angshuman

You can modify any .EXE file and set the affinity mask so that it runs only on the cores you want. There's a command-line utility for doing that (it changes the header in the EXE and could sometimes trigger the anti-virus), but I don't recall it's name right now... I'll look into it and get back to you. Edit: It's called ImageCFG. Works like a charm! http://www.robpol86.com/Pages/imagecfg.php

True, true. I was referring to typical x86 systems.

Small irrelevant technicality - you don't really have to physically flush anything from the old cache, whatever new task starts running on that cache will slowly evict your blocks out.

Yes, you're probably right about this. Seems to be a fairly stupid rating at any rate.

That's different, you're talking about off-chip bandwidth. The 2.6GHz etc. is the core processor frequency, and neither Intel nor AMD lie about this. It's just that the Pentium 4's used to do a lot less work per clock-cycle than an Athlon64. Now, the tables have turned somewhat and the Core 2 does more work clock-for-clock than the Athlon64, plus it's clocked higher too which gives it the insane performance.

The feature is completely useless. Older systems used to send Audio CD output directly to the sound card so as not to unnecessarily overload the processor. This could be disabled by turning on the "Digital" option for Audio CDs somewhere in the sound configuration. Nowadays, I don't know if you can even use the "Analog" path any more.

Aah, I think I understand what the "rated at" means. Before Intel's "Core" processors came out, the Pentiums and Celerons ran at far greater clock speeds than their AMD counterparts, although the effective performance was equivalent. Therefore, AMD processors are being "rated at" a higher speed than their native clock speed that is representative of its Intel counterpart. For example, the Sempron 3400 above runs at 2.0GHz, but is actually equivalent to an Intel 3.4GHz. However, the rating should NOT be applied to Pentium 4's, since they are already running at the higher clock speed. For some reason, the software incorrectly applied the multiplier to Volourn's P4 as well, giving it the insane 5.4 rating. It'll be interesting to see how this software "rates" Core 2's. A Core 2 X6800 at 2.93GHz should be rated at around 5.7GHz since you'd likely need a ~5.7GHz Pentium 4 to match an X6800. :D

The interior environments look quite slick, for example in the scene where the guy in metal armor is running with a huge axe. People seem to run with really funny animations in this game though.

Indeed.

You can probably build a MythTV box for yourself for about $600, including a decent video card, a dual-core processor and a Hauppauge TV tuner if your choose your components carefully. Add $100 if you want to use Windows MCE.

What does the "rated at 5.4GHz" mean?b

As far as everyday tasks such as web browsing, e-mail, and local file management are concerned, I would say that most modern distros such as Ububtu and Knoppix would be almost as easy to use as Windows. It's only when you get to system administration tasks (installing software, managing users etc.) that Linux becomes fairly more complex - and rightfully so IMO. For system security, you want only users with a fair amount of expertise to be able to perform such tasks. One of the biggest reasons behind Windows' security issues today is the abuse of Administrator accounts for day-to-day activities. Most people that use a machine for a dedicated application (such as travel agents, cashiers, bank tellers) wouldn't even realize what OS they are using since they are running a single application 24/7. IMO one of the biggest the problem with Linux distros today is that Media/Entertainment support is pathetic. MPlayer and Xine are good products, but nowhere near as polished or as easy to get working as the players available for Windows. We all know the story with games. Microsoft is also trying hard to portray an image of Windows as a media platform. With the new DRM cartel in place, it looks like all OSS is going to be left out of the loop, so the problem is probably going to get worse.

There's a spoiler in there.

What, no instant mana burn? :'(

So, is it true that the Sword Of A Thousand Truths is gonna be in there? (w00t)

Congratulations, Obsidian!

Developers need to rewrite all the shaders in the engine for the multiple code paths (SM2, SM3, SM4 etc). Most codepaths are backwards-compatible (SM2 code will run on an SM3 card), but you can't run SM3 code on an X800 ATi, you'll have to supply SM2 shaders with the engine as well. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I figured this was common place? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> AFAIK very few games of the GeForce6/X800 era actually used SM3.0 shaders. Most devs didn't bother with multiple code paths and stuck to the safe SM2.0. In fact, I think this is true of most games even today, even though both ATi and NV now have SM3.0 products.

Developers need to rewrite all the shaders in the engine for the multiple code paths (SM2, SM3, SM4 etc). Most codepaths are backwards-compatible (SM2 code will run on an SM3 card), but you can't run SM3 code on an X800 ATi, you'll have to supply SM2 shaders with the engine as well.

Yes, XP does ask you to re-activate, but the process is pretty painless and straightforward. This happened to me when I upgraded the BIOS on my motherboard. From what the Inq article said, it may not be as straightforward with Vista.

Vista Hardware Restrictions Ha! Ha! That's the most retarded thing I've heard in years. Either the inquirer didn't accurately reproduce what their sources told them, or Microsoft has completely lost it.

That's Newegg's extended warranty. The standard manufacturer's warranty is always applicable at no additional cost. In general, it's always a good idea to check prices at Newegg, MonarchComputer, ZipZoomFly etc. Newegg is really, really fantastic, not only in terms of their prices but also for their service, returns, etc.

More Vista Fun

I think it would be interesting to see Nvidia's offerings for Core 2.

Yeah, I did do an about turn there. What I meant was, if you try to program your own reasoning abilities into an artificial intelligence, you won't get anywhere. If, however, you just replicate nature's survival of the fittest laws and sit back and enjoy the fun, you could possibly end up with something interesting.