• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $559
  
• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card for $349 at NewEgg after rebate
• Corsair XMS2 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $74 at NewEgg after rebate

• ASUS 8800GTS at Techconnect
  
• ASRock 4Core1333-Viiv and Intel E4400 Performance at Madshrimps
  
• ntel V8 versus AMD 4X4 Platform at Motherboards
  
• BioShock PC Review at Tweaktown
  
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800 2GB Memory at TheTechLounge
  
• Zaward Vivo Cooler at Techpowerup
  
• Leadtek PX8500 GT THD Extreme at Madshrimps
  
• Top Windows Uninstall Methods Guide at TechwareLabs

The hotfixes address a number of stability and performance issues in both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10. Applications affected include BioShock, Company of Heroes, Call of Juarez, Battlefield 2142, Half-Life 2 and others.

• Virtual address space usage in Windows game development
• When a DirectX 10 application runs on a Windows Vista-based computer that has multiple graphics cards, the computer does not use the secondary graphics card

Check it out here!

• Samsung LN-T3253H 32'' LCD TV at NewEgg for $899
  
• Westinghouse TX-47F430S 47" LCD TV from $1499
• GigaByte GeForce 8800 GTX Video Card for $499 at NewEgg

• Intel X38 and AMD RD790 coverage at Tweaktown
  
• Call of Juarez DX10 Performance and Image Quality at [H]
  
• Dell Vostro 200 at TrustedReviews
  
• Managing the acoustics of a Terabyte at Techreport
  
• Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Case at PCApex

Antialiasing can only be forced in BioShock through the graphics card control panel in both Windows XP and Windows Vista, but only in DX9 mode, not in DX10. For Vista, proper DX9 mode will have to forced via the -DX9 switch (See DirectX 10 Detail Surfaces further below for the reason).

• XFX GeForce 8500 GT Video Card at ZZF for $66 after rebate
  
• Acer Aspire AS9300-5349 Notebook from $749
• Syntax Olevia 432V 32" LCD TV for $499 at NewEgg

• Quake Wars Beta Performance at Neoseeker
  
• SimpleTech’s 500GB USB2.0 External Drive at Bootdaily
  
• NEC MultiSync LCD2470WNX at TrustedReviews
  
• The Lovely Ladies of PAX 2007 at OCModshop
  
• Competition at YouGamers

• Updated databases for Detonator and ForceWare drivers. Added databases for ForceWare 162.18, 162.22, 162.50, 163.16 and 163.44
• Added Catalyst 7.7 and 7.8 drivers detection
• Updated Catalyst 7.7 and 7.8 certified SoftR9x00 parch script (for Windows 2000/XP drivers only)
• Updated RivaTunerStatisticsServer v2.4.0 bundled utility
• Updated D3DOverrider v1.4 bundled utility
• Improved hardware monitoring module

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor from $276
  
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $555
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor from $299

• DDR2 Memory Roundup Summer 2007 at Madshrimps
  
• Games Convention 2007: Girls at Techpowerup
  
• ECS P35T-A Motherboard at OCC
  
• Top Uses For a USB Flash Drive at PCMechanic

• Samsung 245BW 24" LCD Monitor for $479 at Dell after rebate
  
• eVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra Video Card for $569 after rebate at Tigerdirect
• WD Raptor 150GB Hard Drive for $179 at NewEgg after rebate

• Zalman GT 1000 Case at Overclockercafe
  
• Coollaboratory Liquid Pro at BurnOutPC
  
• Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi at OCModshop
  
• Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4 at MVKTech

Although DirectX 10 appeared quite a while ago, there are very few games today that really take advantage of its features. Nevertheless, when buying a graphics accelerator, you hardly ever question the need of the latest API support: most users prefer to have a solution with all contemporary features supported.

• HP (Hewlett-Packard) LP3065 Black 30" LCD Monitor from $1299
  
• eVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra Video Card for $599 after rebate at Tigerdirect
• OCZ Technology 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Memory for $69 after rebate

• XFX's GeForce 8600 GT 620M XXX at Bit-Tech
  
• Sennheiser CX-300 In-Ear Headphones at OCModshop
  
• CoolIT PCI Cooling Booster at Tweaknews
  
• Icy Box IB-266StUS-B External HDD Enclosure at OCIA

In the mean time, you can look over this handy-dandy price trend chart. It will be easy to maintain since I update our PriceGrabber feeds with the lowest priced graphics cards on a weekly basis.

Gigabyte and Newegg are cornering the market on the GeForce 8800 GTX, which dropped nearly $30 since August 13th.

Please note that as you browse through PriceGrabber, some graphics cards may feature rebates. Pay special attention to those items as well.

For example, in the screenshot below, draw your attention to the $30 rebate comment, which drops the XFX GeForce 8800 GTX's final price to $499.

• Dell 2707WFP 27" LCD Monitor from $1019
  
• OCZ Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $94 after rebate
• MSI GeForce 8600 GTS Video Card for $138 after rebate

• Samsung SyncMaster 245B 24in Monitor at TrustedReviews
  
• Biostar's TP35D2-A7 and TP35D3-A7 Deluxe motherboards at Techreport
  
• Kingston 2GB PC2-6400 CL3 at Techgage
  
• WolfKing Timberwolf FPS Gaming Keyboard at OCC

• Samsung SyncMaster 245BW 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $499
  
• Samsung 226BW Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $299 at New Egg after rebate
• OCZ Technology 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $171 at Clubit after rebate

• BFG GeForce 8600 GT OC at Guru3d
  
• DDR3-1600 SDRAM at XBitlabs
  
• Apevia X-QPack 2 Aluminum Case at OCC
  
• Corsair Survivor 8GB Flash Drive at GideonTech
  
• Evoluent Verticle Mouse 3 at TechwareLabs
  
• Crucial DDR2-800 2GB Memory Kit at Thetechlounge

• Bioshock for $39
  
• BFG Technologies GeForce 8800GTX Video Card from $511
• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card for $349 after rebate
• Samsung SyncMaster 305T Black 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $1249 at Buy.com

• XFX Geforce 8600 GT XXX at HardOCP
  
• Sparkle's Calibre 8500GT at Techgauge
  
• Intel's E2140 & E2160 at Neoseeker
  
• Antec P182 Performance One Elite Computer Case at Tweaknews
  
• 2GB Corsair 1800MHz DOMINATOR CL7 DDR3 Memory at Legitreviews
  
• DFI Infinity P35 Blood-Iron Overclocking Test at Madshrimps
  
• AMD 6000+ AM2 X2 Processor at OCC

Feedback threads:

Windows XP

Windows Vista

There are a number of threads on BioShock in the gaming forum. This game is drawing a huge following:

BioShock Gold

BioShock PC Demo Released

BioShock Fileplanet Demo Released

BioShock PC Demo HTTP Links

Official BioShock Reviews and Feedback Thread

Several reasons to believe BioShock has been "console-ised" (PC tweaks)

Post your BioShock benchmarks here

BioShock demo not working for anyone else?

Vizio shipments soared 76.4% to 606,402 units from 343,704 in the first quarter, iSuppli said. As a result, Visio's share of the U.S. and Canadian markets rose to 14.5% from 9.4%.

The sales surge rocketed Vizio from fifth place to the top spot, passing Samsung, Philips, Sharp, and Sony, the research firm said. The brand went from unknown a year ago to the top position because of a combination of low-priced products and high-powered sales channels.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $555
• XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra Video Card for $589 at NewEgg after rebate
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor from $279

• Bioshock PC Demo
  
• Foxconn GeForce 8600GTS at ChileHardware
  
• Cooler Master Real Power M700 PSU at Tweaktown
  
• Sunbeam Silent Whisper Cooler at Overclockercafe
  
• Logitech X-240 2.1 Speaker System ThinkComputers
  
• Zalman ZM-600 HP 600 watt Heatpipe Cooled Power Supply at Hi-Techreviews

• Samsung SyncMaster 305T Black 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $1299
• OCZ OCZ2G8004GQ 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $173 at NewEgg after rebate
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual Core Processor from $198
• Antec TP3650 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails for $79 at NewEgg after rebate

• Bioshock on Steam
  
• Leadtek 8800GTS 640MB at TheTechLounge
  
• ASRock ConRoe 1333-DVI/H and Intel E2140 Budget System at Madshrimps
  
• Zalman ZM-DS4F at Techpowerup
  
• Swiftech H20-120 Compact Water Cooling at 3DGameman
• Arctic Cooling and Zalman GPU Coolers at Driverheaven

We learned that the XXX Edition handles the majority of games at 2560x1600 with 4x AA. But how does it perform at 1920x1200 with 4x and higher levels of AA?

When AA was disabled, F.E.A.R. with soft shadows had an average frame rate of 91 fps while Far Cry with High-Dynamic Range (HDR) scored 110 fps.

Note that these results were run with a beefier processor (Core2 Duo E6850) than the one used in the XXX Edition review (E6700).

Also note that the results are for Windows XP. It's been a few weeks since I logged onto Vista 

If you would like to see the differences in imaqe quality between the three AA modes, we've gotcha' covered - click here.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $576
• ViewSonic 28" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $649
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor from $279

• XFX’s GeForce 8800 Ultra at Bootdaily
  
• Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard at Overclockerclub
  
• Ultra Products X3 1000 watt PSU at Hi-Techreviews
  
• CoolIT Systems Eliminator at OCIA
• ThermalTake's Toughpower 1000W PSU at DVHardware

• XFX GeForce 8500 GT Video Card for $59 at ZZF after rebate
• Crucial 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Memory for $79 at NewEgg after rebate
• Corsair XMS2 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Memory for $76 at NewEgg after rebate

• Intel E6750 CPU at OCC
  
• Gigabyte's Silent GeForce 8600 GT and 8600 GTS at HardOCP
  
• Pinnacle PCTV HD Stick at Techzone
  
• Phantasmic Case Part I Modification Guide at TechwareLabs
• GIGABYTE GT-U8000-RH Digital TV Tuner at Tweaktown

Not familiar with Clive Barker's work? Think Undying. We dare you 

This roundup is all about 22” LCD monitors that have hit the shops but recently. A couple of years ago this diagonal just didn’t exist although 23” and larger monitors were already available and even enjoyed some popularity (making allowances for their high price). Thus, the arrival of 22-inchers is not another stage of progress but an occupation of a market niche previously unattended to.

Having seen the results of the hotfix, we can unequivocally say that anyone doing serious gaming under Windows Vista should install the hotfix (and the latest drivers for their video card) at the first chance they get. It's not a solution to the 2GB barrier, but it is a solution to Vista's extreme virtual address space usage. For gamers who are or may be experiencing crashes related to the 2GB barrier, and who are weary of the fixes we outlined in part 1, this is the best solution to resolving the problem for now.

The WowWiki widget opens as a pop-up, or overlay in front of the World of Warcraft game being played. It's transparent, so the user can see what's happening behind it, and it doesn't take up too much of the screen.

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor from $279
• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card for $339 at NewEgg after rebate
• Corsair DOMINATOR 2GB PC2-8500 DDR Memory for $152 at Tigerdirect after rebate

• NVIDIA Mid Range 8600 GT vs 7600 GT Performance at Madshrimps
  
• Hitachi's Deskstar 7K1000 Hard Driven at TechReport
  
• Gigabyte 8600GTS 256MB Silent Pipe 3 at Techgage
  
• LTB Magnum 5.1 AC97 Headphones at OCC

• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTX Video Card for $489 at Buy.com after rebate
• Antec P182 Black Midsize Tower from $127
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor from $279

• Nvidia nForce 680i SLI lab update at Bit-Tech
  
• Foxconn GeForce 8400 GS at Chilehardware
  
• Syfer Laptop Alarm at Techarp

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $499
• Samsung 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $499 at NewEgg after rebate
• PC Power Cooling PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad 750W PSU for $199
  

• Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 vs E6300 at Madshrimps
  
• Four Mainstream Cases at XBit
  
• eVGA 650i Ultra Motherboard at HardwareLogic
  
• Asus Arctic Square CPU Cooler at Viper Lair

• NVIDIA Premiers Its First Short Film "The Plush Life"
• NVIDIA and AMD Highlight World-Class Workstation Synergy at SIGGRAPH 2007
• Rendering Performance Jumps to Real-Time Levels With New Gelato Software
• NVIDIA Smashes Visual Compute Density Record with New GPU Server

Congratulations!

Highlights of the 2nd quarter included:

• The GeForce desktop and notebook product lines each achieved record revenue. The desktop GPU product line grew 37 percent year-over-year, and the notebook GPU product line grew 129 percent from last year.

• NVIDIA continued to capture leading share in five GPU categories, according to Mercury Research:

  
  
  • Total Standalone - 66 percent
  • Total Desktop Standalone - 65 percent
  • DirectX 9 - 64 percent
  • DirectX 10 - 75 percent
  • Total Notebook Standalone - 68 percent
  
  

• In May, NVIDIA announced its most comprehensive and successful notebook GPU offerings to date. The new GeForce 8M Series GPUs are now available on the new Santa Rosa platform from top PC OEMs such as Acer, Apple, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba. The two most notable design wins are the new Lenovo ThinkPad T-Series, NVIDIA's first ever with Lenovo ThinkPad, and the new Apple MacBook Pro notebooks.

• In June, NVIDIA launched the Tesla product line, its entry into the high-performance computing industry. HPC Wire, the most recognized and accessed news and information site covering the entire ecosystem of high productivity computing, named the Tesla product line as one of the most significant launches in the HPC industry in the first half of 2007. The Tesla family consists of the C870 GPU Computing Processor, the D870 Deskside Supercomputer, and the S870 1U Computing Server.

• The NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI motherboard powers the new Maximum PC Dream Machine 2007. This is the third consecutive year in which an nForce product has been selected as the Dream Machine motherboard of choice. Maximum PC, the number one magazine for home computing enthusiasts, chose the nForce 650i SLI motherboard because of its over-clocking ability with quad-core CPUs and SLI technology support.

• NVIDIA introduced an entirely new line of G8X-based next-generation professional notebook GPUs -- the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M, 570M, and 360M products. Each features the Unified Shader Architecture, Shader Model 4.0, and GPU Computing capabilities.

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor from $279
• Patriot 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $224 at NewEgg rebate after
• OCZ Gold Gamer eXtreme 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $65 at NewEgg after rebate

• BFG 8800 GTS OC2 640 MB at Neoseeker
  
• Toshiba X205 First notebook w/ DX10 at Boot Daily
  
• Biostar's TF7050-M2 Motherboard at Bit-Tech
  
• Sunbeam Tuniq 3 Case at Overclockercafe
  
• Noctua Case Fan at Ninjalane
  
• CellShock PC2-9200 (DDR2-1150) 2GB at Overclock3D

• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB Video Card for $339 at NewEgg after rebate
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor from $279
• Samsung SyncMaster 305T Black 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $1259
• Westinghouse LCM-22w3 Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $239

• Bigfoot Networks' Killer NIC at Techreport
  
• OCZ Technology PC2 9200 Reaper Memory at Guru3D
  
• HP w2207 22in LCD Monitor at TrustedReviews
  
• Sunbeamtech 3D Storm ATX Case at Madshrimps

• GPU Gems 3 is the latest in a series of collections of cutting-edge GPU programming techniques for computer graphics and parallel computing from NVIDIA. The book is designed for software developers and scientific researchers who want to exploit the immense parallel processing power of the GPU.
• The techniques in GPU Gems 3 enable game developers to create ultra-realistic characters, better lighting, and post-rendering compositing effects. The awesome processing power of NVIDIA programmable GPUs can also be used for non-graphics applications, such as physics simulation, financial analysis, and even virus detection—particularly when coupled with the new NVIDIA CUDA programming architecture.
• GPU Gems 3 is a full-color, hard-bound book of approximately 1,000 pages published by Addison-Wesley. It will be available at the SIGGRAPH 2007 bookstore and at major book retailers including Amazon and Borders.
• The book includes contributions from more than 20 companies including Apple, Crytek, Electronic Arts, Microsoft Research, Infinity Ward, SEGA and NVIDIA; and contributions from more than 15 academic institutions including Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Imperial College of London, the University of Illinois and the University of Tokyo.
• GPU Gems 1 & 2 were published by Addison-Wesley in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
• More information and sample chapters are available at developer.nvidia.com/gpugems3

A high-resolution image (2560x1600) of the human-head demo that is featured on the front cover can be found in our review of the XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra XXX Edition.

The human head demo is the best 3D graphics rendering demo I've witnessed to date. Seeing it on a Dell 3007WFP LCD monitor, was like seeing the face of a person that is sitting directly in front of you.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $579
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual Core Processor from $211
• GeIL Ultra 2GB 240Pin DDR2 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory for $119 after rebate

• XFX 8400 GS 256mb at Overclock3d
  
• ECS G33T-M2 MicroATX Motherboard at OCC
  
• Gigabyte V-Power Videocard Heatpipe Cooler at Tweaknews
  
• Interactive Intel processor product ID guide at OCInside

The Wrath of the Lich King also raises players' maximum experience cap to level 80, up from level 70, set by the previous expansion pack, The Burning Crusade. There's also a new profession called Inscription, which enables users to augment spells. New character customization features have been added, a new dungeons and treasures are included, as well.

In typical fashion, Blizzard is staying mum on when to expect the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime said in a statement that Blizzard is "looking forward to sharing further details with everyone as development progresses."

• Samsung 245BW 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $479 at Dell
• Corsair XMS2 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $69 at NewEgg after rebate
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor for $279 after rebate

• AMD's Opteron at Anandtech
  
• Sharp LC52XD1E 52in LCD TV at TrustedReviews
  
• Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H Motherboard at OCC
  
• Revoltec Zirconium RT-101 ATX Case at Madshrimps
  
• Core2Duo E6420 at HardwareOC
  
• Hard Drive Buying Guide at Techarp

(Todd) Hollenshead (Chief Executive at id) said the new "tech5" engine would make it easier for developers to design games that are better looking and can be easily modified to run on different gaming systems, a process that normally takes months and pushes up costs.

"It allows a single studio team to make four versions of our game without outside help," Hollenshead said. "You can have massive outdoor environments and make them look glorious down to pixel level without any performance issues."

• Toshiba Satellite A135-S4527 Notebook from $699
• Samsung 226BW Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $299 at NewEgg after rebate
• Logitech G15 Backlit Gaming Keyboard w/ LCD for $51 at NewEgg after rebate

• Western Digital WD7500AAKS 750GB SATA HDD at Hothardware
  
• Corsair DDR3 Product Preview at HardOCP
  
• Ultra X3 1600W Modular PSU at 3DGameman
  
• Lexmark Z1420 Wi-Fi Enabled Inkjet Printer at Trustedreviews
  
• Samsung Digimax S700 Digital Camera at Madshrimps
  
• Antec SpotCool at OCC

Far Cry's Regulator level was specifically used to determine the impact of enabling adaptive AA, or transparency AA, which NVIDIA refers to on their GPUs. The impact was steep, when compared to the GeForce 8800 GTX, as shown by the 22 fps result.

On the positive side, the Sapphire HD 2900 XT actually outperformed the GeForce 8800 GTX in Quake 4. Could that be the result of ATI's work on their OpenGL drivers or maybe the 512-bit memory interface of the X2900 XT?

Additional testing, including noise levels and image quality comparisons, will continue over the next few weeks.

Feedback here.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor from $289
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Quad Core Processor from $579
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual Core Processor from $210

• C2D E6750 Review at Neoseeker
  
• GeForce 8600 Series Round Up at tech-Hound
  
• DFI LANPARTY UT NF680i LT SLI-T2R at XBit
  
• Tagan 2-Force II TG700-U33 700w PSU at Overclock3d
  
• AMD's 690G chipset at Techreport
  
• Kingwin 800W Mach 1 PSU at Overclockercafe

• SLI PC Rig of the Month - July 2007 Winner


• Case Modding Guide: Part 2


• Are You Ready for QuakeCon 2007? NVIDIA is! Come and join us!

• Corsair DOMINATOR 2GB PC2-8500 DDR Memory for $152 at ZZF after rebate
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor from $299
• Patriot Performance 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $214 at NewEgg after rebate
• Samsung LN-T4661F 46" LCD TV from $1849

• OCZ Introduces DDR3-1800 at Anandtech
  
• Realtek Resolves EAX Issues at TechReport
  
• Corsair VX450W PSU at LegitReviews
  
• Dark Power Pro 1000 Watt PSU
  
• Viewsonic 22inch Monitor at Tweaknews