AMD Catalyst 13.8 V2 Beta Drivers released

AMD has just pulled the trigger on the latest catalyst beta drivers. Labeled as “V2” The new drivers bring a ton load performance improvements to the table.

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta2 Driver for Windows:

• Saints Row 4: Performance improves up to 25% at 1920x1280 with Ultra settings enabled
• Splinter Cell Blacklist: Performance improves up to 9% at 2560x1600 with Ultra settings enabled
• Final Fantasy XIV:  Improves single GPU and CrossFire performance
• Van Helsing:  Fixes  image quality issues when enabling Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center
• Far Cry 3 / Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon:  Resolve corruption when enabling Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center
• RIPD:  Improves single GPU performance
• Minimum:  Improves CrossFire performance
• Castlevania Lords of Shadow:  Improves CrossFire performance
• CrossFire:  Frame Pacing feature – includes improved performance in World of Warcraft, Sniper Elite, Watch Dogs, and Tomb Raider
• Doom 3 BFG:  Corruption issues have been resolved

Known Issues of The AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta2 Driver for Windows:

• CrossFire configurations (when used in combination with Overdrive) can result in the secondary GPU usage running at 99%
• Enabling CrossFire can result in the PCI-e bus speed for the secondary GPU being reported as x1
• Bioshock Infinite: New DLC can cause system hangs with Frame Pacing enabled – disable frame pacing for this title to resolve 

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta Driver for Windows:

• Support for AMD CrossFire Frame Pacing
• Frame Pacing ensures that frames rendered across multiple GPUs in a CrossFire configuration will be displayed at an even and regular pace.
• Enabled through the AMD Catalyst Control Center; Globally or on a per application basis.
• Frame Pacing is enabled by default.
• Supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications, and resolutions up to and including 2560x1600 (single display).
• OpenGL 4.3 support – full support for the OpenGL 4.3 feature set
• Performance improvements found in AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta for Windows:
• Metro: Last Light – improves performance up to 7% on the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series
• OpenGL support for User Profiles and Catalyst Application Profiles:
• Users can now create per application 3D setting profiles for OpenGL applications.
• OpenGL applications are now supported through Catalyst Application Profile updates (for single GPU and AMD CrossFire configurations).
• AMD Enduro Technology enhancement - Catalyst Control Center will now show which applications are active on the Performance GPU, and the Power-Saving GPU
• Resolved issues:
• Resolved crash when enabling AMD CrossFireX on some AMD 970 platforms
• Improved stability for AMD Radeon HD 7790
• Resolved intermittent mouse cursor corruption when rapidly moving the cursor across window borders

 System Requirements:

• Windows 8 (32 & 64-bit versions)
• Windows 7 (32 & 64-bit versions with SP1 or higher)

More information and downloads can be found here

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Luca Parmitano's spacesuit

ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano gives us the rundown on his space suit or Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). He also explains the different safety procedures that are used in order to stay safe while working outside the safe confines of the station. Luca who is currently on a long duration mission on the International Space Station became the first Italian astronaut to walk in space on July 9^th 2013. His second spacewalk was aborted when the helmet of his spacesuit started filling with water from the suits cooling system. In the second video Luca explains what it was like during the events of the second EVA.

Source: ESA

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Tom Clancy’s The Division is coming to PC!

Yup you read that right! The Division is heading to the PC. The Division is easily one of the most impressive games to come out of this year’s E3 so imagine my disappointment when no PC version was announced. Well things are looking up! Turns out that we the gamers are the ones that made this possible as thousands signed an online petition to have the game released on the PC. Ubisoft hasn’t been in the good books of us PC gamers as of late, with their draconian always online DRM implementations and what not. This could be a step in the right direction, a piece offering if you will for all the crimes they committed against the PC. Now that I think of it, they did scrap that nasty DRM a few months back so maybe they really are trying to change……….I still got my eyes on you Ubi! Anyway, no release date has been announced as yet and I doubt we will get it at the same time as the consoles but either way…..we’re getting it! Lets hope they don't give us a crappy port! 

Source: Ubisoft

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To ENB or not to ENB

Comparison between ENB mod and vanilla game.

ENB mods are awesome and can completely change the way a game looks! In this case I’m talking about Skyrim. ENB mods make the game feel so much more alive! Adding a whole new layer of immersion to the already wonderfully realized world of Skyrim. The added graphical effects available to you are just incredible. Sunlight peeking through tree branches in the forests, dynamic depth of field, more realistic shadows, Hollywood style lens flares, and the list goes on! The problem however is your frame rate is going to take a serious nose dive the more of these lovely graphical options you enable, and honestly I like silky smooth frame rates. Long story short, your PC has to be up to snuff to handle all this added eye candy!

Running vanilla on ultra-settings I get on average 55-60 fps outdoors and a solid 60 indoors. But Once I flip the switch on the ENB mod it’s all downhill. Outdoor FPS nose-dives to about 28fps and indoors it’s like 39-48fps. I currently run a modestly specced system with a i7 3570k, Radeon HD6870 with 8GB of RAM and even the lightest ENB mod will give your gpu some serious work to do.

There are gamers who prefer the look and feel of the vanilla game however. I respect that, I have to admit that even I revert back to vanilla every now and then and honestly there are places that look really great in the vanilla game. At the end of the day I always end up running back to my favorite ENB mods again.

Anyway what do you guys say? ENB or no ENB?

My Top 5 ENB Mods for Skyrim.

1. K-ENB http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/30158/?
2. Seasons of Skyrim ENB http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/23812/?
3. Sharphooters ENB http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/15105/?
4. NextGen ENB http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/38811//?
5. CinemaScope ENB http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/15425/?

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Two new custom PCB GeForce® GTX 780 water blocks in the works

EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is working on two new Full Cover water blocks for MSI- and EVGA customized PCB design NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780 series graphics cards, namely for the upcoming MSI N780GTX Lightning and recently launched EVGA 780 GTX Classified (03G-P4-3788) graphics cards.

 The upcoming EK-FC780 GTX Lightning is a Full Cover water block engineered in cooperation with MSIspecifically for the upcoming flagship performance N780GTX Lightning GeForce® GTX 780 graphics card. This product will directly cool the GPU, RAM as well as VRM (voltage regulation module) as water will flow directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks.

The upcoming EK-FC780 GTX Classy is a Full Cover water block designed specifically for EVGA's GeForce® GTX 780 Classified graphics card. This water block will directly cool the GPU, RAM as well as VRM (voltage regulation module) as water will flow directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks.

Both water blocks will feature side-attached Terminal port system - up to four water blocks could be used on a single ATX form factor motherboard by using EK-FC Terminal (DUAL, TRIPLE or QUAD type) system or other means of interconnectivity.. Both water blocks will also feature a very high flow design allowing the products to be used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps. Due to the non-standardized width of both circuit boards these water blocks will not line up with any other EK Full Cover water block.

The products will be available for purchase through EK Webshop & Partner Reseller Network in first half of September (EK-FC780 GTX Lightning) and by the end of September (EK-FC780 GTX Classy) .

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Usain Bolt is now a playable character in Temple Run 2.

You may want to boot up Temple Run 2 again as the latest update adds sprint super star Usain Bolt to its roster of playable characters. Bolt who is the first guest star ever in the Temple Run series is available as a US$0.99 in-app purchase. From what I can tell bolt isn't much different from the rest of the characters except he has a unique power up. That’s kind of disappointing; I mean he is the fastest man in the world right? One would think he would be....you know, faster! Then again any faster and this game would be impossible to play. Bolt will only be available for a limited time only. So if you are interested go get him………if you can catch him that is.

Temple Run 2 is available for free on both Android and iOS.

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Space X Grasshopper 100M Lateral divert test

On August 13th, the Falcon 9 test rig (code name Grasshopper) completed a divert test, flying to a 250m altitude with a 100m lateral maneuver before returning to the center of the pad. The test demonstrated the vehicle's ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights.

Grasshopper is taller than a ten story building, which makes the control problem particularly challenging. Diverts like this are an important part of the trajectory in order to land the rocket precisely back at the launch site after reentering from space at hypersonic velocity. 

So what does all this mean for spaceflight? Grasshopper is a prototype, the first step to a truly reusable launch system. Current boosters are expendable, after every launch each stage of the rocket jettisoned and allowed to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere. Whatever survives re-entry is destroyed on impact with the ocean (land in the case of Russian rockets) in other words; a new rocket has to be manufactured for every launch. The space shuttle was the only reusable spacecraft ever put into service and even then it was not 100% reusable as the external fuel tank is never recovered. With every successful test of grasshopper space X gets closer and closer to achieving the goal of a reusable launch system.

Source:SpaceX

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