If you have a nVidia graphics card on your PC, you can get a free download of recent games from Steam / Valve.
For a limited time, if you qualify (you only need your PC to hold a nVidia graphics card), you can donwload a free copy of the following games from Steam just by creating an account or having an account on Steam.
Portal: First Slice (11 levels of this new innovative game from Valve)
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (networked FPS)
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (FPS technology demonstrator)
Peggle Extreme (a relatively simple game inspired by old brick games)
Look! It’s a free offer for only half of the PC owners in the world.
Some of the graphics cards are available in different memory sizes (like the successful nVidia 8800 GT or 8800 GTS): 256MB, 512MB, 1GB. But how much RAM do you really need?
If you have two displays on your Windows PC, you probably noticed that it’s difficult to get a nice background wallpaper cover both screens. Not two copies of the same wallpaper, but one paper stretching the full span of the screens.
For this, I found a good little free utility: DisplayFusion.
When you’re searching for the best mid-range graphics card (200€ or $200, with the usual conversion rate for computer-software dollar), it is often difficult to find one’s way. This is why a big graphics cards comparison like the one from The Tech Report is more than welcome.
I waited a little while before reacting and writing, but these recent last weeks we have witnessed an interesting move in the little world of graphics cards. While ATI (now AMD) has recently been relegated to the troublingly systematic position of follower or challenger in the competition for the pockets of PC graphics cards buyers, they finally reacted through two noticeable actions:
On the one hand, in the lower-end of the range, AMD/ATI launched a new nice price solution under $100: The new HD 3400 and HD 3600 are there to grab the awards for the lowest prices and simultaneous 3D graphics (DirectX 10.1, but don’t expect them to be enough for a crusher like Crysis) and HD video capacity (1920×1080p Full-HD resolution). The HD3400-based boards could even go under $65!
On the other hand, at the star-end of the range which was recently left to nVidia, here is a solution obviously attractive even if not elegant: HD 3870 x2. When you’re short on performance, you can always double it by grouping 2 GPU on 1 card and crash prices down to kick the hell out of your competitors. It’s not 100% perfect (some games will not be optimized for two graphics cores) but this is a (realtively) easy technical solution to setup. ATI did it and robbed the limie light from nVidia (at least for now).
Ok! This is not enough to forget the raw performance of the nVidia boards. But it is interesting to see how AMD/ATI fights with all available tricks to be able to come back a little later with some still-undisclosed new graphics cards.
After S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl in 2007, you will see S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear sky in 2008. This new opus of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. saga will retain the advantages of the original FPS game: Great playability, exceptional environment, free wandering in acres and acres of open terrain.
There is now a gallery of screenshots for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear sky on Voodoo Extreme.
Would you know what colour cerulean is? Or peach? Or spruce? Or watermelon? Or plum? Or rust?
The HP online color thesaurus is a great way to identify these and to get the precise formal definition of such colours. You type in a name, and it will give you the color, similar ones and anonyms.
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I waited a little while before reacting and writing, but these recent last weeks we have witnessed an interesting move in the little world of graphics cards. While ATI (now AMD) has recently been relegated to the troublingly systematic position of follower or challenger in the competition for the pockets of PC graphics cards buyers, they finally reacted through two noticeable actions:
