Intel Extreme Masters - Dubai

posted by Michael Brito on November 05, 2009

The plane ride to Dubai was interesting. I got to the airport about two and a half hours early, and had a connecting flight to Atlanta. The thing was, it was storming in Atlanta, and in order for me to make my flight in time to Dubai, I would need to get on an earlier flight. I was lucky because there was one departing shortly and I had come early enough to grab that one. Chance, my Quake Live teammate on EG, was supposed to go from Omaha to Atlanta and go to Dubai with me on that same flight. The stormy situation in Atlanta was much worse for him, he would only have a window of about 15 minutes to get off the plane and take the train to the proper terminal to board. I was there telling him what gate and everything on the phone, and he raced over. He showed up out of breath but happy, it was actually pretty funny. The plane ended up not departing until like 30 minutes after it was scheduled to, even though the boarding was on time.

 

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Intel Extreme Masters - China

posted by Michael Brito on November 05, 2009

We started off our team trip to Chengdu, China on a very high note.  Coming from New York, where the Counter-Strike division had just won the World Cyber Games USA national championship, confidence was high.  After winning the WCG title on a Sunday, we rushed to the airport (after doing some laundry) the next morning to fly directly to Chengdu.

 

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The holidays are coming... what's on your Intel wish list?

posted by Todd Christ on November 04, 2009

Computers have changed our daily schedule so much in the past few years, and as we slowly creep into the holiday season, what is on top of your holiday list this season?

Do you envision building the baddest of Core i7 gaming rigs?

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My Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade experience rates 7 out of 7!

posted by Todd Christ on October 22, 2009

I’ve been dying to do this upgrade for a while, and I finally did the upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate! Yes, I said “upgrade”, mostly because I just wasn’t ready to do a full OS rebuild on my Core i7. But I also wanted to try out the upgrade feature that is so highly acclaimed…

Sixty-five minutes later… I was pleasantly surprised!

There are several choices in the Windows 7 OS realm… but as many of you know, I’m into the Extreme side of things…

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Intel Core i7 Custom Challenge

posted by Michael Brito on October 05, 2009

Intel is celebrating the launch of the new family of Intel® Core™ i7 and Core™ i5 processors by challenging the world's best mod enthusiasts to rock the world in the Intel® Core™ i7 Custom Desktop Challenge. This  challenge rewards enthusiasts for creating incredible mod desktops that envision the possibilities of tomorrow's technology.

The contest is promoted in coordination with our Intel Channel Partner members, sponsors (CPU Magazine, Extreme Tech, PC Mag) and other media publications and blogs.

Here are the deets:

• Design a cool desktop and submit your mod to the site
• Tell your friends to come vote for  your mod
• Follow us on Twitter or join the Fan Page to stay up date with the latest

Be sure to check out the site for more details on the contest and let's get it started!

 

Affordable Performance: How the NEW Intel Core i7 helps you to "Get Your Game ON!"

posted by Todd Christ on September 22, 2009

When people ask me for recommendations on buying (or building) a new PC, my first question is ‘How much do you want to spend’ - because like anything, you usually get what you pay for. Everyone who’s wanted Intel Core i7 performance can now purchase it, without worry - it’s gonna ROCK!

If you’re like most people, you want a new PC that will play the latest games, manipulate your media files, and not cost and arm and a leg. You want the best ‘bang for the buck’ that you can buy in a computer today. With the latest Intel Core i7-800 Series, and Intel Core i5-700 Series Processors in conjunction with the new Intel P55 Chipset - you CAN have the best of both worlds.

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Play the year's top indie games for free

posted by Michael Brito on September 18, 2009

Top indie games according to whom? Glad you asked. Sid Meier, Will Wright, and a panel of esteemed judges helped select the winners of this year's Intel Level Up Game Demo Challenge - showcasing the world champs of indie games. Want to take a look? All of the winning game demos are available for you to play at www.intel.com/software/levelup2009.

Indie developers from around the world submitted their best work for a chance at huge prizes and an industry breakthrough. The judges had their hands full narrowing down the group of 22 finalists to just seven winning demos. Awards were given to the top three demos in three categories, as well as an honorary award for the Judge's Choice. The winners were announced on Wednesday at the Austin GDC.

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The Intel Core i5 Processor - what's in your gaming PC?

posted by Todd Christ on September 08, 2009

If you've been waiting for the Core i5 Processor - then wait no longer! This CPU was just released and the reviews look pretty darned amazing!

The newest Core i5 45nm chips give you multi-threaded performance for faster multi-tasking, digital media creation, and gaming - and they're priced just right!

Socket 1156 is born! Here are the new chips that fit the new socket!

• Core i7 870 2.93 GHz; 4 cores & 8 MB Intel® Smart Cache
• Core i7 860 2.8 GHz; 4 cores & 8 MB Intel® Smart Cache
• Core i5 570 2.66 GHz; 4 cores & 8 MB Intel® Smart Cache

And don't forget to snag a new P55 based motherboard to match up to your new gaming processor!

Who's planning to build one of these guys? This is definitely my current recommendation for those who wish to build a gaming rig on a budget - bang for the buck!

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PAX 2009 - Here we come!

posted by Michael Brito on September 02, 2009

The Penny Arcade Expo kicks off on Friday, and we couldn't be more excited. The show is expecting a sold-out crowd of 60,000+, and if the crowds at QuakeCon and BlizzCon are any example, there are sure to be thousands of passionate and impressive gamers in the midst. In fact, PAX has a pretty cool tournament, the Omegathon, that's designed to test the skills of the best gamers. Twenty contestants will compete in six rounds for the ultimate gaming showdown where they'll play Mario Kart Wii, Bookworm Adventures, Halo 3: ODST, an unnamed rhythm game, Conneow!ct Four and a final mystery round. Should make for a great show.

Even if you're not able to make it to PAX, Intel's running a contest where you can Choose a Champion for the PAX Omegathon. Anyone who guesses correctly will be entered to win a Velocity Micro Edge Z30 desktop powered by Intel technology. But you gotta act fast - the contest closes on Friday at 10 a.m. PDT before the doors to PAX officially open.

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Intel Solid State Drives - SOLID!

posted by Todd Christ on September 02, 2009

This video gives a whole new meaning to ‘durable computing’…

and for those of you who don’t like math… 70C is 158F (that’s HOT!)

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Blizzcon Goodie Bag - and a video montage of the event...

posted by Todd Christ on August 26, 2009

Ok - I’ll be totally honest here… when I was first invited to goto Blizzcon - I hesitated. Why? Well, for one - I’m not a Warcraft player, I’ve seen Starcraft, and many of my friends have lost countless hours playing the Diablo series games… so why wasn’t I hooked on these games?

After attending Blizzcon - I now realize why Blizzard’s ‘accidental community’ is such a strong community… it’s a mix of the people, the game lore, the artistry involved - and finally - the games themselves!

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Starcraft 2 Fans - Blizzcon didn't forget about you!

posted by Todd Christ on August 24, 2009

From my previous Blizzcon blogs, you know that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo 3 have been previewed already - but many of you are die-hard Starcraft fans too! Whether you’re a Protoss, Terran or Zerg - this to be released game looks awesome!

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Quakecon, Blizzcon and PAX - Oh My!

posted by Regina Wu on August 24, 2009

The busy gaming season is upon us, and I've found myself flying around the country and living out of a suitcase once again.  Thus far I have been to both Quakecon and Blizzcon, with PAX approaching soon.

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Blizzcon 2009 - Day Two Videos

posted by Michael Brito on August 23, 2009

Day two was even more fun than day one.  Check out the video below:

 

Diablo 3 at Blizzcon - can't wait!?!

posted by Todd Christ on August 22, 2009

Diablo 3 is one of those long awaited games that is being demo’ed at Blizzcon 2009 and wow does it look great! On the first day, we got to see a short video of a new player class: The Monk! Check it out!

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For the Alliance? or Horde? Blizzcon 2009 is simply amazing!

posted by Todd Christ on August 22, 2009

As an online gamer, I’m pretty used to ‘community’ practices - finding friends, joining clans, online forums - but this Blizzard crew blows them all away! I’ve had a chance to walk the whole floor, and the amount of energy is just awesome at Blizzcon

I’ll keep this blog short as the booth is pretty busy - but for your World of Warcraft fans, here’s a quick video of the new Cataclysm update

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Update from Blizzcon 2009

posted by Michael Brito on August 21, 2009

I have to say that this is much more than I expected; and despite the occasional Blood Elf and Night Elf walking around in full character, everything else seems to be somewhat normal.

In fact, this place is so packed with several thousand World of Warcraft gamers and enthusiasts, I almost want to run down to the local GameStop and grab me a copy of one.

Below are some photos I captured of several winners of the "Game On" contest and random folks here attending the conference.  I also took some video below. It's been great getting to know many of them personally in just a few hours of being here at Blizzcon.  Day one almost over.

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Highlights from QuakeCon 2009

posted by Michael Brito on August 19, 2009

More than 6,000 passionate gamers showed up in force at QuakeCon 2009 this past week in Grapevine, Texas. In fact, after setting up the Intel booth the night before the event we peeked next door and were amazed to see thousands of people already waiting in line for the Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) gaming area. The systems these gamers had were pretty cool too - some of them looked as if they could power a small country.

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Blizzcon 2009 - We're going to Anaheim!!!

posted by Todd Christ on August 14, 2009

Blizzcon - a massive event for the most Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) creator - BLIZZARD Entertainment!

Yes - the software monstrosity that brings us games like StarCraft, Diablo, and World of Warcraft is having their annual Blizzcon event next weekend! And I’ll be there! (scary huh?)

They love to give away top prizes for dressing up as your favorite characters - things like Alienware Laptops, Gaming Mice, and High-Dollar photo/video software!

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Sacramento LANFest 2009 - food, friends and lots of FUN!

posted by Todd Christ on July 30, 2009

I remember attending my first LAN Party back in the mid-90s - a small group of us; maybe 8 to 10 people at a friend's house. We played Quake 2 for about 10 hours... It wasn't so much the game-time that got us together - but it was the food, the friendships and the competition that pumped us up!

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Friday Night Fights - Intel Style!!!

posted by Todd Christ on July 02, 2009

$80,000 in prizes are up for grabs.

When gamers get together - great things happen! I’m going to give this site a shot and try my best to frag some of the finest in gaming… that’s right, I’m going to be online - hoping to get some frags!!! Destructoid has brought back Friday Night Fights!

The games are ON, and the competition starts Friday July 3rd (here in the US) I’ve never tried Quake Live - so this should be fun!

Although, I’m not doing very well on the “Cosmic Cannon” game… (no laughs please!)

You can find more data on Friday Night Fights using Twitter #fnf hash tags, or even add @Dtoid into your favorite Twitter apps… plus you can add @Toadster too if you want (I’m pretty chatty lately about technology!)

In the words of Duke Nukem… COME GET SOME!

 

E3 Madness and Bustin' Ghosts

posted by Regina Wu on June 23, 2009

The Electronic Entertainment Expo has now come and gone - but the show has definitely returned to its former glory.  I daresay it's even better than before, as the show floor was less like a can of sardines and the line waits were quite reasonable.

It's really hard to figure out where to start when talking about E3; I saw so many games that it can be difficult to remember all of the awesome titles that were shown.  I'll do my best to capture all the ones that I'm the most excited about here though.

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Building a better, faster, multi-core Tomorrow @ Kid to Work Day!

posted by Todd Christ on June 16, 2009

Each year, I get the opportunity to volunteer at our local campus to help setup Kid to Work Day - many companies have promoted this type of activity where the employees can bring their kids to work to see what happens on a daily basis. Well, for the past 6 years - I’ve been lucky enough to host the Technology Showcase and we get to have some fun with new technology! As a member of the site committee, we get a small stipend to showcase new PC technology to Intel employees and their kids… Our Technology Showcase is always a hit, and we usually get over 2,000 visitors in one day.

Usually there are a handful of us working on the setup - and we provide 20-40 Core2 Duo systems for the kids to try out new techologies. But this year, we’ve added the Core i7 to the mix and what a setup! We built a couple Intel Core i7 Workstations setup with quad monitor displays - can you say WOW!?! What’s even more crazy is that this setup can be built for about $2.5k - I’m not kidding!

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Ever have one of those days?

posted by Regina Wu on May 29, 2009

We've all been there - you're inches away from reaching your goal, but then something happens to make you fall flat on your face.  I've had a string of these incidents happen to me lately while gaming - frustration after frustration.  It's like my gaming life has been one big fail blog entry after another.

The worst offender by far is in Left 4 Dead.  After Valve released the awesome survival mode content, I rounded up the troops and we proceeded to dominate the maps one at a time, going for the gold medal.  For those who have not played the game, or this mode before, the basic premise is that you and your 3 friends try to survive the zombie onslaught for as long as possible.  If you make it past 4 minutes, you get a bronze medal; after 7 minutes you earn a silver medal, and 10 minutes is the coveted gold medal. 

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Tomorrow's games are being created today...

posted by Todd Christ on May 20, 2009

As an update to my previous blog, I did take the multitude of responses and added a 2nd video card to my home PC, and the experience only got better! Now the Core i7 has increased input from the SSD, and increased output via the twin video cards! It’s EXTREME!

While I’m not opposed to manually tweaking a system, I was asked to try the latest Intel® Desktop Control Center which turns out to be a pretty decent little app. I was able to get my Core i7 965 overclocked to 4GHz! I may not set any world records, but man this machine eats everything I can throw at it! You can see my IDCC graphic on twitter.

For a speed comparison - many people are familiar with the ability to take a DVD and convert it to a mobile format. I used a utility to extract my DVD into an ISO format so it could reside on my SSD, then I used a separate app to convert the DVD into mp4 format for my iPOD. Normally, this process of converting to mp4 on my old quad core system (and spindle hard drive) would take about 20-25 minutes - not shabby, eh?

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I've been 'smacked over' by Intel's latest Extreme Hardware!

posted by Todd Christ on February 23, 2009

This past weekend I was able to upgrade my home PC with the latest in Intel hardware - wow I love this stuff!

Motherboard: Intel DX58SO (Smackover) - cool demo Processor: Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Processor (3.2GHz) SSD: Intel X25-M (80GB) Solid State Drive (SSD)

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Why I'm upgrading to an Intel Core i7 based computer...

posted by Todd Christ on February 19, 2009

From my previous blog, many of you now know that I’m into PC gaming - but that’s just a glimpse of what I use my PC for. The modern PC is a “media engine”.

I’m upgrading my PC at home to the latest in Intel’s processor, motherboard, and storage architectures - and here’s why…

The Internet brings information at a near instant rate, and those of you with high-speed internet access can relate. But it’s not fast enough… well, not for me at least. I consider myself to be a PC multi-tasker at heart. Just looking at my PC, I have over 70+ processes running just after boot up - is that a lot? Well, that’s a relative statement… but for many who like to ‘streamline’ their systems, that’s a lot of overhead. And I hate to wait for data…

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PC Gaming is about your online community experience!

posted by Todd Christ on February 02, 2009

Long before blogs were around, PC games have developed their own 'community' and for those of you who enjoy PC gaming - you can relate to this experience! Either way, please follow along... but first - a little history of my gaming and community background.

I started my PC gaming experience way back in the early '80s - using an old Apple ][+ with 48k of RAM, and I still remember my parents freaking out when I started upgrading by pulling chips and installing joysticks, adding a memory board (woo-hoo up to 64k!), and writing some BASIC programs making all sorts of noises and graphics on the computer.

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