8800 GT is launched!

Okay, I know it's a bit late but yesterday, October 29th was the launching day for the new graphics card from NVIDIA, GeForce 8800 GT. Based on G92 chip, 8800 GT boasts some new features and performance higher than 8800 GTS 320 MB and in most cases, GTS 640 MB.

There are numerous reviews already scattering around, so to get more details, you can read some of them here:

Anand's Review
Expreview
Tweaktown (MSI NX8800GT) (thanks TroubleM)
Boot Daily
VR-Zone
TomsHardware (Leadtek WinFast PX8800GT)
EliteBastards (ASUS EN8800GT)
Hardocp
FiringSquad
Guru3D (SLI)
HotHardware (SLI)
TechReport
FPSLabs (SLI)
Motherboards.org
LegitReviews
TechPowerup

(credit goes to HigherGround, a member of AnandTech forum)

You know what, I almost bought the card today...2 times! Everytime I wanted to step over to the shop, something else came by, drawing my attention away. The money was already in my pocket and I was just a cashier away from purchasing it. It looks like I just have to wait for something....probably a price drop when RV670 is released, perhaps?

Anyway, I think 8800 GT is a suitable card for me. It's been 2 years since I've been pimping 7800 GT and I think, it's almost time to move on. It also looks like I'm the guy who will always be associated with the 'GT' variant, no matter what. Who knows, maybe another trip in the future with 9800 GT, B8E GT and so on.

As soon as I grab a new graphics card, I'll let you know.

Crysis Demo : a quickie ....

Okay, let me do a rundown on the demo very very quickly. First of all, it's a 1.8 GB worth of download, so 56K beware! Then, the installation requires the latest driver for the graphics card (obviously!), so I downloaded Forceware 163.71 from NVIDIA website for my 7800 GT. Yeah, that's right: I'm still pimpin' my GPU here!

Straight into the game: I launched the demo, watched all the displays from sponsors and developers, and finally into the menu. I set all control configurations and touched nothing on the graphics settings except the resolution: I changed it to 1024x768. Yes, that's pathetic alright!
I just gotta be sure, I can still run the game. And you know how did Crysis auto configured the game according to my system? It put all graphics options to LOW, yess, that's right, LOW!
For a PC spec that you can see on my profile, running Win XP SP2, this is what you are going to get when playing Crysis.

When everything's set (with FRAPS running in the background), I launched the new game, watched everything played out in my PC. As a quickie, I love the new HUD system, love the binoculars, the map, etc...everything was just fine EXCEPT that I'm playing at the mediocre graphics settings, which is the reason for all Crysis hypes. I killed some baddies, and snapped a few screenies along the way.

I haven't finished the demo yet, but I'm eager to share with you my screenshots. Just remember, these are what you're gonna see, if you're having a similar setup as mine, running Crysis at an average of 50 FPS!

Crysis Demo is out!

Today, all hell breaks loose.

Today, gamers will once again, benchmark their systems, especially the graphics card.

Today, every graphics cards will bow to the one that is about to enslave them.

Today, get your Crysis demo at CrysisDemo.com.

Note: It's a hefty 1.8 GB download, I just can't imagine the full version of it!

RV670: A quickie..

Quoting from some website and forums:

"
November 19 is the date set for the official unveiling of the RV670-powered Radeon HD 2950 cards that will have to battle Nvidia's (November 12 released) G92s.

Production of the new chip is on schedule and it seems AMD is planning to start producing the initial batch of 1.5 million RV670s in the first week of November. The RV670 is a 55nm part that features 320 Stream Processors, a 256-bit memory bus, support for DirectX 10.1 plus, a working UVD, working Crossfire and support for PCI-Express 2.0.

The cards equipped by the RV670 have already been codenamed Gladiator and Revival and their specs will be:

- Gladiator: 825 MHz (GPU), 2400 MHz (memory), 514MB GDDR4
- Revival: 750 MHz (GPU), 1800 MHz (memory), 256/512MB GDDR3

The prices of the new cards are set to hover in and around the $199 and $249 marks.
"

Nice! A direct competition with 8800 GT 256 MB and 512 MB variants.

G92: Another good news for gaming this year end!

It seems that more and more good news emerge out of the graphics industry. First, the HD2900 Pro, then RV670, now G92 which has been materialized in the form of 8800 GT!

Rumours said that G92, a 65 nm chip was the one to be monikered as 8700 GTS (or GT), acting as a gap filler between 8600 GTS and 8800 GTS 320MB. After reading various forums and speculations lately made me think twice whether this is true or not. According to some sites (this is highly speculation, so I won't put any links for reference!), early G92 benchmarks in 3DMark05 and '06 show that 8800 GT even beats the heck out of 8800GTS 640MB! It even shy only 2000+ points in 3DMark06's Shader Test behind 8800 Ultra! That's kinda a bit far-fetched, maybe?

Now, I've been thinking, can 8800 GT's 112 Shader processors, 256-bit memory system (had to double-checked this!), 512 MB, 600+ Mhz clock and 1500 Mhz shader clock make all those happen? I don't even think that this is the card previously meant as a 8600GTS-8800GTS 320MB gap filler, but having 112 SPs might prove some points in beating 8800 GTS models.

Now, I have to say that whatever it is, it's a good news for budget gamers like me as 8800 GT is said to come in two variants: 256MB for $199 and 512 MB for $250! That simply kills even 8800 GTS 320MB! October 29th is said to be the launching date, probably a hard launch for 8800 GT.

Now, another 'speculation' is that another product is coming from NVIDIA in the form of a 'new' 8800 GTS models, replacing the current 8800 GTS 320MB and 640MB! It is said to be launched somewhere in mid to end of November. I've only heard from one person in a forum, so I'm not even sure about its legitimacy. If it's true, then NVIDIA has more than just 8800 GT for us this year end.

And also let's not forget that AMD is releasing RV670 (55 nm-based chip) on November 19th, which speculatively, in the form of HD 2950 Pro, or more interestingly, HD 3800 series!

What a world we live in!

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.... Oh My God!!

Recently I took a time to download a demo of an interesting game, probably among the most awaited game in 2007, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Using Doom3 engine, or some might say Tech4 developed by id Software's programming guru John Carmack, this game forces the engine to show its muscle in outdoor environment. With MegaTexturing in hand, it actually does pretty well at it.

Anyway, this is not a full-fledge review like what I did with Test Drive Unlimited before but more of an first impression of the game. Let me begin with saying that 'Wow!' can only described the game partially, as ET:QW really brings my adrenaline rushing again! The team-based FPS really does it again for me, and this time powered by my favourite OpenGL 3D engine ever.

Actually, it's the gameplay that drives me crazy most. Even though the demo only gives 1 map, it gives me a complete picture of what ET:QW will deliver in full game. The elements in the game are balanced: AI, missions and campaigns, character class etc. bring a lot of space to experiment with. I can say I just can't get enough of it after playing it again and again!

I spent a lot of hours playing offline and I did also tried a few servers online which runs the demo. This definitely brings back all memories all way back to Quake 3 Arena times!

Definitely two thumbs up! I can't wait to get the full game of ET:QW which is already available now.

Profile selection interface

ET:QW main menu

Wait for medic, or the next deployment wave

Doom3 engine in outdoor environment

I used rocket launcher all the time, my favourite!

Status of friendly or enemy when pointed using crosshair

Through the sniper's scope

Strogg's fireblaze from the sky

Camper's paradise, yeehahh!