Want the finest CPU money can buy? Look no further than the Intel Core i7 980X. It's the undisputed world heavyweight champ among chips. Just remember you'll need a lot of it. The money, that is.But what a processor you get in return. The Core I7 980X is, of course, a six-core beast. But this is six-cores Intel style, so that's two threads per core and a dozen of those little green graphs when you fire up task manager. That's unparalleled, er, parallelism in a PC processor.
In that context, even AMD's Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition looks rather ordinary. It may have six cores. But each is single-threaded only. Moreover, AMD's underlying CPU architecture is pretty ancient while the Intel Core i7 980X is literally the latest thing, right down to is impossibly tiny 32nm underpinnings. What it isn't however, is unique. The recently released Core i7 970 is largely the same six-core, 12-thread processor at a slightly less offensive price point.
Among the super rich of this world, there's a level of wealth colloquially known as screw-you money. Put simply, if you've got enough dosh, you can say "screw you" without consequences to anyone, any time. For people like that, it's results that matter, not cost. For people like that, Intel has a very special PC processor. It's the Core i7 980X.
As our benchmark results show, it's without exception the fastest PC processor on the planet. So, it's much quicker in our multi-threaded tests than AMD's best six-core effort, the Phenom II X6 1090T BE.
It's also an absolute monster in benchmarks that traditionally favour chips with fewer cores but higher clocks, such as gaming and file decompression. For that you can thank the 980X's 3.33GHz operating frequency. In performance terms, there really are no downsides with this six-core beast.
Indeed, you might expect a chip with over a billion transistors to run hot and not take kindly to overclocking. If so, you'd be forgetting that the Core i7 980X is based on Intel's fancy new 32n production process. It's actually smaller than Intel's quad-core processors. What's more, it hits an astonishing 4.3GHz when overclocked.
So, that's the most cores, the highest thread count, the most advanced microarchitecture and the highest clockspeed. No wonder the Core i7 980X is a prince among processors. It's just a shame it has a princely price tag to match. We also worry about the 980X's LGA1,366 CPU socket. Intel plans to drop it next year, putting a definite limit on any upgrade path.
We liked:
Can a CPU be considered aspirational? If so, the Intel Core i7 980X is it. It's a smorgasbord of cutting edge technology and clearly the fastest and finest CPU you can buy. It's all of Intel's know how in a multi-threaded masterpiece. We want one. And we want it badly.
We disliked:
Placing a premium on performance is all very well. But charging nigh on £800 for a PC processor is plain bonkers. It's sad, because it renders the Core i7 980X effectively irrelevant. Virtually nobody can afford it. Given Intel's track record in regards ongoing socket support, the LGA1,366 form factor is a worry, too.
Verdict:
The fastest PC processor we've ever tested. But so expensive, nobody can afford it.
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In Depth: 10 cool Twitter visualisation tools
You might think of Twitter as a way to chat with your friends, keep up with news or to hassle minor celebrities. We think of it as a ceaseless stream of data that only really becomes useful when you filter and sort it.
Here are 10 tools for doing just that, with a twist. They take your tweets and turn them into animations, graphs and glyphs for your visual delectation. They're Twitter visualisers, the best the web has to offer.
1. TweepsKeyEnter any Twitter account name in TweepsKey and you'll get a visual representation of their follower's activity. Dot size, position and hue are determined by followers and tweeting frequency. Never mind that though - look at the pretty patterns!
2. StreamGraphsOne among a number of apps from developer Jeff Clark at Neoformix, StreamGraphs is a keyword visualiser. It displays words related to search terms you enter, using Java to render beautiful graphs with selectable sections. Trippy.
3. ISParadeISParade is a Japanese slice of digital lunacy which went viral about a month back. Enter Twitter usernames or keywords and it generates an animated parade of avatar-headed followers, complete with thumping soundtrack, farmyard noises and tweets popping out in speech balloons. Freaky and fun.
4. Tori's EyePutting the twee back into tweet, Tori's Eye converts Twitter output into origami birds flying over a crafty landscape. Hover your cursor over one of the paper avians and the message pops up. Sweet, pointless and oddly reminiscent of Michael Gondry movies.
5. RevisitGetting a bit serious again, Revisit displays a timeline of tweets based on Twitter's search syntax. Using Boolean queries you can build highly selective, animated graphs of incoming messages, with the newest displayed live and large on screen.
6. TweetFlareThere are several visualisers that display tweet frequency on maps, but few as compelling as TweetFlare. Every tweet lights up a geographic area, overlapping and incandescent. Concentrations of activity around major cities are easy to see and lovely to behold.
7. TwistoriAn oldie but a goodie, Twistori lists tweets documenting the Twitter population's state of mind. Pick from love, hate, think, believe, feel or wish and you'll see the hopes and dreams of the world laid out in primary colours. And also lots of swearing.
8. Visible TweetsVisible Tweets. They're tweets and they're visible. And they animate too. Enter keywords to be rewarded with a deluge of animated twittering, from a choice of three pretty styles. Bonus - the background colour changes with each refresh.
9. MentionMapA little unusual, MentionMap tracks the relationships between tweets as users mention other users. The data stream is live and animated, and young can zoom into any hashtag or user to pull up more and new data. Has the considerable visualisation virtue of actually being useful...
10. TwitterMotionHave you ever wanted to chop up your friend's tweets into animated chunks, making them look like the opening credits of a 90s action movie? Just us then. And we've found a tool that does it for us - TwitterMotion. All we need now is a CD full of James Bond themes and a big bag of Maltesers.
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Nokia's next-gen mobile OS detailed in pictures
Nokia's long-awaited Meego platform, its tie-in with Intel, has been shown off in multiple pictures.The new screenshots show off a new operating system that takes its cues from Nokia's Maemo system (used on the N900) the iPhone's iOS 4 system and the Palm Pre's WebOS.
The official MeeGo blog brought the pictures to the world, showing elements like a variety of ways to perform most tasks, such as unlocking the screen or multi-tasking.
An iPhone-like grid of icons was to be expected, as was multiple home screens, so we're glad to see Nokia getting the basics right here.
Blurring for focus
Maemo's way of doing things is apparent too, where the focus is maintained on certain elements of the screen by blurring out the backgrounds.
A huge number of gestures are detailed in the developers specifications, such as double long press tapping - which sounds like it could get a little confusing.
But we're still hopeful that Nokia will turn the corner - if Meego lands on devices in the near future (such as on the N9, if it turns out to be real) we might FINALLY see Nokia closer to the sharp end of the smartphone market.
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BBC hires VoD expert from Microsoft
The BBC has announced it has hired a senior figure to head up its video on demand division, with Daniel Danker appointed as General Manager, Programmes & On-Demand (POD).Danker comes from Microsoft where he worked on the company's IPTV platform Mediaroom and Zune, and has been put in charge of working closely with the BBC's 'audio and music' and 'vision' divisions.
"The BBC iPlayer has been a great success, and as video and audio-on-demand comes of age we want to stay ahead of our audiences' expectations by developing and delivering world-class products," said BBC Director of BBC Future Media & Technology Erik Huggers about the appointment.
"In Daniel, we've hired a great talent with a proven track record in product development, and I'm very happy to welcome him to the team."
Early evolution
Danker will also be in charge of developing the iPlayer and making sure search on BBC online is revamped.
"The BBC iPlayer has transformed the way people interact with media in the UK. We are still at an early stage in this evolution, however," explained Danker.
"The BBC is uniquely positioned to drive the next wave of change through its roles in content creation and distribution. We will focus on the innovations that become possible when content production and consumer experience evolve together. I am delighted to join the BBC at this very exciting time."
This week the BBC announced that its iPlayer refresh is now out of beta, bringing social-networking features to the VoD service.
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Review: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition
You can now buy PC processors with as many as six cores and support for up to 12 software threads in parallel. With that in mind, why would anyone want the dual-core AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition?Actually, the theory behind this chip makes reasonable sense. Certain types of software benefit more from high clockspeeds and a big dollop of cache memory than lots of processor cores. Games are one good example. The 550 runs at a healthy 3.1GHz lick and packs 6MB of L3 cache memory. It's also a Black Edition processor and that usually means easy access to even higher clocks. Why pay more for multi-core?
At under £80 the AMD Phenom II X4 550 is certainly affordable. All it needs to do is deliver the goods according to its narrow remit compared to the likes of AMD's Athlon II X4 620, Athlon II X3 435 and perhaps the Phenom II X3 720.
First the good news. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 beats the opposition where it matters most. In our World of Conflict game benchmark it keeps its eyes on the prize and edges the Athlon II X4 620, Athlon II X3 435 and the Phenom II X3 720.
In fact, it's usefully faster than the two Athlon chips clocking up 33 frames per second compared to 35 and 37 frames per second, respectively. The triple-core Phenom II X3 720 gets a little closer at 42 frame per second. But part one of the Phenom II X2 550 BE's job is done. Its advantage in gaming gets even bigger when you take overclocking into account. 4GHz on air cooling is clearly quicker than its closest competition and allows the 550 pulls further ahead.
That said, if you're willing to spend a more on an Intel chip, you'll get way more gaming performance. The Intel Core i5 750, for instance, delivers 59 frames per second despite its modest 2.66GHz clockspeed. Make no mistake, running at its maximum 4.2GHz overclock, the Intel chip absolutely annihilates the Phenom II X2 550 BE in games.
As for all round system performance, the dual-core 550 is inevitably rather weak. It simply cannot keep up with processors with double the number of cores, such as the Athlon II X4 620. We're also disappointed to find that our 550 sample fails to function when you enable the two hidden cores. So much for the idea of getting a quad-core chip on the cheap.
We liked:
If building a gaming rig on a very tight budget is your bag, the dual-core AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition just about adds up. It's definitely a more effective gaming chip than other low-cost AMD processors. It also overclocks pretty well.
We disliked:
The 550 might be faster than other cheapo chips. But it's still a lot slower in games than a decent Intel processor. Likewise, it struggles with any software that thrives on multi-core processor architectures. It would also be unwise to assume that the 550's two hidden cores are likely to work when unlocked.
Verdict:
Just about makes sense for gamers on a tight budget. Not a great all rounder.
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Nike+ app ditches sensor for iPhone 4
Nike has announced a new version of its Nike+ app - but only for the iPhone 4 and other iOS 4 enabled devices that feature GPS.It ditches the need for a sensor in your shoe, and adds in the much-needed support for GPS tracking.
A number of other apps out there, notably the Adidas MiCoach application, have had such functionality in for a while, and offer better accuracy when tracking run speed and distance.
The new Nike+ app curiously doesn't support the new Polar Wearlink+ transmitter, which was designed to supply heartrate information to the application - so users which forked out for the band will likely be irked they can't hear their 'power zone' or whatever lingo they use.
Fancy features
However, there are a raft of new fancy features in the Nike+ App: a colour-coded pace tracker allows you to see how fast you were running over your route (brought to you using Google Maps).
'Challenge Me' also allows you to race your best, longest or fastest runs and get a gold medal should you kick them into touch - complete with a manly roar at the end.
The Nike+ App does cost to buy though, which is a shame as the first iteration was free - you'll need to fork out £1.19 for the pleasure of hearing Paula Radcliffe at the end of particularly decent run.
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Review: Canon Ixus 130
Canon's Ixus range has been around since the photographic dark ages, and to say each addition carries with it high expectations is quite an understatement.However, the 14.1-megapixel Canon Ixus 130 has the hallmarks of one of the greats.
An initially striking design, a consumer-friendly high megapixel count, and a 2.7-inch LCD on the back all combine to make this a camera that should tempt just about anyone in the market for an uncomplicated, fire-and-forget snapper.
We struggle to think of an Ixus from the last few years that hasn't ticked the 'gorgeous' box, and the Ixus 130 is a proud continuation of the line.
It's unfussy, but the tapered corners, rounded edges, and metallic finish all make this a real head-turner. It's small as well – 93mm wide and 18mm deep – which means it's a perfect trouser-pocket size.
The compact dimensions necessarily mean there's a compromise on screen size. Canon's two options with such a small camera are to use a smaller screen, or lose the buttons on the back of the camera and put in a 3-inch touchscreen.
Canon has opted for a 2.7-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD, and we reckon it's done the right thing – we've not yet seen a camera touchscreen we've loved.
The screen itself is everything a camera screen should be: bright and sharp, and visible outdoors. Crucially, it leaves space for a decent assortment of buttons, such as the four-way D-pad, which doubles as four shortcut keys to features such as the flash and self-timer. There's also a three-position physical switch.
Auto mode disables most of the options in the menu, wresting control from the photographer and enabling the Ixus 130 to make its own decisions, while there's also a semi-automatic mode.
There's no way to choose your own shutter speed or aperture, which isn't surprising on a camera costing under £150, but you can at least set exposure compensation, manual white balance, and your own ISO.
Canon includes some interesting additional modes. As with the Ixus 300HS, you get tilt-shift and fisheye modes.
Of these, the tilt-shift simulator is definitely the most effective, offering a cheap way to get an interesting model-town feel to your shots. It isn't something you'll use every day, but if you ever find yourself at the top of the tall building we suggest making use of it.
It's been a while since we saw a compact that produced images with seriously disappointing image quality, and the Ixus 130 barely put a foot wrong during our testing.
For one thing, it's fast to start up, at just 1.6 seconds. Its shot-to-shot time is a little less user-friendly, at a shade under three seconds, but it's by no means the worst we've seen. Its continuous shooting mode, unsurprisingly, suffers as well, at just 0.6fps.
However, the final image is what really counts, and the Ixus 130 is capable of some cracking results. The 4x zoom lens is the equivalent to 28-112mm, which is a good wide-angle to short telephoto. You won't be able to do much wildlife photography, but it's a practical length for walking around with, and it resolves plenty of detail.
See full-res imageOur test images were impressively sharp, although the lens lets itself down somewhat when it comes to purple fringing. Areas of high contrast were frequently marked by chromatic aberration.
See full-res imageHowever, the Ixus 130's weakness with purple fringing is largely atoned for by its strength when it came to low light performance. Its ISO range isn't exactly a headline-grabber at 80 to a relatively modest 1600, but our test images were excellent.
See full-res imageImages begin to look perceptibly more noisy at around ISO 400 to 800, but even at the latter remained perfectly printable – particularly if you have software with a decent noise-reduction tool. Shots at ISO 1600 kept noise fairly low, but colours began to look muddied and muted, and softness became an issue.
See full-res imageStill, for a compact to offer decent image quality at ISO 800 is remarkable, and with the 130 offering optical image stabilisation there's plenty to like for those who prefer to avoid using the on-board flash.
See full-res imageSee the Canon Ixus 130 video sample in HD
Movie modes can prove an odd blind spot for Canon – although its DSLRs are class-leading, who can forget the top of the line G11 compact, which offers only 640 x 480 at 30fps?
Fortunately, the Ixus 130 offers a movie mode which, while not exactly cinematic, is at least HD-compatible. The maximum resolution on offer is 1280 x 720, with a fixed frame rate of 30fps.
There isn't a wealth of options – you can't choose a more cinematic 24fps, for instance – and, with the features lacking in stills mode, it's not surprising that the option to set your own shutter speed and aperture size are absent.
It underlines the Ixus 130's role as a fire-and-forget camera for those who'd rather capture a moment than agonise about their camera's settings.
As it is, though, the Ixus 130 offers good-quality video at high resolution, and while pernickety types would prefer a decent manual mode, for under £150 it's hard to argue with what you get.
We tested the Canon Ixus 130 at every ISO setting. Here are the results:
ISO 80:
See full-res imageISO 100:
See full-res imageISO 200:
See full-res imageISO 400:
See full-res imageISO 800:
See full-res imageISO 1600:
See full-res imageEven if the Ixus 130 was expensive, we'd still like it. For every person who wants to be able to control every facet of taking a picture, there are hundreds who simply want something that will capture a moment without asking all kinds of complicated questions. The Ixus 130 is exactly that camera.
We liked:
The headline has to be the price – if you opt for the Ixus 130 in black you can get it for under £150, which is a bargain in our books. We're big fans of the less is more approach to photography, and we love the design, which is cool and understated without being fussy.
We disliked:
The range of colours won't be to everyone's taste, and there are plenty of cameras around these days with significantly larger screens, even if the Ixus 130's does everything that's asked of it.
The lack of a manual mode means this isn't a great camera for those keen to learn more about photography, and the 30fps movie mode isn't overly interesting.
Verdict:
It's not overly complex, it's easy to use, and it produces excellent quality images without requiring the photographer to understand everything that's going on. The build is slim and feels solid, the screen is good – in short, the 130 only strengthens the Ixus brand.
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Review: Chillingo Master of Alchemy
Alchemy's a fickle thing. Adding stuff together to make other stuff is generally a doddle. A bit of oxygen here, a dash of hydrogen there… water. Chuck some copper and zinc together and you have brass. Combine cocoa, flour, butter, eggs and sugar, and a chocolate brownie appears. Turning base metals into gold, though? Not so simple.
Despite all the pseudomystical, alchemical goings-on in the game's back-story, This is, at heart, a physics puzzler, which features the manipulation of solids, liquids and gases.
The idea is to funnel the elements to their relevant receptacles, transforming them into various states, according to their properties. For example, you might start with a green liquid, so you use wood to create a platform that guides it along.
Next you use an evaporating device to turn it into a gas, then a condenser collects the gas, turns it back into a liquid and deposits it at the collection point.
However, things get complicated when more than one type of matter is introduced and the tools at your disposal get more complex too.
It's clever stuff and what seems like a rather repetitive activity during the first few levels soon evolves into a highly rewarding puzzle-solving experience.
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In Depth: 8 of the best AM3 motherboards
The motherboard is the foundation for everything your PC is and does. It defines not only its current functionality and long-term viability. It also has a huge impact on performance. With that in mind, this motherboard mélange is a snapshot of the best currently on the market in terms of AMD-compatible boards.
The good news is that the choice is simple. For starters, the CPU socket is a no brainer. If you're building a new PC, you want AM3. Likewise, the number of relevant chipsets is on the wane. Since AMD bagged ATI, AMD has become arguably the only major player in performance desktop chipsets that is compatible with its own CPUs.
Yes, Nvidia still has the nForce 980a SLI. But not only is that chipset well over a year old, the northbridge chip at its heart is a rebadge of the even more ancient 780a SLI. It's not clear what Nvidia's plans are for the future of its AMD chipset business.
But currently if you want a modern and up to date mobo, AMD's latest 8 series chipsets are where it's at. As for which specific chipset and board to go for, it all comes down to use.
Intriguingly, dual-link DVI is now available with some integrated boards based on the 800 series. This means you can drive a 30-inch panel without the need for a discrete video card. That is, if gaming performance isn't your number one priority.
Finally, storage and peripheral bandwidth are increasingly important. Most AMD 8 Series mobos support SATA II 6Gbps. However, USB 3.0 isn't native to the 8 Series and support depends on mobo makers adding a dedicated controller. Certainly something to look out for.
Read on to discover the best AM3 motherboard for 2010.
ASRock 880GMH USB3
Fact: When it comes to CPUs, AMD makes cheapo chips. Would it prefer to sock it to Intel at the more profitable end of the market? You're damn tootin', it would.
But until its all-new Bulldozer processor rocks up next year, AMD is stuck peddling a geriatric CPU architecture that dates back to 2003. In our minds, then, PCs based on AMD technology are all about maximum performance in return for the minimum outlay.
That means paying as little as possible for a motherboard. By that rationale, Asrock's 880GMH USB3 should be our default winner.
Read the full ASRock 880GMH USB3 review
MSI 870A-G54
What's your take on integrated GPUs? When it comes to gaming, integrated graphics is obviously in no-touchy territory. But it gets the job done just fine for 2D or home cinema work.
Likewise, onboard graphics is a handy backup should your 3D card lose the will to render. However, if you're building a gaming or content creation rig on a tight budget, paying for the redundant circuitry doesn't make sense.
What you want is a no-nonsense motherboard that ditches the feeble integrated GPU and only gives you what you need. What you want is MSI's 870A-G54. Right? That's an affirmative, on paper at least.
Read the full MSI 870A-G54 review
MSI 880GMA-E45
Are you ever likely to run two AMD video cards in multi-GPU CrossFire mode or use a second graphics card as a physics or GPGPU accelerator? The honest answer is: it's unlikely.
What you probably don't need, in other words, is a full sized ATX mobo with a silly number of PCI-e slots. A micro-ATX board with a single graphics slot and some enthusiast-friendly features will get the job done just fine.
Enter, MSI's 880GMA-E45. Powered by AMD's middling 880G chipset, it's bang up to date and offers enough power features to keep most enthusiasts happy.
Read the full MSI 880GMA-E45 review
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO
Asus is the name, impossibly slick motherboards is the game. Even this modest M4A88TD-V Evo model is still quite a looker. For starters, like nearly all Asus boards it's immaculately arranged.
Wherever possible, components are positioned in near-perfect little rows. It must make motherboard engineers from other companies weep onto their MOSFETs. Then there's the natty blue-and-black colour scheme and expensive heatsinks for the northbridge and voltage regulation circuitry.
It's nearly enough to make you assume this is a fine board without dissecting the details or seeing the benchmarks. Nearly enough, but not quite.
Read the full Asus M4A88TD-V EVO review
Sapphire Pure 890GX
The number of PC component manufacturers appears to be on the wane. The whys and wherefores are not entirely clear but probably have something to do with the recent financial crisis. That and the general process of consolidation, which most maturing industries experience.
Less choice is never a good thing, so we're fully in favour of having as many players on the scene, even if some are rather, well, occasional, such as Sapphire.
The outfit behind some of our favourite ATI Radeon-based graphics cards, Sapphire offers a modest collection of both Intel and AMD compatible boards.
For now, it offers a single AMD 8 Series model, the PURE CrossFireX 890GX.
Read the full Sapphire Pure 890GX review
Gigabyte GA790XTA-UD4
Stuffing ever-more features and functionality into chips. That's what computing is all about. In the past, ever-increasing transistor counts have enabled the likes of Intel and AMD to make their execution cores more sophisticated, perhaps bolting on extra cache memory or maybe bunging in a floating point unit or three.
More recently, chip engineers have spent their transistor budgets by cramming in more cores. But arguably the most significant current trend is the drive towards SoC or system-on-a-chip designs.
In the context of the PC, that means taking bits off the motherboard and sticking them into the CPU. Bits like the memory controller, I/O and integrated graphics.
The point is that you could argue that mobos are becoming less and less critical. The end game seems to be a dumb board with a few sockets that does little more than connect components and supply power.
Read the full Gigabyte GA790XTA-UD4 review
ASRock 890FX Deluxe 3
A high end board for mid-range money, what's not to like? That's what Asrock hopes you'll think when you clock the 890FX chipset and a £125 sticker. But does this performance-orientated board deliver?
If you're in the habit of tag-teaming multiple graphics cards, Asrock has the bases covered with a trio of PCI Express graphics slots and has gone to town on the northbridge and MOSFET cooling, too.
It's an active arrangement with a fan on the MOSFET cooler connected to the Northbridge via a heat pipe. The only slight downside is that it does impinge a little on space around the socket. That said, it is removable.
Read the full ASRock 890FX Deluxe 3 review
Asus Crosshair IV Formula
There's still something particularly perverse about paying more for a motherboard than a CPU. For high-end Intel chips approaching £1,000, that's not a problem. But almost all of AMD's processors can be had for less than £150.
At £170 this Asus uberboard is therefore more expensive than a six core Phenom II X6 1055T. Put simply, the Crosshair IV Formula needs to be special. Fortunately, it is.
Predictably, the chipset is AMD's flagship 890FX discrete graphics offering. Headline specs start with a grand total of 42 PCI-e 2.0 lanes.
Read the full Asus Crosshair IV Formula review
You might think the motherboard makes little difference to the performance of a modern PC thanks to the highly integrated nature of the latest processors. You'd be partly right.
The difference in terms of application performance between our test boards is frankly negligible. We found that little more than one per cent separates them in the x264 HD video encoding test, for instance.
However, as our benchmarks prove, there's plenty to choose from in terms of storage throughput and overclocking headroom. What these benchmarks don't show, however, is the difference a good BIOS menu can make.
Oh, and for the record all testing was performed courtesy of a test rig using a Phenom II X4 955 BE and 4GB of 1,600MHz-rated Corsair DDR3 memory.
Best AM3 motherboard 2010 is...
Do you jive with integrated graphics? That is the question. At least, it's one of the most important questions when choosing a new motherboard.
Certainly, it's always handy to have an integrated GPU available for emergencies. Likewise, plop an ageing mobo with onboard graphics into a media PC and it can often have several more years of useful life.
What's more, boards with integrated graphics tend to be keenly priced. The problem is cheaper integrated boards traditionally come with less features. It's often the enthusiast friendly options that get the chop.
More to the point, squeezing a graphics core into the northbridge chip only adds to its complexity. Not ideal if you plan to overclock using the processor bus. At least, that's what we used to think.
But this round up of boards based mainly on AMD's latest 8 Series motherboard chipset suggests otherwise. So long as you are using discrete graphics and disable the integrated GPU, you get almost as much overclocking headroom as the fastest discrete graphics chipsets.
Our test boards also prove that even cheaper models often come with a full complement of BIOS options, including overclocking and CPU core unlocking. There's now remarkably little downside to an integrated board.
With that in mind, it's time for the prizes. First for the chop are Gigabyte's GA790XTA-UD4 and the Sapphire PURE CrossfireX 890GX. Both are disappointing with poor overclocking performance, while the Sapphire is short of several features we feel are key, including core unlocking.
Asrock's quirky little 880GMH USB3 is next to fall. Despite impressive overclocking performance, it's not quite cheap enough to offset the lack of SATA 6Gbps support and its lonely singular USB 3.0 port.
As for the Asus M4A88TD-V Evo, it does nothing wrong. But it neither does it do much to justify its price premium over MSI's competing 880G model.
Things start to get really interesting with Asrock's 890FX Deluxe 3. If you're looking for an affordable motherboard based on a high performance discrete chipset you could do a lot worse. With dual USB 3.0 controllers, it's a lot of mobo for the money.
Meanwhile, the Asus Crosshair IV Formula is a lot of board, period. Money no object, it's clearly the best model here. But it's too expensive to take the win.
Instead, the top spot is shared by two boards. Rather sickeningly for the competition, they're both from MSI. With the 870A-G54 and 880GMA-E45 MSI has the bases covered. The 870A-G54 delivers all we could ask for from a cut-price board with discrete graphics, while the 880GMA-E45 adds integrated graphics and crams it all into a handy little microATX package.
Pay your money. Take your choice. Either way, you won't be disappointed with what you buy.
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Review: ngmoco We Farm
We Farm is a casual game, the point of which is to dip in and out, tinkering about with it and showing off all your achievements with other farm owners online. You start with a patch of land that's bare save for a ramshackle house, and from there it's up to you to use the available tools to build up a thriving business.
Lay down a couple of plots and start growing corn, once it has grown you harvest it, sell it and use the money to buy more gardens. As you make more money and level up, you can unlock additional items or build coops to raise birds, pens for raising livestock, milking sheds, barns and more.
In fact, building and upgrading is the real payoff of success as you can improve your farm and its surroundings to an impressive degree, ending up with a massive agricultural operation.
Online integration
And that's where the online stuff comes in. You can invite friends to join you in the fun. There are a couple of problems though.
The social aspects aren't as interactive as they could be, communication being limited to just comparing stuff. Even the shared activities are never entered into – a couple of mini-games would have been nice.
Also, if you want more units of Gro to speed up your progress, you have to buy it with real money and it costs a fortune. And finally, there's a bit too much tending to be done, especially when planting and harvesting faster growing crops.
It's not a game you can leave alone for several hours without loads of stuff dying and your farming ending up in a right old state, which runs counter to the casual premise of the whole thing. Even so, We Farm is irritatingly moreish.
Your farm looks great, it can be endlessly tweaked and messed about with, socialising – while limited – is undeniably enjoyable and, of course, it's free to play.
You'd be daft not to try We Farm, just don't expect too much from it.
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LG to release powerful Nvidia smartphones in Q4
LG has announced a deal with Nvidia to bring its powerful Tegra 2 processor to its mobile phone range later this year.LG is promising that the Tegra 2 chips will be part of its Optimus range of mobile phones, with a UK release date set for Q4 of this year.
The Tegra 2 chips will see the first handsets with dual core CPUs, as well as low-power GPUs for better graphical reproduction and 1080p video processing to boot.
Not only will the dual-core processors help increase battery life, web browsing will be up to two times faster and gaming performance will be five times quicker, compared to today's 1GHz offerings, such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon.
An Xbox in your pocket
LG is also promising 'console-quality' gaming and 3D capabilities, so we could see 3D phones in 2010, which has been much-rumoured for some time.
When Nvidia first launched its Tegra 2 chips earlier this year, they were tipped for use in the tablet market only - so it's interesting to see they've already moved to smartphones.
"LG is committed to making its Optimus Series smart devices the de facto standard in speed and graphics performance," said Chang Ma, Vice President of Marketing Strategy Team for LG.
"We selected Nvidia because it is the visual computing leader and has a long history of creating amazing consumer experiences."
LG is set to release both the Optimus One Android handset and the Optimus 7 Windows Phone 7 in Q4 this year, so we could see a sneaky bit of Tegra 2 in there as well, although we'd expect it's more likely to debut in new Optimus phones.
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Review: Aji iAnnotate
Competent document readers aren't hard to come by on the iPad – GoodReader, for example – but few let you annotate PDFs on the fly in the quick and efficient manner associated with OS X Leopard's Preview. iAnnotate claims to do just that. Fire it up and an uncluttered tabbed interface enables you to work on multiple PDFs at once.
A variety of handy tips drop down to get you started, pointing out a range of easy PDF transfer options, such as transfers via email, iTunes sync, or web-based browsing directly to PDF links.
Dropbox integration is also well realised, while syncing of large libraries via the free desktop companion app is a quick and simple solution. With a few files imported, you can keyword-search your catalogue and keep it organised using new, read, unread and annotated tabs.
Open up a PDF and a neat customisable overlay provides page view and navigation buttons, as well as tools to highlight and underline text, save bookmarks, add notes and create free-form drawings, all of which are integrated into the document. Clicking on the page offers further markup options, including the fabled copy and paste.
Collating your notes is simplified by the facility to separately export marked-up text and annotations via email, while VGA dock connector support means you can even display your PDFs on an external projector and annotate in front of an audience.
However, if the content is sensitive, app-wide password-protection is also at your disposal. The developers at Aji have responded to user feedback generated from the first release and have made mobile integrated PDF editing a joy to undertake.
As such, this latest version of iAnnotate could well tip the balance in favour of making the iPad an essential companion for students and research professionals alike.
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Review: Hemisphere Games Osmos
Osmos is a new entry in the small but growing genre of organism games. Like the early stages of Spore and the Mac game Tasty Planet, the idea here is to move your organism (or mote) around the play area absorbing other motes in order to grow. You can absorb only motes smaller than yourself; touch one larger than you and it'll absorb you. Game over.
In order to move you have to fire off little bits of your mote to achieve opposite thrust. In doing so you have to deal with momentum and be careful not to overuse this means of propulsion or your mote will end up very small again and vulnerable to attack.
You'll encounter motes of varying types, some of which repel you, others having a gravitational effect – all of which radically change the challenge and the approach required to ensure victory in mote world.
Osmos is fascinating and frustrating in just the right measures, and with its cool visuals and ambient soundtrack, it's an experience not to be missed.
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Google's latest doodle is a balls-up
Google has shown off another of its crazy logos, this time it's one you can interact with. The logo comprises coloured balls which you can move around the screen – something which is annoyingly addictive to do... and then just annoying.
Try and figure out the meaning of the logo, though, and you may well fail. This is because there doesn't seem to be any historical significance tying the balls to anything. Which in itself is rather unique for Google.
Google has been tweaking with its homepage logo more and more of late – we're putting it down to far too much 20 per cent time.
This latest doodle comes after Google celebrated the launch of the Buckyball, which had been invented 25 years previous.
So what is the mystery of the balls?
Here are our five top suggestions:
Google Ball Google is to launch a new site where it will test the durability of the world's balls. Everything from beach balls to baseballs will be rated.
Google Bounce: Google is to get in the vehicle business with its rival to the Segway. Called Google Bounce, the contraption looks and feels like a space hopper, except it will track everywhere you bounce and will showcase your bouncy talents on Street View.
Bring on the ball: This is a new initiation test for Google employees, where they have to stand in a metre square and get hit by a massive (rubber) wrecking ball. If they stay standing, then they are worthy of a paycheck from Brin and co.
Masked ball: Google is to announce a worldwide celebration of its doodles by inviting all that has used its search page to a masked ball, where you have to dress up as your favourite doodle. Extra kudos if you turn up as Pacman.
Google Ballpoint: Fearing the internet is going to explode in a mushy mess of porn and double rainbows, Google will announce its branching out into the pen market with the Google Ballpoint. It's just like a normal pen but you will always lose it and will have to 'search' for it everywhere.
One thing the Google logo does use is HTML5, which is a first for the company. So, it may well be that Google is showing off just what it can do with HTML5 within Chrome and Firefox.
As it has lined up an announcement about something tomorrow, maybe the balls will make a little more sense by the end of the week.
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Google Music set for Christmas release date?
Google's much rumoured but still not confirmed music service is looking to launch this side of Christmas, according to industry sources.Wired is reporting that Google's Andy Rubin – who pioneered Android – is meeting with music execs about the service, explaining to them just what Google Music will entail.
Convergence seems to be the key for Google, with it looking to find a seamless way to port music onto Android phones, desktops and the cloud.
Search is the key
One unnamed label exec – he probably fears that if he is unmasked he will never get any of Google's lovely food served at its headquarters again – said about Google's plans: "Finally here's an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform.
"What you'll have is a very powerful player in the market that's good for the music business."
By putting a music service on to Android-based handsets – something the platform sorely needs – it would mean the service has an instant user base, but the main problem so far is trying to make a service that works in the cloud.
Everyone was hoping that iTunes 10 would be this service, instead all we got was some social-networking flourishes added to a tied down system.
If Google Music does launch before Christmas, then this may well be the USP it needs to convince users to ditch Apple's service.
And the signs are already there – given that the search giants bought up streaming service Simplify Media back in May.
Then again, Apple has Lala and it's not exactly used that to propel it into the cloud yet.
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PS3 fixes jailbreak problem with 3.42 firmware update
Sony looks to have fixed its jailbreak problem with a firmware update, after it was found that a program was able to get around the PlayStation 3's Fort Knox like protection system and run non-official games installed to an external hard drive.Although there had been news recently that the jailbreak had hit mobile phones - this was after the PSJailbreak dongle version was banned by Sony - it seems that the games giant has seen fit to add additional "security features" to the PS3 which stops any unauthorised games working on the system.
No longer functional
According to Kotaku, website eXophase was the bearer of bad news to would-be hackers, explaining that "all variants of the USB-hub emulating exploit (PSFreedom, PSGroove, PSJailbreak) are no longer functional".
On Sony's official blog, the 3.42 firmware update is a minor update but one that does add an extra layer of security to the console.
Now that a workaround has been created, it's inevitable that jailbreakers will be going back to the drawing board to create a modified system.
Let the cat and mouse games begin.
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LoveFilm readies backroom staff for digital switch
LoveFilm has announced the arrival of Kristian Segerstrale as non-executive director – a move which highlights just how serious the company is taking its digital strategy.Segerstrale is the CEO and co-founder of Playfish, a company which has made a mint out of online endeavours.
Gaming deals with Facebook has seen Playfish rocket in stature, so much so it was snapped up by EA in 2009 for around £160 million.
Defining film's future
LoveFilm has slowly but surely began taking its digital arm seriously, signing up deals with Sony and Samsung for its app and more recently setting up a movie streaming deal with MGM.
Segerstrale is definitely there to oversee this transition, saying in a release about his new role: "LoveFilm is a pioneer in the shift of media from physical products to digital services.
"They are in the midst of a transformational growth opportunity in home entertainment through new distribution and consumption models similar to that taking place in computer games.
"I'm excited to be involved in LoveFilm's strategy and to be part of defining the future of film and television entertainment consumption."
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Updated: Orange and T-Mobile to offer big network boost
Orange and T-Mobile will offer massively improved network coverage to its users as part of its new Everything Everywhere merger.From 5 October users can sign up to gain access to both networks, meaning coverage in areas where they might previously have had none.
UPDATE: It appears T-Mobile users will only get access to Orange's 2G network, according to T-Mob's forums, so no data unfortunately. We assume it's the same the other around as well, so we'll have to wait until next year until data may be included as well.
The upgrade will be offered at no extra cost, and if the extra signal on offer were to be created by building new cell towers, it would mean billions of pounds' worth of investment.
Better than ever before
"From next month, we will give almost half of the British population the opportunity to use their phones in more places than ever before," said Tom Alexander, CEO of Everything Everywhere.
"As well as continuing to benefit from their existing network, Orange customers will be able to make calls and send texts on the T-Mobile network and T-Mobile customers will be able to do the same using the Orange network."
Improved signal
From next year, the deal will see customers' phones switching to whichever signal is strongest, meaning improved data and better call quality. Orange is also introducing HD voice in the near future.
Alexander has also outlined his vision of a 'multinet' future as Everything Everywhere seeks to give consumers "access what they want, when they want, at the touch of a button.
"It will all be possible due to a complex system of interweaving multiple networks, bringing mobile, WiFi and fixed technologies together to act as a super network."
And if that's not the beginning of a real-life version of SkyNet, we don't know what is...
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Sennheiser's high-end 500 Series cans boast EAR technology
Sennheiser has announced the arrival of its latest high-end range of headphones, the 500 Series.These new cans offer up some premium listening goodness, with the series boasting something called EAR (Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement) technology.
Bad puns aside – earganomic, really? – the 500 series does have some top-end specs, including the use of neodymium magnets and Duofol diaphragms to guarantee natural reproduction, a gold-plated 6.3 mm audio jack and a frequency response of 12 to 38,500 Hertz.
In short: that Lady Gaga/Spice Girls mashup you secretly listen to is going to sound ace with these strapped to your ears.
Everybody Hertz
The 500 Series comes in three flavours: HD598 (padded with a compressed cellulose fleece and hits 38,500 Hertz), HD558 (built with soft velour ear pads and reaches 28,000 Hertz) and the HD518 (comes complete with anthracite finish and can reproduce up to 26,000 Hertz).
Pricing is still to be announced but expect to see these in the shops this month, as the UK release date is September.
Also announced is some new additions to Sennheiser's 'mini' range of headphones.
The PX 90 and PMX 90 offer decent sound reproduction but inside an ultralight chassis – just 52g and 68g respectively.
The PMX 90 goes for a neckband look while the PX 90 favours the more traditional headband. Both have a frequency response of 20-22,000 Hertz.
Again pricing is to be announced but they two have a UK release date of September.
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Sennheiser high-end 500 Series cans boast EAR technology
Sennheiser has announced the arrival of its latest high-end range of headphones, the 500 Series.These new cans offer up some premium listening goodness, with the series boasting something called EAR (Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement) technology.
Bad puns aside – earganomic, really? – the 500 series does have some top-end specs, including the use of neodymium magnets and Duofol diaphragms to guarantee natural reproduction, a gold-plated 6.3 mm audio jack and a frequency response of 12 to 38,500 Hertz.
In short: that Lady Gaga/Spice Girls mashup you secretely listen to is going to sound ace with these strapped to your ears.
Everybody Hertz
The 500 Series comes in three flavours: HD598 (padded with a compressed cellulose fleece and hits 38,500 Hertz), HD558 (built with soft velour ear pads and reaches 28,000 Hertz) and the HD518 (comes complete with anthracite finish and can reproduce up to 26,000 Hertz).
Pricing is still to be announced but expect to see these in the shops this month, as the UK release date is September.
Also announced is some new additions to Sennheiser's 'mini' range of headphones.
The PX 90 and PMX 90 offer decent sound reproduction but inside an ultralight chassis – just 52g and 68g respectively.
The PMX 90 goes for a neckband look while the PX 90 favours the more traditional headband. Both have a frequency response of 20-22,000 Hertz.
Again pricing is to be announced but they two have a UK release date of September.
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In Depth: How OpenAppMkt is giving iPhone owners more choice
One of the continuing criticisms of Apple's iPhone is the inability to load apps that haven't been through the App Store's opaque approval process - unless you're prepared to jailbreak.For many developers, Android presents a more open environment, with fewer potential barriers to entry. However, stories of the riches from Apple's platform make it a tempting proposition anyway.
It's often forgotten that the iPhone supports web apps, which face none of the restrictions imposed by the App Store. However, discoverability can be a problem for applications from small developers if they're not presented front and centre.
OpenAppMkt is an app store that aims to bring fully functional apps, built using open web standards, to the iPhone - with no hassle over approval.
Though entirely web-based, it acts much like the App Store. Go to it via a desktop browser, and it appears similar to the iTunes-bases App Store. Access it on your iPhone, however, and it's a simpler, optimised version. Using the built-in option in Safari, you can add it to your Home screen and access it as easily as Apple's own store.
Familiar categories
You can then browse through familiar categories, including utilities, navigation, games, entertainment and many others. Tap the price button to buy (most are free, but those that aren't can be purchased with debit or credit cards). Follow the simple instructions to install the apps and then access them from the Home screen as if you'd bought them from the App Store - no Apple approval required.
"The mobile web has been largely ignored by developers in favour of native platforms, like Apple and Android, due to the ability to reach users on those native app stores," Teck Chia, CEO of OpenAppMkt, told TechRadar.
"This is despite the fact that, with HTML5, the open web is a better platform for many categories of apps."
Though the iPhone has supported web apps since before the creation of the App Store, they've failed to gain the attention of the wider, mainstream audience in the same way the native apps have. With not only all the attention, but a lot of the money, going on native apps, web apps needed something to push them to the forefront.
MOBILE MARKET: The store is accessible from your iPhone's Home screen, as are all the apps available
Clear advantages
"For most categories of apps, we think the web platform offers clear advantages over native platforms. Most developers already know this on the desktop," Chia explains.
"We've all seen apps transition from native to the web before on the desktop. I think the same thing is going to happen on mobile.
"The motivation [for OpenAppMkt] was to solve the two missing pieces of the mobile web, which are distribution and monetisation."
In fact, the OpenAppMkt actually offers a more generous amount to developers from paid apps than Apple: 80 per cent goes to the creator, rather than the App Store's 70 per cent. However, that extra cut for the developer isn't just an attempt to get one over on Apple - the open nature of the OpenAppMkt means it doesn't need to bring in as much money to be sustainable.
"Our intent was more about giving back to the developer as much as possible, rather than undercutting Apple. We can cover our costs with 20 per cent because we didn't need to hire people to vet and approve each app that gets submitted," Chia told us.
When asked exactly what the 'Open' in OpenAppMkt meant, Chia explained: "'Open' refers to the open web. Our marketplace works very much like the open web, in the sense that it's free to list and publish your web app, and it's curated by the community.
"The submission process is entirely self-service and there's no approval process. When a developer publishes an app, it's instantly available in our app store."
While the Android Market is open, we've still seen Google exercise its right to remove apps, and even remotely delete them. "The only hard rule we have is that we will remove apps that violate laws, or those that have been flagged by many as being harmful or deceiving," Chia added.
When you have native apps running from the device, there's no worry that if the store goes down, your apps cease to function. Chia points out that users are protected here: "All apps are hosted by the developers. We merely act as a proxy to authenticate, process payments and then pass payment information to the app in a safe and private manner."
Many apps will also work when offline. Though the YouTube app is fairly pointless without an internet connection, drawing tool 2B works perfectly once added to your Home screen, regardless of whether you're in a big city or down a cave.
Beating Apple at its own game?
It has been suggested that OpenAppMkt is a way to 'get around' the App Store approval process, and get onto the iPhone without going through Apple. With Google Voice available through OpenAppMkt, but not on the App Store, it's an easy conclusion to come to, but Chia says that this isn't its true purpose.
"We didn't start OpenAppMkt [intending] to 'route around' Apple. We started it to provide a better and familiar platform for mobile developers, and more app choices for end-users," he explains.
"We included Google's web apps in our app store ourselves, and it's analogous to linking to any website on the open web."
Because a link is all that's necessary to make web apps available, OpenAppMkt includes some free ones itself, like Google's array of web apps, and then enables developers to "claim" them if they wish, so they can monetise them. Because of this, the store is like a combination of app market and web aggregator.
OPEN TUBE: The YouTube web app is renowned for being even better than the iPhone's native version
With OpenAppMkt aiming for launch on the iPad and Android next, it has the potential to become the first truly cross-platform app store because the apps themselves don't rely on proprietary code.
However, even though open web standards are at the core of the experience, there are still differences between the devices and operating systems. For example, using some iOS-specific tags, a web app can be made to launch with a splash screen to hide loading times, or can be set to launch with the URL bar hidden (OpenAppMkt apps do both of these).
Obviously, this code won't work on Android phones, so will small niggling differences like these serve to get in the way of users' experiences with web apps? Chia actually sees opportunity for OpenAppMkt in this case, saying that one way the store can add value to apps "is to bridge those differences for developers, so they don't have to worry about them".
Cool HTML5 apps
Though the BBC's Erik Huggers suggested that HTML5 is "starting to sail off course", Chia has no such concerns. "HTML5 is more capable than most developers realise," he said. "It's slowly gaining mindshare, and I'm confident that we'll be seeing a lot of cool apps built with HTML5."
Google seems to be equally confident in web apps, with the Chrome Web Store set to open later this year. Though the search giant is capable of totally eclipsing smaller developers, Chia is confident that OpenAppMkt and Google's store can coexist, and that another outlet for web apps can only be a good thing.
"The Chrome web store is more focused on desktop apps. We are fully focused on mobile apps. We feel that the more places a developer can distribute their apps, the better it is for the entire ecosystem.
"We want developers to realize that they can distribute and monetise their apps on the open web today. We will consider OpenAppMkt to be successful if developers are able to build substantial businesses on the mobile web."
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Duke Nukem Forever gets release date after 13 years
Duke Nukem Forever, the game which was promised as way back as 1997, has finally been given a new release date which will see the title coming out in 2011.The history of Duke Nukem Forever is a long and rather convoluted one which culminated in 3D Realms the maker of the game settling out of court with publishing house Take-Two and eventually collapsing as a company is 2009.
Now Gearbox Software has taken the mantle and Duke Nukem Forever will come out in 2011, according to 2K on its Twitter page.
The game was also shown off at games conference PAX 2010 where, according to 2K, the queue to see a demo of the game was 2.5 hours long and the footage shown was "seamless".
Can't let the Duke die
The boss of Gearbox Randy Pitchford told crowds at PAX that the development of the game was actually complete, explaining: "When Duke ran into trouble, we were glad to [help him out of] a spot. You can't let the Duke die, right?
"We wanted to deliver the game this is supposed to be."
Considering the last Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem 3D) came out when the likes of Quake was vying for gamers' attention, it will be interesting to see how the franchise will fare in the world of Uncharted and the like.
Considering one of the screenshots of the game is of Duke wrestling a shark, we have a feeling he will do just fine.
If we all cross our fingers together, then Duke Nukem Forever will have a UK release date of some time of 2011 and will be released on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Or if ShopTo.net has it right, we could even see the game come out in the UK 19 November 2010. But that does sound too good to be true.
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