BT009Si Bluetooth USB Adapter Review
OCModshop :: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
When I was approached by Bluetake to review some new products, I was like: “Umm… Okay… Who the heck are you?” Well, apparently, Bluetake has been making the rounds trying to drum up publicity for their line of Bluetooth powered products and have been doing a pretty good job. All of their products are based on Bluetooth technology, and their goal is to unwire you in every way they can. Today, they unwire our mouse with their latest combo: BlueTake BT510 Bluetooth Mini Mouse & BT009Si Bluetooth USB Adapter. Let’s see how the stuff works in the real world!
Quake 4 Review (Xbox 360)
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Taking place after the events in the second installment, Quake 4 picks up in the full-on fray of battle against the Strogg. You, Mathew Kane are a member of Rhino squad, an elite group of marines distpatched to the Strogg homeworld in order take the fight to “them”. But that certainly won’t be an easy undertaking; tons of Strogg footsoldiers are everywhere as are all sorts of other Strogg beasties, all there to shut you down.
But, through an otherwise undesirable series of events you are captured and subjected to torture and the eventual transformation into a Strogg. Lucky for you (cool scene) you are spared the full transformation and are now one ugly, mean son-of-a-gun looking Strogg/human hybrid: Stroggification if you will. It’s a painfull and grotesque process that isn’t fit for a rabid dog and you sadly go through 90% of it. You’re as tough as they are, but in you still beats the heart of a human, and a heroic one at that.
There’s also a downloadable video demonstrating gameplay at the end of the article.
The Creative Zen of Digital Media Players
OCModshop :: Monday, January 23, 2006
In my decades long experience in the technology field I have found that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, better for producing exciting, innovative and quality new products than a major rivalry between two big companies.
Sure it may mean that not everybody will play nice all of the time, a la Microsoft and Netscape or AMD and Intel, but is that really a bad thing? Generally speaking, when there is a technology arms race, the real winners are consumers. More innovation as well as price wars tend to keep the players on their feet and the consumer happy.
In parallel with the browser and chip wars, two opposing titans of the business, Apple and Creative, drive innovation in the field of handheld multimedia players. Creative originally entered the MP3 space before Apple, but it was the iPod that really exploded the multimedia market and brought it into the mainstream.
Are 32″ LCD TVs Ready For Prime Time?
OCModshop :: Monday, January 23, 2006
Finally, there are some 32″ LCD TVs worth testing. We found six from the usual suspects, but in addition to wares from Sony, LG, Philips and Sharp, there were a couple of newcomers that decided to brave this cutthroat market. The end results are some great sets, but prices remain unsurprisingly steep.
“Low-definition” media like broadcast television, DTV or even standard DVD are the norm as HDTV broadcasts slowly become available. Unfortunately, available panels have trouble rescaling these low-definition sources to display them on an LCD with much higher resolution – 1366×768 or 1280×720. The 30″ and 32″ sets have had mediocre interpolation that most often showed up as violent jaggedness of the picture, or else a “Vaseline-lens” softness of the contours in wares offered by less-scrupulous manufacturers. But finally, we’ve found some 32″ sets that make the grade. It wasn’t easy, but some of the sets we tested offer performance worthy of the Toshiba 27WL56P or the Samsung LT-P266W.
OCMS Models Contratulate Seahawks!
OCmodshop :: Monday, January 23, 2006
The Seattle Seahawks will try to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time Sunday afternoon when they face the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game at Qwest Field. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. The Seahawks came close to the Superbowl in 1984 when they lost to the Raiders in Los Angeles 30 to 14 in the AFC title game.
The Seahawks are unbeaten at home this season, 8 and 0 during the regular season and 1 and 0 in the playoffs. The winner of Sunday’s game in Seattle will face the AFC champion, either Denver or Pittsburgh, in Detroit on February 5th in the Super Bowl!
OCmodshop salutes the Seahawks whether they make it to the Super Bowl or not! The lovely OCMS models would like to show their support with these photos.
Go Seahawks!
check out the NFL-themed photos!
OCMS Models Contratulate Seahawks!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The Seattle Seahawks will try to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time Sunday afternoon when they face the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game at Qwest Field. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. The Seahawks came close to the Superbowl in 1984 when they lost to the Raiders in Los Angeles 30 to 14 in the AFC title game.
The Seahawks are unbeaten at home this season, 8 and 0 during the regular season and 1 and 0 in the playoffs. The winner of Sunday’s game in Seattle will face the AFC champion, either Denver or Pittsburgh, in Detroit on February 5th in the Super Bowl!
OCmodshop salutes the Seahawks whether they make it to the Super Bowl or not! The lovely OCMS models would like to show their support with these photos.
Go Seahawks!
Spy Sheriff @ MHW
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 22, 2006
“Although I am sure no one from Spy Sheriff would admit it, what is going on here is actually virtual kidnapping. Pay us 30 usd if you ever want to see your PC again. Even if you are flush with cash you should NEVER do this. After all, if this racket they have going here is financially successful for the makers of Spy Sheriff, you can bet that will encourage them to distribute more garbage like this onto the internet.”
Thermaltake ThoughPower 550W PSU Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 22, 2006
Quote: “The new Thermaltake ThoughPower 550W PSU as one of the first editorships to the review. Extremely Power and high-quality”
OCZ PC2-5400 EL Gold Review
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 22, 2006
OCZ’s line of gaming enthusiast memory is full of products that will enhance your gaming experience. Today we look at their Enhanced Latency (EL) Gold Series 1 gigabyte (2×512) dual channel set. It’s a very nice set of memory for a gamer and a light overclocker. With a price at around 100bucks it’s hard to beat. 4x 512mb of this stuff would make for a very nice gaming rig and still would allow for some overclocking. Check out the review over at Link Force Corner.
Xbox Games Grew 77% Over System Life-Cycle, Suggests 360 DVDs Are (Mostly) Big Enough for Next-Gener
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Since the Xbox 360 uses the same DVD9 media format as the original Xbox, Microsoft has been accused by some of being left behind.
Without the additional storage capacity of new formats like HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, some gamers have been concerned that game developers will have troubles making next generation games on the Xbox 360.
Even if the first generation of 360 games are able to fit on the DVD9 format, people argue, there is little room for games to grow over time.
But is DVD9 really too small?
Geometry Wars Leads Xbox 360 Arcade Downloads
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
In an official statement to consumer website IGN, Microsoft has revealed details of the most popular downloads on the Xbox Live Arcade service for the Xbox 360 console. Although exact sales figures for the titles have not been announced, the top ten most popular worldwide Xbox 360 downloadable titles have been ranked in order:
- Geometry Wars: Retro evolved
- Gauntlet
- Smash TV
- Bejeweled II
- Zuma
Putting this in some kind of numerical perspective, specific recent reports have revealed over 200,000 trial downloads of Geometry Wars and 45,000 paid downloads since Xbox 360 launch, an impressive tally.
bf Unpacker
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Another technical/research tool has been released by th0mas on xboxhacker.net. It’s an unpacker for Xbox360 .bf files. It should unpack files such as “KingKongTheGame_clean.bf”. The .bf files are some sort of archive format (not compressed) used on the Xbox 360, or atleast in the game King Kong
OXM Interview with Bill Gates
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
* OXM: Xbox 360 appears to be a definite step towards your vision of the digital entertainment home and lifestyle. Any hints on what we can expect in our digital entertainment future?
* Bill Gates: Xbox 360 is the fusion of raw technological power and elegant design at an affordable price. There’s a lot of talk about killer apps, but as far as I’m concerned, Xbox 360 is the killer app for any HDTV setup.
* OXM: What single feature of the Xbox 360 hardware excites you most?
* Bill Gates: I’m really excited about the three processor cores that IBM developed for Xbox 360. It enables game developers to create amazing, sweeping environments, lifelike AI, realistic physics, richer worlds and stunning visual clarity. Then there’s Xbox Live, which is more than just about games – it’s about all the people who power new and exciting gameplay experiences.
CES 2006 Time Out: Cars, Car Audio and Booth Babes!
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Almost four years since its conception in 2002, Xbox Live is still uncontested as the king of console online services. Xbox 360 took the service to the next level with extensive integration and new features, but as expected Microsoft have a lot in store for the maturing service.
According to internet reports from Norwegian website IT Avisen, Microsoft are currently finalising a large Xbox Live Update. Along with useful bug fixes and tweaks – such as the ability to perform downloads in the menu background – the update is said to contain support for the console’s elusive webcam, rumoured to be hitting stores soon.
We’re not sure if we want to stare at our bellowing competitors as well as hear them, and we fear for the inevitable ‘naked Halo’, but any update to the service can only be welcomed.
News: iRiver H10 Review
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
“iRiver has been attempting to make an iPod killer for years, but has always seemed to be a few steps behind the Apple juggernaut. I did a review of the iRiver H320 a few months back and found it to be a very good MP3 player, yet something was missing. Ease of use is a main factor in any gadget, and iRiver has always disappointed in this facet. I purchased the iRiver H10 hoping that it would improve on the flaws prevalent in their older models — and I have to say I was surprised at how much they have changed since my last encounter with them.”
Unique 16 bytes in Xbox 360 DVD Firmware
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Some new firmware facts! A little birdie told me some information about a second dump of a Toshiba/Samsung TS-H943 DVD-ROM drive. In comparison with the dump made by darkfly, only 16 bytes are different. The difference is at offset 0x401A – 0x4029. Thanks little birdie for your great effort! A 16 byte difference was also the case with the GDR-3120 dumps.
All clues indicate that each Xbox 360 DVD-rom firmware contains an unique key. I couldn’t match the key to a console id / serial or drive serial. It’s probably an unique key used in the AES routine to encrypt/decrypt communication between console and drive. Something which is new for the Xbox 360.
Interview with Peter Moore
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
* EGM: Wouldn’t you be pissed if you paid $400 for a new console and many of its games looked only marginally better than their current-gen equivalents? * PM: You wanna call out some games? Because I’m not gonna call out any games.
Microsoft pledges to protect young Xbox Live users
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
“Safety and security, specifically child online safety, are a top priority for Microsoft, and we insure that Xbox Live is equipped with the tools that allow parents to monitor the activities of their children during online game play, including disabling voice communications,” Microsoft said.
“Xbox Live is regulated by our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct which prohibit all illegal activities. We work closely with law enforcement around the world on child safety issues on the Internet and will provide any and all help to the authorities investigating this case.”
Chinese Analyst Says The Xbox 360 Will Fail
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Tang says that it’s for two reasons. The first reason being that the Xbox360 has little diversity in games.
While FPSs and popular sports titles sell like hotcakes in North America, they won’t fare so well in China.
The second reason is that the Xbox360 is extremely expensive and consumers in China won’t want to purchase such an expensive device if they aren’t promised great games for it. As a result, Tang says, the market for the Xbox360 won’t be good in China for a timespan of about 2 to 3 years.
News: AMD Athlon X2 4800+ paired with NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB in SLI
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
We’ve just completed an upgrade article, which features the AMD Athlon X2 4800+ paired with NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB in SLI.
Blacklisted411 ICE ModChip Research
OCModshop :: Saturday, January 21, 2006
We[Blacklisted411.net] have recently finished our work on icemodchip (A supposed Xbox 360 modchip). With this release, you will provide an in-depth look into icemodchip and their past. This article is intended to provide NEW information and does not include the recent “fake” modchip pictures that have been found to be fraudulent by multiple parties. With this information, the Xbox modding community can now make their own decision based on 48+ hours of research and documentation. Please understand, this is only about 40% of our original research. The other research was not included for several reasons. In addition, we will combat any subsequent video and/or news releases with an analysis into their validity.
I-Star Nitro AX Super Cooling Tower Case
Friday, January 20, 2006
It strikes you when the case is first removed from the box: this is one sleek tower with a hefty 5mm aluminum front plate decoration. This case could easily mesh with audio equipment in the living room. If black bores you, then try out this case in their red, yellow and blue varieties of the Nitro AX.
There is room for five 3.5″ hard disk drives, two 3.5″ disk drives, and a whopping five slots for larger 5.25″ drives! The harddrive brackets itself has rubber grommet inlay to minimize drive any vibration transferred to the case, which reduces noise. These brackets are secured on the bottom of the case with special screws.
Hardware Overdrive opens it’s doors with it’s first article
OCModshop :: Friday, January 20, 2006
Quote: “For the past year custom fab cases have reigned king in our little world. All you have to do is look at Crimson’s “Doom 3” mod, or DGephri’s Lubic “Zen Feng” these things are works of art, but the best thing about them is that they house high end computers.”
moddin.net reviews the Thermaltake ToughPower 550W
OCModshop :: Friday, January 20, 2006
Quote: ” My first review of the year is for a power supply by our friends at Thermaltake and it’s their brand new ToughPower 550W. It may not have the snappiest of names but it certainly tells you for what intention they have designed this for – power. ”
I-Star Nitro AX Super Cooling Tower Case
OCmodshop :: Friday, January 20, 2006
It strikes you when the case is first removed from the box: this is one sleek tower with a hefty 5mm aluminum front plate decoration. This case could easily mesh with audio equipment in the living room. If black bores you, then try out this case in their red, yellow and blue varieties of the Nitro AX.
There is room for five 3.5″ hard disk drives, two 3.5″ disk drives, and a whopping five slots for larger 5.25″ drives! The harddrive brackets itself has rubber grommet inlay to minimize drive any vibration transferred to the case, which reduces noise. These brackets are secured on the bottom of the case with special screws.
AMD vs. Intel : The Gloves Come Off
OCModshop :: Friday, January 20, 2006
It’s amazing how much the landscape of the processor market can change in a rather short period of time — two years ago AMD was faltering as Intel was steam-rolling over it. Even with the successful introduction of numerous chips, you would be hard pressed to find many top-tier OEM’s supporting their processors — let alone finding their chips inside enterprise class workstations. How quickly the times have changed. A few years later, AMD has been eating away at Intel’s high margins business with their Opteron processors, and slowly but surely they have been eroding Intel’s consumer processor lead. The anti-trust allegations filed against Intel have put them in the limelight, and as such they have been toning down aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at stores, manufacturers, and HIV’s. AMD had made tremendous inroads in the processor market in the last year, and it does not seem to be letting up, and Intel seems to be watching the train come straight for them.
Final CES 2006 Coverage@TargetPC.COM
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 19, 2006
We had quite a blast this year. While we thought that last year was good, let us tell you that this year was even better. It looks like CES keeps getting stronger and stronger every time. We would like to applaud all of the CES staff members for an outstanding management. The industry is looking to be stronger than ever. Expect some very interesting technology innovations in 2006.
How To Prevent Laptop Computer Theft
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 19, 2006
Laptops are lovely. They are convenient, mobile, powerful and prestigious. They are also thief magnets. Over 400,000 laptops disappear each year, leaving their owners wondering where they went, what is happening with their data and what to do next.
Brando SOS Rotary Torch@pc-base.net
OCModshop :: Thursday, January 19, 2006
“The SOS is another handy little rechargeable Flashlight. There are some neat features on the SOS.I like the compass a lot perfect for throwing in your camping gear. The torch has a single LED that is quite bright for such a small light.”
SanDisk miniSD 1GB Memory Card Review
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
SanDisk has been a manufacturer of flash cards and portable media for many years. They produce flash memory in every form factor, the latest being mini-SD. There are currently many different form factors, and have reduced in size over the years. They have become pretty standardized, as 6-in-1 and even 8-in-1 card readers are widely available for PCs and laptops. These readers allow access to your flash memory, no matter what type you have. So why introduce a new standard?
SanDisk claims the miniSD card offers significant savings in card area and volume, which are two critical design parameters as mobile phones grow more miniaturized. The miniSD card saves more than 40% of the printed circuit board over standard SD cards in less than 60% of the space. Windows SmartPhones use this memory format, and more miniaturized phones with multimedia features.
Thermaltake Eclipse DV VC6000 case review
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
DV Hardware has taken a look at the Eclipse DV VC6000 mid-tower case from ThermalTake. The special things about this cases are the integrated DVD combo drive and the LED sound indicator. Both are integrated into the front bezel, making it quite heavy but it looks kinda cool as you can see your CD and DVD disks spinning.
Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 @ TechFreaks
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
“When it comes to purchasing a keyboard, especially an ergonomic one, people are looking for comfort. Sure, price and fancy buttons may play a role, but it all falls back to the feel of the keyboard. This is where Microsoft Natural keyboards excel. Naturals have always had, as their name would suggest, a more natural feel over regular keyboards. Microsoft’s latest edition to their Natural line, the Natural Elite 4000, takes comfort to an entirely new level.”
Title: Techsolo TT-15 Gehäuse Case Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Quote: “The TT-15 Case has a throughout elegant appearance and adapts the provided accessories such as keyboard, mouse and 2.0 stereo boxes in red color”
NZTX Lexa case review
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Laptop or Desktop? Which Should You Choose?
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Traditionally, laptop computers were bought by people who had to be able to take their computer with them when they left the office, such as the salesman visiting a customer. It always used to be the case that buying portability meant a trade-off in terms of power and functionality, so desktop machines were the preferred option for those who didn’t have to travel. Is this still a genuine trade-off, however? It’s time to re-examine the assumptions to see if they are still true.
SanDisk miniSD 1GB Memory Card Review
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
SanDisk has been a manufacturer of flash cards and portable media for many years. They produce flash memory in every form factor, the latest being mini-SD. There are currently many different form factors, and have reduced in size over the years. They have become pretty standardized, as 6-in-1 and even 8-in-1 card readers are widely available for PCs and laptops. These readers allow access to your flash memory, no matter what type you have. So why introduce a new standard?
SanDisk claims the miniSD card offers significant savings in card area and volume, which are two critical design parameters as mobile phones grow more miniaturized. The miniSD card saves more than 40% of the printed circuit board over standard SD cards in less than 60% of the space. Windows SmartPhones use this memory format, and more miniaturized phones with multimedia features.
Read about the miniSD card here
BF2 and NFS:MW dynamic shadow rendering issues with ATi RADEON series @ NGOHQ
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Quote: “It seems that there are a few dynamic shadow rendering issues with the games BattleField 2 v1.12 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. It is not an isolated incident as we have noticed that many users are complaining about these issues in various forums around the world.”
Convergence and Convenience @ eCoustics
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Apple’s iPod again ruled beneath the Christmas tree in 2005 after the latest model of the iconic music player was outfitted with a video screen. And as the new year begins, a long-anticipated era of convergence in consumer technology products draws closer…
Dead or Alive 4 Review
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Dead or Alive has risen to be one of the most popular fighting games, overcoming giants like Viruta Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur and others. The Dead or Alive series is over-the-top in almost every way, from outlandish bone-crushing moves, creative multi-tiered arenas, vivid scenery and costumes, and gorgeous women with exaggerated “breast physics”. The DOA babes are probably one of the reasons the series has reached such popularity.
The newest incarnation of Dead or Alive lives solely on the Xbox 360, whose powerful hardware provide some of the best visuals on the console to date. Team Ninja has packed more features and goodies into this release to keep gamers satisfied:
There is a downloadable video at the end of the article that explores DOA Online, unlockable characters and a tasteful look at Breast Physics.
read about the best-looking Xbox 360 game
Dead or Alive 4 Review
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Dead or Alive has risen to be one of the most popular fighting games, overcoming giants like Viruta Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur and others. The Dead or Alive series is over-the-top in almost every way, from outlandish bone-crushing moves, creative multi-tiered arenas, vivid scenery and costumes, and gorgeous women with exaggerated “breast physics”. The DOA babes are probably one of the reasons the series has reached such popularity.
The newest incarnation of Dead or Alive lives solely on the Xbox 360, whose powerful hardware provide some of the best visuals on the console to date. Team Ninja has packed more features and goodies into this release to keep gamers satisfied:
There is a downloadable video at the end of the article that explores DOA Online, unlockable characters and a tasteful look at Breast Physics.
read about the best-looking Xbox 360 game
Stream DivX and Xvid to your Xbox 360
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
No, Microsoft has not come to their senses and added support for DivX and Xvid. Instead this is a rather elaborate workaround. Technically you’re not streaming DivX since it is being converted to WMV on-the-fly. The result is the same though, even if there is a little loss of quality and added stress to your Media Center PC host.
If you have a large DivX/Xvid collection you want to access from your Xbox 360, definitely look into this solution. It certainly beats hand-converting all your files and future downloads. All the details are here.
Review: Sapphire X1800XT
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
“In case you are unaware, Sapphire have been long term ATI supporters with their videocards; as far back as the ATI RAGE days (*shudder*). In fact, you will probably be hard pressed to find another videocard vendor who have been devoted to one chip maker for so long – you won’t find any ASUS/Gigabyte style mixed Nvidia and ATI product ranges here – Sapphire are all about ATI.”
The X1800 is extremely overclocking friendly
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
“ATi has finally made the leap and given overclockers a reason to celebrate. In their new RADEON X1800 series they have given us the ability to modify the GPU/DDR voltages without using a voltage mod. Unfortunately, this useful feature never screamed out enough to the users like it deserved to be, until now.”
The HD-DVD format and the Xbox 360
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
. . . Microsoft firmly stands behind the HD-DVD format as the best choice for our consumers. As we’ve said before, we’re confident that HD-DVD will bring the excitement of high definition movies to the consumer faster and at a greater value. We believe that consumers have signaled what format they want to enjoy high definition DVD and we’re going to follow them down that path. The question of whether Xbox 360 has the flexibility to adapt to consumers’ needs is a different issue entirely. Xbox 360 is a future-proofed system – one that allows us to add features as consumers demand them – as evidenced by our offering of the HD DVD drive as an accessory. Current reports indicating that we have a back-up plan, which includes Blu-Ray support are incorrect. At this point, we’re fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats
Article Title: Inno3D GeForce 6600 DDR2 Review
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
“The Inno3D GeForce 6600 DDR2 will set you back about $200 AUD and for its price, its worth every cent of the gaming goodness you will obtain from owning it. The benchmarks show that this card performs great even in the latest benchmarks and games, however, if you are a hardcore gamer that likes to crank every setting to the max at 1600 x 1200 you may want to buy a higher-end model.”
ASUS P5ND2-Sli Deluxe 30-day Test Drive @ techFEAR
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
Summary: “We follow-up our evaluation of the ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe with extended usage results. Did the P5ND2-SLI Deluxe survive the heat of our 30-day Test Drive? Read on to find out.”
An Introduction to Cooler Master’s BTX Form Factor Cases
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
Article Quote: Since its release very few manufacturers have taken advantage of BTX and a majority of the newly released chassis designs still cater to the ATX format. Cooler Master has developed a significant reputation in the consumer market by providing a wide selection of cases that cover desktop and full tower case requirements. Here they come, the Cooler Master BTX family: Centurion B540, Centurion B541, CM Media BTX-B260, and CM Stacker 820.
Eclipse DV VC6000BWA Case with DVD Combo drive Review
OCModshop :: Monday, January 16, 2006
Quote: “Thermaltake started its core business based on their extensive knowledge of PC thermal management during the era where the area of performance CPU cooling was only exclusive for “overclockers” or PC enthusiasts. With the company’s initial launch of Orb coolers, it created waves of shocks and appraisals throughout the gaming and overclocking communities. Thermaltake quickly became the name gamers turn to when they need high-end and reliable thermal solutions. Today I’m taking a closer look at the Eclipse DV VC6000BWA with black side window panel. The Eclipse DV also features a internal DVD combo drive, which makes this case a real eyecatcher.”
TherMax Tech XFlux-GA Thermal Compound
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Thermal compound is used to fill these microscopic gaps with a material that conducts heat, but is pliable enough to fit in all the nooks-and-crannies, creating a complete physical surface that heat can pass through. Over the past few years there have been several different thermal paste technologies, each of them trying to efficiently transfer heat away from the processor. One of the best electrically conductive metals is silver followed slightly by copper.
Because silver is the highest electrical and thermal conductor, manufacturers have used it as the magic ingredient in high-performance thermal compounds. Silver, as we all know, is expensive, and so are compounds based on silver. More advanced forumulas exist, as the current King of Thermal Compounds (Arctic Silver Ceramique) contains no silver at all. There is still room for inovation and competition on the thermal battlefield, and one of the newest heirs to the Throne is TherMax Tech’s XFlux-GA Thermal Compound.
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro SLI AMD motherboard Review with SLI special
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Today there’s a combined test of the fast Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro SLI Motherboard with an introduction to the SLI technology on ocinside.de Gigabyte once again enthuse an overclocker, who would like quite recommend this board with little modifications to the chipset cooling as a well Tuning motherboard. All further equipment details, performance comparison SLI vs. Non SLI and the explanation of the SLI technology are in the current Gigabyte Motherboard Review.
Create an Alienware Laptop in Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Step 1 Start out with a 400×300 black background canvas. First create a layer set and name it Laptop, You need to put all of the layers in this layer set. Select the round rectangle tool, set the radius to 10px and draw a #535969 round rectangle. Size does not matter as long as its realistic.
Famitsu Reports 2005 Japan Sales
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
January 11, 2006 – The latest Famitsu contains a recap of the year that was 2005 in Japan. If you’ve been keeping up with the Japanese gaming scene, you’ll probably have guessed that 2005 was big for the DS and a few major PS2 titles, and the Famitsu data supports this.
The biggest game of the year, according the tracking service provided by Famitsu’s parent company Enterbrain, was the DS installment of Animal Crossing, which sold 1,169,757 units. Gran Turismo 4 for the PS2 placed second with 1,066,749 units sold. Nintendo took the next two slots, with Train Your Brain for the DS selling 1,011,341 units and Nintendogs, also for the DS, pushing 965,665 units across its three versions.
Turn anyone into an Alien
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
IGN Predicts 2006, Pt. 1
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Every year the videogame industry passes through a strange kind of neurotic dance. The fall sees an explosion of games to provide parents, gamers, and cash-heavy spenders with videogames for the winter holiday (Christmas, Hanukah, etc.). Once the giant orgasm of game publishing is over, game companies like to quiet down, have a cigarette, and prepare for the New Year. Most companies don’t really quiet down at all; as of December 2005 many were already planning E3 and their fall schedules.
Green Interface Button in Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Thought i would contribute to the Tutorial Database of No Limits I’ll post a few of my tutorials. If you dont think they’re good enough, just delete them no hard feelings
1. New Document (100×30 Transparent Background)
2. Fill the background with black.
Anime Coloring
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Xbox 360 Gamepad Support for XBCD
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
This page contains versions of redcl0ud’s XBCD drivers modified to support the Xbox 360 gamepad. Although several people have verified these drivers work for them, they are still somewhat experimental. These drivers are licensed under the GNU GPL v2 and come with no warranty.
dhruvb11 has created a guide and instructional video detailing the installation and configuration procedure.
Japanese Xbox 360 Lounge closing February 12
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
TOKYO–For Japanese Xbox 360 fans (there are some) that haven’t checked out Microsoft’s Xbox 360 lounge in Tokyo’s Omotesando, the next few weeks will be their last chance. Microsoft announced today that the building will officially close on February 12.
XENIUM OS 2.3.1 RELEASE
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Team Xodus is proud to release the latest Xenium OS update
We would like to thank all our loyal fans for their feedback, comments and advice. We would like to assure all of you that team Xodus is committed to supporting all our products in the Xenium range.
XeniumOS 2.3.1
- Fixed RTC access problems. System clock is now read correctly, and overridden to a default time if not set
- Fixed heap allocation, full 64MB ram is now available to XOS (previously fixed at 21mb)
- Fixed task switch inconsistency. Task switch interrupt was previously using an inconsistent delay, causing unreliable performance
Replaced red borders left on default skin
TherMax Tech XFlux-GA Thermal Compound
OCmodshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Thermal compound is used to fill these microscopic gaps with a material that conducts heat, but is pliable enough to fit in all the nooks-and-crannies, creating a complete physical surface that heat can pass through. Over the past few years there have been several different thermal paste technologies, each of them trying to efficiently transfer heat away from the processor. One of the best electrically conductive metals is silver followed slightly by copper.
Because silver is the highest electrical and thermal conductor, manufacturers have used it as the magic ingredient in high-performance thermal compounds. Silver, as we all know, is expensive, and so are compounds based on silver. More advanced forumulas exist, as the current King of Thermal Compounds (Arctic Silver Ceramique) contains no silver at all. There is still room for inovation and competition on the thermal battlefield, and one of the newest heirs to the Throne is TherMax Tech’s XFlux-GA Thermal Compound.
Read about the XFlux-GA compound here
The Chronicles of Narnia Game Play Review at nVnews
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
“Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a good game. It would make a better console game than a PC game, unless the gamer is using a game pad. For keyboard and mouse players, you might want to skip this one.”
PS2 due for a price drop, Xbox to follow
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Analysts Chris Kwak and Jason Kraft of Susquehanna Financial Group analyzed the history of console price drops (see graphic) to determine that the PS2 is more than due a price drop. They believe that there’s a “very high probability” that the PS2 will be dropped in price this year, citing GameStop’s Holiday 2006 sales conference call in which that company mentioned that Sony may drop the PS2 to $130 by E3 (second week of May) of this year.
Don’t expect Microsoft to sit through a PS2 price drop quietly, though. The analysts expect the price of the original Xbox to fall by a third, from $150 to $100.
World Exclusive Review: Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 VGA Cooler @ NGOHQ
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Quote: “Today we are going to test the new Accelero X2 VGA Cooler from Arctic Cooling. We will find out how the first GPU cooler with heat pipes technology performs. As I previously mentioned this product is intended for the new ATi RADEON X1800 series. In case you didn’t know, the RADEON X1800’s stock heat sink/fan is quite loud, especially at full speed or in use with Crossfire. It should be pretty interesting to see a VGA cooling solution with six heat pipes at work.”
Xbox 360 Feeding Frenzy Off the Richter Scale with Retail Price Announcement in Asia
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
HONG KONG, 9 January 2006 — As the levels of anticipation skyrocket with less than 50 days remaining before its Asian debut, Microsoft today announced the Asia retail price for its Xbox 360, the next generation video game and entertainment system from Microsoft Corp.
Two versions of the console will go on sale in Asia in March carrying a price tag from US$380 for the Xbox 360 and from US$300 for the Xbox 360 Core System in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Consumers wishing to beat the rush and avoid the queues to snatch up the hottest entertainment system in the world today can join the Xbox 360 pre-order program. Special offers await consumers who purchase Xbox 360.
Microsoft Abandons 90-Day Sales Forecast
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
According to a report published in this morning’s Financial Times newspaper, Microsoft has abandoned its highly ambitious sales target of 3 million Xbox 360s delivered into the hands of consumers at the end of the console’s initial 90-day introduction period. Instead, the company will focus on the goal announced at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show of 4 million to 5.5 million units sold by the close at the company’s fiscal year at the end of June.
L.A. Xbox Pirates Indicted
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
As previously reported, the men installed mod-chips and larger hard drives into Xbox consoles to allow them to play pirated games. The group was caught when private investigators working for the Entertainment Software Alliance conducted a sting during which they bought a modded Xbox for $265, complete 77 pirated games and a mod-chip.
The three have been accused of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and face up to 17 years in prison.
Gamers could influence next DVD format
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
For the last three years, consumer electronics makers, computer companies and Hollywood studios have been choosing sides in the battle over the dominant format for the coming high-definition DVDs–Blu-ray vs. HD DVD.
Yet after all the jockeying by these companies, it may be the relatively low-priced video game consoles that tip the balance toward one format–or prolong the stalemate for several more years. That’s because the new game machines from Sony and Microsoft will play high-definition DVDs and may spur discs sales far faster than stand-alone players.
Blue Gel Button Effect
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Description: This tutorial will teach you how to create a gel button to use on websites in less than a couple of minutes.
Sunlight on Face Effect
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
Start by opening an image in which you want to add sunlight.
White Chrome Text
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
The idea for this effect came because I needed something that would look, quite simply, bright and brilliant as a text for a biker’s website. It takes only a few steps and by using different styles of font, you can achieve a number of different looks.
1. New Canvas – open a new canvas (File, New or Ctrl+N). The one I’m working with is sized at 350 x 95 pixels, with a white background.
2. Type – the font I’m using is Aramis, in 60 points size, anti-alias Strong. This is a freeware font included in the download for this tutorial.
5 Xbox 360 predictions for 2006
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
If you were lucky enough to get an Xbox 360 in 2005, then you already know that there is much to look forward to in 2006. The console is bursting at the seams with the promise of good things to come. Only time will tell if developers can truly harness the power of the big white heat machine, but we’re drawing a line in the sand now and making our predictions for what 2006 has in store for our fanboy family.
check it outLG GSA-2166D 16x External Dual Layer DVD/CD Writer
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
LG GSA-2166D 16x External Dual Layer DVD/CD Writer, There are many external drives on the market, so what makes this one different to the others? Well if you use DVD the drive can perform at the following specifications DVD+R 16x, DVD+RW 8x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD-RAM 5x, DVD-ROM 16x. Most drives only do not include the ability to read or write DVD-RAM media instead choosing to focus on the other two popular formats.
The Engadget Interview: Bill Gates (again!)
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
CES wasn’t only about crazy gadget news and booth tours – we also scored a second chance to sit down with our new best friend Bill Gates and ask him all about the big announcements he made during his keynote last Wednesday. Read on to find out what he had to say about online video download subscription services, whether or not he was happy with the launch of the Xbox 360, which Xbox 360 games he’s been playing, how he still thinks there’s time to avoid a format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, why he doesn’t think that Apple’s switch to Intel chips makes a difference for Microsoft, and how he is now, finally, a Treo user.
Making reusable I-Pod-esq Styled Brushes
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 15, 2006
The secret to making the perfect photoshop brush is to make your subject (what you want to be the brush) high contrast and with little to no background to define it as a picture. If you want a brush that is a person – it has to be a silhouette of that person with no background. The fact it hasn’t got a background is what gives it versatility. If you want a brush that is a smudge – that smudge needs to stick out / and be perfectly round in nature. This way the smudge isn’t going to have square lines in the picture. But the really important thing to know to get a good brush every time is to make it as High contrast as possible. Dark darks and light lights. Gray areas or mid range colors don’t work very well. Lets make a cool brush
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Review
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The FX-60 is AMD’s newest and most powerful desktop dual core processor solution. This chip is based on the Toledo core and runs at an impressive 2.6GHz with a 13x unlocked multiplier and 200MHz HTT speed. This is the fastest production AMD dual core processor available, and is a pretty impressive piece of hardware with an equally impressive price tag.
In general, a dual-core processor does not benefit the hardcore gamer, as most PC games are not optimized for multi-threaded processing. However, both ATI and nVidia have released drivers supporting dual-core processors (driver version 81.97), which provide a noticeable performance improvement in most games. The hardcore PC enthusiast now has a no-compromise solution for games and applications. Because the working frequency of this new FX is 200Mhz lower than its single-core brother (the FX-57), it may not perform as well with workloads that are not multi-threaded. It is 200Mhz faster than the fastest single-core X2 4800+, which runs at 2.4GHz.
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Review
OCmodshop :: Thursday, January 12, 2006
The FX-60 is AMD’s newest and most powerful desktop dual core processor solution. This chip is based on the Toledo core and runs at an impressive 2.6GHz with a 13x unlocked multiplier and 200MHz HTT speed. This is the fastest production AMD dual core processor available, and is a pretty impressive piece of hardware with an equally impressive price tag.
In general, a dual-core processor does not benefit the hardcore gamer, as most PC games are not optimized for multi-threaded processing. However, both ATI and nVidia have released drivers supporting dual-core processors (driver version 81.97), which provide a noticeable performance improvement in most games. The hardcore PC enthusiast now has a no-compromise solution for games and applications. Because the working frequency of this new FX is 200Mhz lower than its single-core brother (the FX-57), it may not perform as well with workloads that are not multi-threaded. It is 200Mhz faster than the fastest single-core X2 4800+, which runs at 2.4GHz.
Read about the most powerful desktop processor on the planet
3 New Anime DVD Reviews!
OCmodshop :: Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Our newest staff member, L.B. Bryant has written three reviews of Anime DVDs:
- Madlax Vol 1: Connections
- Aquarian Age Vol. 1: Sign for Evolution
Divergence Eve Vol 1: Welcome to the Watcher’s Nest
Here’s a snip from some of these excellent reviews:
(from the Madlax review)
The writing in this series is also very well done. I really like the philosophic one liners that are thrown out occasionally. Monica Rial has been an incredible voice actress for years now and last year she decided to take a stab at writing the ADR scripts and has done a great job with each one that she works on. As you can probably guess by now, this is another series that Monica did the writing for and she did a great job of turning the script into an English dub script without losing any of the emotion or feelings behind the words.
(from Aquarian Age):
The first volume covers five episodes and I’m still trying to figure out how to really explain what the story is. Tons of information is thrown at us within these first few episodes but the problem is that barely any of the information given to us pertains to what we really want to know, well I’ll give it a shot.
(from Divergence Eve):
Taking place in deep space of the 24th century, this series follows the story of four young cadets who are being sent to a space station in deep space that currently houses ten million people. Three of them are regular troops and the fourth was called up from the reserves and but all of them are vying for the new job of Lieutenant in the combat division. They all come from different parts of the world but all of them have something to offer.
Check them out here:
Divergence Eve Vol 1: Welcome to Watcher’s Nest
Aquarian Age Vol. 1: Sign for Evolution
Madlax Vol. 1: Connections
Levicom BlackPower SPS-420W PSU Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Quote: “From the company Levicom, we received the BlackPower Power PSU in the new revision III as one of the first editorships to the review. Extremely quiet, high-quality aluminum housing with Bulgin switch”
3 New Anime DVD Reviews
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Our newest staff member, L.B. Bryant has written three reviews of Anime DVDs:
Madlax Vol 1: Connections Aquarian Age Vol. 1: Sign for Evolution Divergence Eve Vol 1: Welcome to the Watcher’s Nest
Here’s a snip from some of these excellent reviews: (from the Madlax review) The writing in this series is also very well done. I really like the philosophic one liners that are thrown out occasionally. Monica Rial has been an incredible voice actress for years now and last year she decided to take a stab at writing the ADR scripts and has done a great job with each one that she works on. As you can probably guess by now, this is another series that Monica did the writing for and she did a great job of turning the script into an English dub script without losing any of the emotion or feelings behind the words.
(from Aquarian Age): The first volume covers five episodes and I’m still trying to figure out how to really explain what the story is. Tons of information is thrown at us within these first few episodes but the problem is that barely any of the information given to us pertains to what we really want to know, well I’ll give it a shot.
(from Divergence Eve): Taking place in deep space of the 24th century, this series follows the story of four young cadets who are being sent to a space station in deep space that currently houses ten million people. Three of them are regular troops and the fourth was called up from the reserves and but all of them are vying for the new job of Lieutenant in the combat division. They all come from different parts of the world but all of them have something to offer.
I-Star D-300 3U rackmount Server Review
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The technology age is in full swing! Technologies that were once reserved for professionals can now be found in the home and even in the living room. The average technology consumer now has vast amounts of movies, digital pictures, music and other valuable data on a home network that would compete with the office of yesteryear. Many of these consumers have need for a server, but do not have money for an expensive professional-level server and opt to build one themselves.
You can save some money by building your own server, and the I-Star D Series is great for the do-it-yourselfer. 3U cases are appealing because you can build a server using standard desktop parts without adapters, which makes for an easy server project. The I-Star D-300 is a good base server for a decent price, but must be upgraded to truly offer server-quality features. On one hand it has superb construction and lockable aluminum doors, a decent power supply and lots of room to work. On the flip side the case lacks standard server features like hot-swap drive bays, enhanced cooling, front-panel monitoring and drive rails. The I-Star D-Storm Signature Series is designed for entry-level server applications, and is a good start for an expandable server.
I-Star D-300 3U rackmount Server Review
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The technology age is in full swing! Technologies that were once reserved for professionals can now be found in the home and even in the living room. The average technology consumer now has vast amounts of movies, digital pictures, music and other valuable data on a home network that would compete with the office of yesteryear. Many of these consumers have need for a server, but do not have money for an expensive professional-level server and opt to build one themselves.
You can save some money by building your own server, and the I-Star D Series is great for the do-it-yourselfer. 3U cases are appealing because you can build a server using standard desktop parts without adapters, which makes for an easy server project. The I-Star D-300 is a good base server for a decent price, but must be upgraded to truly offer server-quality features. On one hand it has superb construction and lockable aluminum doors, a decent power supply and lots of room to work. On the flip side the case lacks standard server features like hot-swap drive bays, enhanced cooling, front-panel monitoring and drive rails. The I-Star D-Storm Signature Series is designed for entry-level server applications, and is a good start for an expandable server.
Top WTF moments of 2005
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
I didn’t post many ‘top lists’ for 2005, but I thought this one was kinda original … The 1up ‘Top 10 WTF moments of 2005’, and coming in on number 1 for 2005 is the “Xbox 360 ‘Tard Pack”
‘Tard Pack: $299.99 for an Xbox 360 with no wireless controllers, no hard drive, no backwards compatability, and naturally, no downloadable content. So you save a hundred bucks. Except you’ll need to spend forty of that on a memory unit, anyway. But hey, you can still afford one more 360 game. The only announcement more WTF worthy will be if someone knowingly buys it.
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
Quote: “…As a gamer I am always on the lookout for gaming hardware. I already own a Logitech Mx518 mouse a Saitek X36 HOTAS and a Belkin Nostromo n52 so a keyboard to complete my gaming gear was the logical next step……. ”
The Xbox 360 And Japanese Nationalism
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
There has been a lot of coverage recently about the failure of the Japanese Xbox 360. And those reports are very true. It is one of the weakest system launches in Japanese history, only topped perhaps by the Japanese launch of the Atari Jaguar. In my town there is only 1 game store that carries the 360. They were given 12 launch units by Microsoft and at the end of launch day they had sold only 1, and that was to one of the employees.
Indigo Prophecy (PC) Review Posted!
OCmodshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
There is also a downloadable gameplay video at the end of the article.
Gates and Ballmer: What’s on their Xboxes
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
LAS VEGAS–When Steve Ballmer fires up his Xbox 360, he reaches for the NBA 2K6 basketball game. Bill Gates, who played his console for about 100 hours over the holidays, prefers the Project Gotham car racing game.
“Fortunately I had some young kids around who were showing me around all this stuff,” Gates said in an interview with CNET News.com. “I played a lot of Project Gotham, a lot of Hexic, a lot of Zuma.”
Compact Digital Camera Roundup
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
A slew of compact digital cameras has been released for the end-of-year season. From among this plethora of new models, we’ve selected a few that we liked for reasons of performance or simply originality. Thus, this article is not so much a comparison in the strictest sense, as it is an overview of what stands out most in the current crop of high-performance digital compacts.
Fireproofing Your Data
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
As an amateur photographer, I take a lot of pictures. Recently, I completely converted to digital photography, because digital cameras and photo printers now produce high quality results. Before digital, I archived my photos as negatives or slides, while today, all of my precious photos are stored digitally on my hard disk. Like most people, I don’t have the time to insert writable CDs or DVDs to back up these photos on a regular basis. I tried an online-based backup service Connected DataProtector, but over time I had to bump up my plan to $279.95 per year, which is a fair bit. I needed a better solution that met my requirements:
Mod of the Month @ Creative Mods
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
Marcin Krupa, this month’s MOTM is not only interested in case modding, but off-roading and cosmology. His case is “FuG-01/ET”, an homage to Enemy Territory and a nice mod too. To learn more about this modder and his case, please read on.
Creating Windows XP style icons
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
Windows have entered the world of beautiful and aesthetic interface graphics with windows XP. The icons styles have set a trend for designing front end elements. In this tutorial we’ll try to create an iconic graphic in windows XP style.
mad-moxx Radeon X800 GTO² 16 Pipes Burstfire
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
Quote: “Technic3D got a variant of mad-moxx Graphics GTO² into the editorship, which it is a Overclocking Wonder.”
Gigabyte GeForce 6600 DDR2 Review
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
“The Gigabyte GV-NX66256DP2 exceeded my expectations in performance and value. No longer will you have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a card to play the latest and greatest games. For about $400 AUD you can have a SLi setup that will perform as good as the more expensive single card solutions. The silent pipe technology keeps the card cool, as well as helping cut back the db’s in your rig. DDR2 has provided a great improvement from the original DDR 6600 cards. If your in the market for a high performing cheap video card, this is the one for you!”
Indigo Prophecy (PC) Review @ OCmodshop
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
The question of whether or not video games are art? This question has yet to find a definitive answer among developers, writers, or even gamers, although I think most would like to see the medium accepted alongside literature, cinema, and music. One way to reach for that level of expression could be to make games that closer resemble movies. Indigo Prophecy takes that route by focusing on plot, characters, and cinematography, resulting in a spectacular game with a gripping story. This innovative and addictive adventure game gives you complete control over multiple protagonists and it is your job to keep them sane and safe throughout a winding narrative about a murderer, a prediction, and a little thing called the apocalypse.
High Fidelity, High Capacity MP3 Players
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
MP3 players have gotten lighter, their sound-quality is better and they have capacities of 20 GB and more. We look at five high-end players from Apple, Archos, Creative, Philips, Samsung and Sony in the $250 and $400 price range to see which ones come out on top.
Xbox 360 Controller and OS-X
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
I bought one of these with the intention of having a console quality game controller on my PC and Mac. Thus, knowing that it only came with Microsoft drivers, which only supported rumble using the Xinput API which no games seem to support yet, I also had the intention of finding out how it works to create my own DirectInput/MacOS X drivers.
Media Player Navigation Bar
OCModshop :: Monday, January 09, 2006
Learn how to recreate an MSN-style menu bar in Photoshop
Indigo Prophecy (PC) Review Posted!
Sunday, January 08, 2006
The question of whether or not video games are art? This question has yet to find a definitive answer among developers, writers, or even gamers, although I think most would like to see the medium accepted alongside literature, cinema, and music. One way to reach for that level of expression could be to make games that closer resemble movies. Indigo Prophecy takes that route by focusing on plot, characters, and cinematography, resulting in a spectacular game with a gripping story. This innovative and addictive adventure game gives you complete control over multiple protagonists and it is your job to keep them sane and safe throughout a winding narrative about a murderer, a prediction, and a little thing called the apocalypse.
There is also a downloadable gameplay video at the end of the article.
Digital Bug
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Team Xecuter Updates: X3IR, X3 Config Live Skin, Xbox 360
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Here is the first official photograph of the new X3 IR hardware. As you can see there is a serial programmer module which enables to ability to update the hardware with new infra red codes via the learning function. The software (X3 IR Manager) is currently at v1.1.6 and tweeks are still bing implemented. You should expect these in stores within the next couple of weeks – remember the first batch of customers will receive an X3 Pro Switch ($20 RRP) completely free of charge as a thank you for your patience and loyalty !
Microsoft Places Big Bet On Multiplayer Gaming
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Microsoft Corp.’s new Xbox 360 videogame console comes bundled with lots of bells and whistles, such as movielike graphics. But Microsoft’s bid to reshape the videogame industry largely is tied up in one feature: the machine’s emphasis on online play.
Microsoft is making a big — and risky — bet that videogame players will flock to the opportunity to play lots of games against each other over the Internet. The Xbox 360, released in the U.S. last month, lets users play more games online than the original Xbox. It also lets users purchase and download games.
Multiple Lighting Setup with Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
HD-DVD: Microsoft’s Folly?
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – As it ramped up the hype machine for the Xbox 360, Microsoft coined a new term: The High Definition Era. Wednesday in Las Vegas, it took the next step, announcing plans for a HD-DVD accessory for the video game machine. Question is: Will the move do any good?
Don’t misunderstand. Microsoft certainly needed to do something to acknowledge the coming improvements in the DVD format – and it was hardly a mystery that it had chosen to take a position counter to Sony’s (Research) Blu-Ray technology.
Earth Portal Photoshop Tutorial
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
In this tutorial l will show you several techniques that are used to create nice abstract effects that can be used as banner backgrounds, signature backgrounds, calendars.. The list goes on and on. These are tricks that not many people are aware of for some strange reason, that is until now
Create a torn paper edge effect using Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Learn how to create a torn edge effect for photographs in Photoshop
Moore: Xbox 360 HD-DVD for movies, not games
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Microsoft VP says external next-gen format drive will play video only and says no 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive is planned. Microsoft has been a driving force behind the new HD-DVD next-generation optical disc format. But the Xbox manufacturer surprised many when it chose to package the Xbox 360 with a normal DVD drive rather than an HD-DVD drive, especially because Sony has announced that the PlayStation 3 will feature Blu-ray, a competing format.
Xbox 360 ATX power supply
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Reader Ran Mokady took a pretty big gamble with this project, but didn’t really have any other choice: his power supply was broken and he couldn’t get a replacement. He ended up replacing it with a standard ATX power supply. Follow along for all of the details.
For anyone who is having problems with their Xbox 360 power supply, or who (like me) have managed to end up with a burnt out PSU and can’t get a replacement, here’s how I managed to run the console off a standard ATX computer power supply.
Adding a tattoo in Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
The tattoo will adjust to the womans body, this step is not so important in this image, but becomes very important when dealing with larger tattoo on large pics.
Now, give a very small Blur on the tattoo layer, Filter > Blur > Gaussian, I used 0,2 px.
Selective Dessaturation with Masks
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Learn various ways to selectively desaturate using masks, brushes and gradients.
Flash Photography Tips and Techniques
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Flash photography is the use of a camera flash bulb in a variety of possible situations where there doesn’t seem to be enough light. The most common use of flash photography is group portraits at gatherings where there is not enough light to take a satisfactory exposure.
But there are many other situations where the flash could be used such as: fill-flash situations when the background is brighter than the subject, using the flash to light up a room and creating better coloring, or using the flash to freeze a moving object in a dark situation.
Xbox Live Leaderboard problems
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
We are currently experiencing an issue with some of the leader boards and stats for Xbox 360 titles. We have identified the issue, and are working on resolving it over the next few hours. Until this issue is resolved, there will be some leader boards and stats issues….thanks for your patience as we work through this. Now would be a good time to work on the campaigns of some of those single player games you have
Photoshop Glamorous Effect Tutorial
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
I will show you several techniques to improve your pictures and make them glamorous. You can use this photo of Alyssa or your own.
Connect your 360 to HDTV Wirelessly using UWB
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Pulse~LINK will showcase its Gigabit-rate CWave Ultra Wideband (UWB) platform featuring wireless and wired High Definition audio/video connectivity, HD gaming, and multimedia PC applications at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show, January 5-8, in Las Vegas.
Demonstrations include the industry’s first wireless DVI/HDMI equivalent; ultra-low latency wireless HD gaming between an Xbox 360 and a HDTV; wireless PC to HDTV Flat Panel connections; and the first ever UWB over coax solution capable of supporting IEEE 1394 S400 (400 Mbps) throughput for whole-home connectivity.
Colorizing a Black & White photograph
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to colorize a black & white photograph. The trick is to select a particular area of an image with a similar shade of color and then colorizing that area using color range.
Glassy Text
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Creating a header for a website
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
In this tutorial we’ll create a header graphic for an imaginary wildlife photography website.
In a new file fill the background layer with a green to dark grey gradient.
More New Content on Mimesis
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
More content has been added to Mimesis(info) – a content distribution app for legal modded game content: [QUOTE]
Uber_n00b is a madman! Thanks to him we have another set of packages up tonight, check them out below and enjoy. If you see Uber_n00b in the forums be sure to thank him for all of his hard work.
* AIOFPM v3.0.1 (StarWars: Knights Of The Old Republic)
The All-In-One Force Power Mod is a compilation made from several major mods including new force powers, items, and merchants.
* Carth Romance Fix (StarWars: Knights Of The Old Republic)
An alternate romance to Carth and the female Revan which vastly improves the original.
* Tomb King’s Robes (StarWars: Knights Of The Old Republic)
The first time you enter the desert on Tatooine Tomb King will be behind the sandcrawler. Defeat him and claim his robes.
* Evil Temple (StarWars: Knights Of The Old Republic)
Allows the player to enter the Rakatan Temple with any party members and allows Juhani to join the dark side afterwards.
* SaD Map Pack One (Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow)
Created by a variety of authors, this is the second map pack from the Team SaD. These maps was ported to the Xbox by [SaD]Dietz.
[/QUOTE]
Creating a CD/DVD Logo in Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
In this tutorial we’ll construct a CD and create a logo out of it.
Circumvent The Xbox Live Demo Download Region Lockout
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Fight Night Round 3 hit the marketplace today for demo download, but alas, it seems the French have not been included for some reason. Now, this may seem unfair, but we have a nice little workaround for you, or for anyone who wants to download a foreign demo. Let’s jump right in, it is simple as pie.
First off you should go to the passport site : http://www.passport.com/. Make sure you are not logged in, and click on the “create hotmail account” link. Now, here is the important part, the site will ask you where you are from, select either Japan, the US, or Europe. Remember, this is the country where the demo is available, not where you really live! You will require some information regarding those countries so Microsoft will allow you ro register the e-mail address.
Photoshop Tip: Steal Color from Anywhere
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
In previous versions of Photoshop, you could click the Eyedropper tool (I) on any color within your image, and it would steal that color and make it your new Foreground color. The only drawback was you could only steal colors from within an open document window. Back in Photoshop 7.0, Adobe cut the Eyedropper tool loose from the chains that bound it, and now as long as you click within an open image first, you can drag right out of your image window and sample a color from, well, anywhere. That includes sampling colors from other applications, Photoshop’s own Toolbox and menu bars, and even your computer’s desktop pattern. Just remember to click in your image first, and then drag the Eyedropper to a new world of color delights that dare not speak its name.
Creating a website template
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
This tutorial shows you how to create a Photoshop template for a website.
Inputs outputs and headaches
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
XBConnect running on WinXP 64
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
The first 64 bit compatible tunnel is finally a reality. I have just finished playing my first game of Halo on XBConnect and WinXP x64. Performance is what I expected and it runs real nice. While still alpha, I will be releasing this version to all XBC Pro users and any x64 user out there. Drop me an email at tod@xbconnect.com and I’ll get you in the queue.
The Pointlessness of Current Videogame Journalism
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
I hate the videogame press. There, I’ve said it – after you don’t know how many false starts trying to weave that statement into a cleverly constructed sentence, I’ve just said it outright – I hate (…the majority of…) the videogame press.
Being a part of said clique the feeling of eating my young is beginning to set in as I write this, but whilst reading various magazines and online publications for reviews, previews, features and editorials lately I’ve had a nagging feeling at the back of my mind which burst forth one morning into a revelation: I don’t like what I’m reading one bit. And consequentially and rather unsettlingly, I don’t much like most of what I’ve written in the videogame press in the past, particularly in the area of reviews and previews.
Converting Day into Night
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
This is the finished product from this tutorial, a night picture. I’m going to show step by step how to do it.
Tech Menu in Photoshop
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Creating a Tech Menu in Photoshop
HD-DVD ups the ante
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Toshiba America Consumer Products announced it’s first two HD-DVD players will ship in March for $500 and $800 respectively, much lower than the previously announced $800-$1200 dollars. With a announced price as low as $500.00 its conceivable street prices could come in even lower, making HD-DVD players a must have item, to go along with new HDTV’s. Sony (Blu-ray) on the other hand still expects their players to retail in the neighborhood of 1000.00 USD.
The Slim Devices Squeezebox3: A Product Review
OCModshop :: Sunday, January 08, 2006
Evercool LGA775 CopperMan heatsink
Friday, January 06, 2006
There are not alot of heatsinks for the Pentium 4 LGA775, as the mounting method is very specific. Any 775 heatsink must be attached to a metal brace on the underside of the motherboard. This mechanism prevents the motherboard from warping with tension, and ensures that relatively flimsy plastic pieces will not break. This ensures a high-quality and sturdy mounting method. Evercool has manufactured a new LGA775 heatsink called the CopperMan, which is constructed completely of copper and looks to be a high-performance contender for Pentium 4 LGA-775 processors.
There is a basic formula to determine a copper heatsink’s potential: weight, surface area, and airflow. Heatsinks with thick fins do not have as much surface area as a sink with the same weight with razer-thin fins. Air can blow over more surface area, removing more radiated heat. The thin fins of the CopperMan already promise high-performance heat removal.
GeForce 7800 GS on eBay?
OCModshop :: Friday, January 06, 2006
“It seems that the lucky owner of this card is selling it on eBay. As you probably have already read in other websites, NVIDIA has stated that there will not be a GeForce 7800 GS PCI Express. But that’s not preventing them from releasing an AGP version of this card. Especially now, after GeCube announced the availability of ATI Radeon X1600/X1300 AGP series.”
CES 2006: Samsung Digimax i6
OCModshop :: Friday, January 06, 2006
“For more than a decade, manufacturers of consumer electronics have been round the table talking about ways to bring television, audio and video systems together with other electronics such as personal computers, gaming consoles and the internet in an effort to allow consumers to experience a flawless flow of data, video and music anywhere. We have yet to see much development on this with portable devices because the industry has not been able to find common platform, party due to the slow adoption of high-speed Internet connections.”
Evercool LGA775 CopperMan heatsink
OCmodshop :: Friday, January 06, 2006
There is a basic formula to determine a copper heatsink’s potential: weight, surface area, and airflow. Heatsinks with thick fins do not have as much surface area as a sink with the same weight with razer-thin fins. Air can blow over more surface area, removing more radiated heat. The thin fins of the CopperMan already promise high-performance heat removal.
Read the CopperMan review here
Maxtor DimondMax 6B200R0 200GB HDD
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Everyone has their own opinion on hardware these days. Hard drives have been one of the few components that most people have brand loyalty to for years and years. I have owned Western Digital and Samsung hard drives, but I had larger storage needs and needed a little more space. I decided to try a new brand, and this can lead to a change in brand loyalty. I chose a Maxtor due to their reasonable price and quality.
For an off-the-shelf retail drive the Maxtor Diamondmax 6B200R0 is well packaged and easy to use from the start. The Installation guide is well organized and uses illustrations to aid the novice user. Overall the drive is worth the $100 price tag, especially since the drive has bonus 16MB cache. The drive would make a wonderful addition to any system needing extra storage space, or as a primary drive. This drive has surprising performance, and I shall not be wary of buying another Maxtor drive (well, soon to be Seagate)!.
Maxtor DimondMax 6B200R0 200GB HDD
OCmodshop :: Thursday, January 05, 2006
Everyone has their own opinion on hardware these days. Hard drives have been one of the few components that most people have brand loyalty to for years and years. I have owned Western Digital and Samsung hard drives, but I had larger storage needs and needed a little more space. I decided to try a new brand, and this can lead to a change in brand loyalty. I chose a Maxtor due to their reasonable price and quality.
For an off-the-shelf retail drive the Maxtor Diamondmax 6B200R0 is well packaged and easy to use from the start. The Installation guide is well organized and uses illustrations to aid the novice user. Overall the drive is worth the $100 price tag, especially since the drive has bonus 16MB cache. The drive would make a wonderful addition to any system needing extra storage space, or as a primary drive. This drive has surprising performance, and I shall not be wary of buying another Maxtor drive (well, soon to be Seagate)!.
Sharkoon Red Shock Cooling Review on Technic3D
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 04, 2006
SteelSeries SteelSound 5H Headphones Evaluation @ techFEAR
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Summary: “Gamers’ headphones require three things to compete: Long-term comfort, impeccable sound, and a quality microphone. The SteelSound 5H headphones may have addressed all three. Read on to find out.”
Article: Enemy of the State of Privacy
OCModshop :: Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Article Quote: In the 1998 movie, “Enemy of the State”, actor Will Smith’s personal privacy is invaded by his own government using high technology devices planted in his home, office and even on his person. Sounds far fetched? The technology does exist to do everything portrayed in the movie and much more. The only difference between the movie and real life is that unlike the movie where government agents physically entered the home and office of Smith, this is not necessary to breach the privacy of any citizen.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong (PC) Review at OCmodshop
OCmodshop :: Tuesday, January 03, 2006
A tie-in it remains, though, and you therefore play as the reluctant script-writer-turned-hero Jack Driscoll, and, less often, as the gigantic ape that prefers blondes. Your progress is saved at closely placed checkpoints that reload quickly if you die or fail an objective, allowing quick access to any part of the game. Altogether, there are 40 episodes, the majority of which are first-person shooter sequences starring Jack.
At the end of the article is a downloadable video showing off the gameplay and graphics.
read about the 8th wonder of the (gaming) world
Peter Jackson’s King Kong (PC) Review at OCmodshop
Monday, January 02, 2006
My neck ached when the credits started to roll. Of course, it had been hurting already for a while. More than three hours after it started, the new King Kong movie was over and despite its monstrous length, at no point had I wished it would hurry up and finish. I was having too much fun with the thrilling action and engaging story. With that in mind I have to ask how the video game version, while having such a short length, manages to become boring? Although Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (insert your own lengthy-title joke) innovates in many ways and offers a fair share of thrills, it ultimately grows stale and leaves much to be desired.
A tie-in it remains, though, and you therefore play as the reluctant script-writer-turned-hero Jack Driscoll, and, less often, as the gigantic ape that prefers blondes. Your progress is saved at closely placed checkpoints that reload quickly if you die or fail an objective, allowing quick access to any part of the game. Altogether, there are 40 episodes, the majority of which are first-person shooter sequences starring Jack.
At the end of the article is a downloadable video showing off the gameplay and graphics.
read about the 8th wonder of the (gaming) world
OCZ Gold pc3200 XTC GX Review
OCModshop :: Monday, January 02, 2006
“OCZ has recently re-launched a few products in their Gold line with new innovative heatspreaders. We were fortunate to get a chance to look at the XTC heatspreaders closely, and evaluate the pc3200 GX XTC, the baby brother to the pc3500 GX that was reviewed recently.”
OCZ Modstream 520W @ Hardware Asylum
OCModshop :: Monday, January 02, 2006
“So let me get this out of the way first: this powersupply is gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. The graphite-metallic paint is astonishing, with a reflection so faultless you could probably pick your teeth with it, should you ever feel the need. Beyond said matters of hygiene, the Modstream 520 also employs a large and quite quiet 120mm fan with blue LED backlighting. Not entirely passe yet, the effect is pleasing to the eye and more importantly, showers the rest of the case with the cool ambiance. ”
[BoPC] BoPCNews – Swiftech H20-Apex Reviewed,
OCModshop :: Monday, January 02, 2006
“Performance wise it’s probably one of the best kits I’ve tested so far. It’s hard to compare each new kit with each other since computer hardware is ever evolving, kits either have a gpu block with it, or one for the chipset, or a different radiator. But looking at these temperatures, you can clearly see it’s really doing it’s best keeping that trustee old p4 cool.”
Kameo: Elements of Power Review for the Xbox 360
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Taking place in a mythical land, Kameo places the player smack-dab in the title role of Kameo, a headstrong princess who must roam the countryside rescuing the elemental creatures that she can transform into. The land is alive and brilliant with creatures working and doing their business just as one would expect even as war is occuring. As headstrong Kameo, your initial offensive to save your family led to a world class butt-whoopin’ by Thorn. But now with the help of the good wizard Ortho (who has placed himself into a magical book called the Wotnot) and the repulsive yet helpful Mystic, Kameo has a slim chance to save the kingdom.
Kameo has everything we want in our adventure games. With it’s grand overall mission of saving the kingdom broken down by continually rescuing the elementals that in turn allow us to move the game forward. It makes for the kind of play that begs us to keep playing rather then turning off and going to bed. Plus those occasional action sequences that the player must complete in order to help turn the tide of war only add to the game’s depth and versatility. I smell a franchise title here and I suspect that Kameo 2 is already in the early stages of development.
At the end of the review is a downloadable video that demonstrates sample gameplay.
Kameo: Elements of Power Review for the Xbox 360
OCmodshop :: Sunday, January 01, 2006
Kameo has everything we want in our adventure games. With it’s grand overall mission of saving the kingdom broken down by continually rescuing the elementals that in turn allow us to move the game forward. It makes for the kind of play that begs us to keep playing rather then turning off and going to bed. Plus those occasional action sequences that the player must complete in order to help turn the tide of war only add to the game’s depth and versatility. I smell a franchise title here and I suspect that Kameo 2 is already in the early stages of development.
At the end of the review is a downloadable video that demonstrates sample gameplay.