NVIDIA Forceware 191.07 WHQL Vista (Windows Vista, Freeware, 99.9MB) [alt DL] unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. Changes: Adds support for OpenGL 3.2 for GeForce 8, 9, 100, and 200-series GPUs and ION GPUs. Accelerates performance in several gaming applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with version 191.07 drivers vs. version 190.62 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings): Up to 12% performance increase in ARMA 2 Up to 8% performance increase in Batman: Arkham Asylum with GPU PhysX enabled Up to 50% performance increase in Call of Juarez: Blood in Bound with SLI enabled Up to 14% performance increase in Fallout 3 (indoor scenes) with antialiasing enabled Up to 10% performance increase in Far Cry 2 (DX9 version) with antialiasing enabled Up to 34% performance increase in Prototype with antialiasing enabled Adds SLI support for Aion, Darkfall, Dawn of Magic 2: Time of Shadows, Dreamkiller, Fuel, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Need for Speed: Shift and more. Includes numerous bug fixes, including the following key fix (additional bug fixes can be found in the release notes on the documentation tab): For graphics cards supporting multiple clock states, 3D clocks correctly return to 2D clocks after exiting a 3D application. Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver IceRocket Tags: nvidia, forceware, driver, vista, windows freeware, whql
]]>GPU-Z 0.3.5 (Windows, Freeware, 436KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU. Changes: ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress) fully supported (includes voltage monitoring) Added or improved support for NVIDIA FX5500, 9400 GT, G73, GTS 240, GT 140, FX 1800, GT 120 (Apple), FX 380, FX 350, GTX 295 Single PCB, Quadro CX, FX 5800, FX 4800, FX 3800, GTX 180M, GTX 260M, FX 2700M, G 110M, GT 120M, GT 220M, FX 1700M, G 105M, MCP79MX Added or improved support for ATI HD 4730, HD 4650 AGP, M92, M96, M98 Added clock reading for Intel i910, i915, i945, 946 Added support for DDR3 detection on G9x Added monitoring support for RV7xx based mobile chips Voltage controller "slaves" are now called "phases" Added Intel Havendale detection Fixed BIOS parsing on some newer HD 4870 cards Added voltage monitoring support for MSI N275GTX Lightning IceRocket Tags: gpu-z, video, graphics, hardware, windows freeware
]]>The GIMP 2.7.0 Beta (Windows, Open Source, 20.9MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction. Also available for Linux. Changes: Change the Text Tool to perform text editing on-canvas Add support for tagging GIMP resources such as brushes and allow filtering based on these tags Separate the activies of saving an image and exporting it, there is now an 'File->Export...' for example Port file plug-ins to new export API which gets rid of many annoying export dialogs Add a simple parser to size entry widgets, images can be scaled to e.g. "50%" or "2 * 37px + 10in" Arrange layer modes into more logical and useful groups Added support for rotation of brushes Make the Pointer dockable show information about selection position and size Get rid of the Tools dockable and move toolbox configuration to Preferences Add status bar feedback for keyboard changes to brush parameters Add diagonal guides to the Crop Tool New docks are created at the pointer position Add support for printing crop marks for images Move 'Text along path' from tool options to text context menu Change default shortcuts for "Shrink Wrap" and "Fit in Window" to Ctrl+R and Ctrl+Shift+R respectively since the previous shortcuts are now used for the save+export feature Make Alt+Click on layers in Layers dockable create a selection from the layer Allow to specify written language in the Text Tool IceRocket Tags: gimp, image, editor, windows open source
]]>OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 (Windows, Open Source, 136.32MB) [alt DL] is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. Also available for Linux. Changes: Fix encoding of URIs of external references and chart data range loss. Java update single fix for possible data loss with graphics in impress/draw And some bugfixes. Thanks to this great software suite, I no longer have to spend big bucks for a new office productivity software license whenever I build a new Windows or Linux machine. IceRocket Tags: openoffice, office, suite, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, database, windows open source
]]>NVIDIA Forceware 190.62 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 78.5MB) [alt DL] unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. Also available for Vista. Changes: Optimized for the latest PhysX gaming titles: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Darkest of Days. Installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0814. Includes several bug fixes. IceRocket Tags: nvidia, forceware, windows freeware
]]>The Gimp 2.6.7 (Windows, Open Source, 16.1MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction. Also available for Linux. Changes: Tablet pan is not working as fast as it should Crashes when using any colors tool/function on Windows GIMP crashes when clicking GEGL Operation on Windows file-jpeg-save erroneous with small quality values Changing palettes from list to grid view loses "locked to dock" status And many more enhancements and fixes If you love taking pictures, and would want to edit them (crop, color enhance, various effects), The Gimp is a fantastic piece of software. It may not be as great as the popular non-free graphics tool, but is good enough for most people. And did I mention it was free? IceRocket Tags: gimp, photo, manipulation, windows open source, linux
]]>Snarl 2.2 Beta (Windows, Open Source, 6.6MB) [alt DL] is a notification system inspired by Growl that allows applications to display a nice alpha-blended message on the screen. Snarl does not hijack the current focused window, nor does it force the taskbar to be visible. Notifications can either be cancelled by clicking on them, or left to disappear automatically if ignored for a period of time. IceRocket Tags: snarl, growl, notification, windows open source
]]>The ATI Radeon HD 4890 is one of many graphics cards in AMD’s Radeon HD 4000 series. It features: 55nm fabrication process PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface Microsoft® DirectX 10.1 support Shader Model 4.1 support 800 stream processing units OpenGL 3.0 support ATI CrossFireX™ Multi-GPU Technology HardwareZone reviewed the PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 Battle Forge Edition card, and gave it a 4.5 out 5 rating: “To sum up, the PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 BF Edition is a very capable card. It offers decent performance and its cooler does the job. What we don't like, however, is that the cooler isn't that much less noisy than the reference model, and also the high power consumption figures (which is to be expected since it's overclocked). Even so, it is still one of the better Radeon HD 4890 cards around, and is definitely great value for money if your heart's set on a Radeon HD 4890.” [HardwareZone | PowerColor PCS+ HD 4890 Battle Forge Edition] If you are interested in looking at what Nvidia has to offer in competition with the HD 4890, you could take a look at the GeForce GTX 275. Technorati Tags: amd, ati, radeon, hd, 4890, directx 10.1
]]>The GeForce GTX 295 (around US$520) is a dual-GPU graphics card from Nvidia that features: 240x2 Stream (Shader) Processors 576 MHz Core Clock 1242 MHz Shader Clock 999 Memory Clock x2 1792 MB Memory HDCP support Two Dual link DVI The Guru of 3D took a close look at the Point of View GeForce GTX 295 single PCB, and gave it the Guru3D Top Pick stamp of approval: “Much like any of our GeForce GTX 295 reviews, we can only conclude that the GTX 295 single PCB graphics card pwns. Really it's a 480 shader processor encounting raw fricking compute monster, I liked the first model when it was released, and I like this version just as well. … Either way, we liked the GTX 295 ever since it was introduced, and this revised model does not make that conclusion any different. If you want to be a total freak and go quad-SLI, you can mix and match the old GTX 295 with this new one, not a problem either.” [Guru of 3D |GeForce GTX 295 single PCB review] Great graphics card to have, if you’ve got money to burn! Need more down-to-earth gaming graphics card suggestions? Head on to cedled’s Game! Technorati Tags: geforce gtx 295, dual GPU, point of view [ad#adbrite-1]
]]>GPU-Z 0.3.4 (Windows, Freeware, 434KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU. Changes: Fixed RV740 Bugs: ROP count, shader count, real-time core clock, BIOS dump size Fixed number of transistors on RV790 Fixed BIOS reading on RV790 NVIDIA driver version is returned correctly on Windows 7 GPU-Z should work again on Windows 2000 without PSAPI.DLL Added voltage reading support for HD 4890 Fixed default clock reading on ATI cards that have default clock < boot clock Fixed GM45 to be 65 nm and DX 10.0 Added release date for GTX 275 Fixed GT 130M to be 55 nm and added its release date IceRocket: gpu-z graphics card utility, windows freeware
]]>DirectX 9.0c (Mar 09) (Windows, Freeware, 92.4MB) [alt DL] is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. IceRocket: directx 9.0c march 2009, windows freeware
]]>The GIMP 2.66 (Windows, Open Source, 15.3MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. Also available for Linux. Bug fixes: lcms plug-in crashes on broken profile changing the help browser preference may not work blur plugin: bug in the first line gimp-2.6 crashed with SIGSEGV in IA__g_object_get() 1-bit white background saved as PBM becomes all black Small bug in Filter>Distorts>Ripple top left pixel position/coordinate is not 0,0 but 1,1 Rotate with clipping crops the whole layer IceRocket: gimp image manipulation, windows open source
]]>NVIDIA ForceWare 182.08 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 77.01MB) [alt DL] software unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. It ensures the best experience with your NVIDIA hardware. Also available for Vista. Fixes: NVIDIA Control Panel: The user cannot create custom resolutions. GeForce 200 Series: Need for Speed Undercover and Dead Space–the applications cannot be run using a Gateway XHD3000H 30” HD monitor at 2560x1600 resolution. GeForce 200 Series: Photoshop CS4–OpenGL settings are grayed out and cannot be set for the application. Note: This release no longer supports GeForce 5-series cards, and older. If you have one of these older cards, Nvidia Forceware 175.19 WHQL is probably the last driver available. IceRocket: nvidia forceware whql graphics driver, windows freeware
GPU-Z 0.3.2 (Windows, Freeware, 372KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU. Changes: Clock reading on ATI cards fixed GT200b is now detected as 55 nm Added detection for GeForce GT 120, GT 130, GT 130M, FX 5200, 9400 GT, 9600 GSO 512, FX 2700M, 9500 GS, Quadro FX 540M, Quadro FX 3700M, 9650M GT, Quadro FX 370M, 9400 IGP, 9300 IGP, 8200M G Added support for S3 Chrome 500 Series Added new ATI logo Fixed screen corruption during screenshot of sensors tab Added support to show lowest, highest and average reading on sensors tab (click on sensor value to switch) Fixed number of texture units on RV730 Fixed Catalyst version reading IceRocket: gpu-z video card gpu info, windows freeware
f.lux (Windows, Freeware, 538KB) makes your computer monitor's lighting adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day. It makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again. You just need to set the correct latitude of your current area in the world, and f.lux will set your monitor’s lighting automatically. At first, this software will feel a bit weird as it approaches night time, giving your display a yellowish tone. I do a lot of computing during night, so f.lux will definitely minimize the stress to my eyes that the brightness of the monitor gives. Nice app! IceRocket: f.lux, flux, display monitor light, windows freeware
ExtremeTech builds a 'Bang for the Buck' based on the Intel Core i7 processor. The result was a combination of peripherals that give you the best value for your money.
Specifications:
Antec 300 case
Antec Earthwatts 650 PSU
ASUS P6T motherboard
Intel Core i7 920 processor
6GB (2x3 DIMMS) OCZ Gold DDR3 Triple-channel 1600MHz memory
Western Digital WD1001FALS Black Ed. 1TB HDD
Lite-On DH401S BD optical drive
AMD ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB graphics card
Creative SoundBlaster Titanium sound card
Logitech Wave keyboard
Logitech G5 mouse
Dell S2409W Widescreen 1920x1080 LCD Monitor
Creative GigaWorks T40 speakers
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit operating system
"This Bang for the Buck turned out more expensive than past efforts, but it's also more forward-looking. ... Even if you're only upgrading, we can't recommend higher each part in this system as it is, in our estimation, the best you can get for your money. Choose wisely, but consider this a guide.
" [ExtremeTech | Build a Bang for the Buck PC]
The total bill for this build was US$2040. Take note that the setup is not a 'budget value system', but a best value and performance for your money build. If you prefer a different component, such as an AMD processor (and appropriate mobo of course) or Nvidia graphics card, you can just change the specs to your liking, using the above components as a guide.
IceRocket : best bang per buck pc, intel core i7
]]>The GIMP 2.6.5 (Windows, Open Source, 15.3MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction. Also available for Linux. Bugs fixed: Scaling image to 25% turn background from white to grey GIMP's GtkScaleButton conflicts with GTK's GEGL tool - missing Operation Settings for all sub-tools don't rely on GtkAction implementation details wrong RGB values for color names in libgimpcolor/gimprgb-parse.c wrong hex RGB value for the color names slategrey and slategray Brushes dragged to the image window look strange Rectangle Select Tool does not allow 1:1 fixed ratio Black pullout parameter of plug-in-newsprint has no effect First image opened in GIMP offset Align Tool doesn't work properly if it is the active tool at startup IceRocket: the gimp photo manipulation, windows open source
JPEG & PNG Stripper 1.5.0.34 (Windows, Freeware, 75.5KB) is a tool for stripping/cleaning/removing unnecessary metadata (junk) from JPG/JPEG/JFIF & PNG files. The image quality is not affected. Includes command line support. Just specify a folder or file on the command line (wildcards allowed). IceRocket: jpeg png metadata stripper, windows freeware
NVIDIA Forceware 181.22 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 72.3MB) [alt DL] is a WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, and 200-series desktop GPUs. Changes: This driver is recommended for the best GPU PhysX experience in EA’s hot PC title Mirror’s Edge. This driver package automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0010. IceRocket: nvidia forceware whql graphics driver, windows freeware
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 (about $400) was recently released. It is based on the GT200 Core Code, and with 55nm Manufacturing Process.
Key Features:
240 Stream Processors 80 Texture Address / 80 Filtering 32 ROPs 648MHz Core Clock 1476MHz Shader Clock 1242MHz Memory Clock 512-bit Memory Bus Width 1GB Frame Buffer 55nm Manufacturing Process GT200 Core Code
Guru of 3D reviewed the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SSC, Inno3D GeForce GTX 285 OC, and Point of View GeForce GTX 285 EXO. The eVGA was the Top Pick:
"... the GeForce GTX 280 was the fastest single GPU on the globe, the GeForce GTX 285 is now the fastest single GPU on the globe. On average it's roughly 10% faster than the reference GTX 280. So an upgrade towards the 55nm node did bring in some additional gaming performance." [Guru3D | GeForce GTX 285 review]
HotHardware tested an EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SSC and a GeForce GTX 285 reference card:
"The new GeForce GTX 285's performance falls right where you'd expect it to--just slightly ahead of the GeForce GTX 280, but behind the flagship GTX 295. Throughout our testing, the reference GeForce GTX 285 performed right about on par with, or barely faster than a GTX 280. However the higher core, shader, and memory clock frequencies of the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SSE Edition gave it a larger edge in performance over the GTX 280. Overall, the dual-GPU powered Radeon HD 4870 X2 and GeForce GTX 295 are faster and more powerful than the GTX 285 in games that scale well with multi-GPU configurations, but the GeForce GTX 285 is the fastest single-GPU powered graphics card available today, hands down." [HotHardware | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 Unveiled]
PCPerspective tested the BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX 1GB and ASUS ENGTX285 TOP 1GB cards:
"... the GeForce GTX 285 is definitely using less power than the GTX 280 card all while running at higher clock speeds and performing better in our gaming tests. The 55nm process might not have paid off as much of a dividend as we were initially hoping on the GT200 design but financially this is a move NVIDIA needed to make. You really can't ask for much more than that! ... If you already own a GTX 280 or even at GTX 260 card, I don't think the GTX 285 is going to add enough performance to warrant the upgrade price but users of the 9-series cards or even 3000-series card from AMD should definitely perk up their ears a bit with the release." [PCPerspective | 55nm GT200: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 1GB Review]
HardwareZone tested the Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition 1GB GDDR3:
"... unlike the GeForce GTX 295, the GeForce GTX 285 is not as groundbreaking and its successes are no where near the scale of that achieved by its more powerful sibling. Sure, it does improve upon performance and efficiency, but it's not to the same extent as what the GeForce GTX 295 did. And without a Radeon HD 4850 X2 on hand, we cannot say with certainty if the GeForce GTX 285 is the best card in its price and performance segment. However, as far as single GPUs go, NVIDIA has clearly one-upped themselves here. The GeForce GTX 285 is certainly an improvement over the GTX 280." [HardwareZone | Cementing First Place - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285]
AnandTech tested the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 in single and SLI configuration:
"In summary, despite its typical 10% performance advantage, the GeForce GTX 285 offers less price/performance than the GTX 280. The closest price competitor to the GTX 285, the Radeon HD 4870 X2, also offers better value, but at a higher price. At the same time, we have reservations about putting our weight behind the 4870 X2 with the driver issues we've experienced lately." [AnandTech | GeForce GTX 285: 55nm Enabling Higher Performance]
Do you want or need the fastest single GPU on the planet? The GTX 285 is it. If you already have a GTX 280, don't expect much of a performance upgrade. This would be good news for those targeting the GTX 280, since it would surely get more price cuts as the GTX 285 goes mainstream.
IceRocket : nvidia geforce gtx 285
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