Thursday, October 23, 2008

ATI Radeon HD 4830 - Resetting the performance bar below $150


Today we see the introduction of the Radeon HD 4830 which is to be priced at or below $130. This part is poised to split the difference between the 4670 and 4850, and filling in this market segment should finish rounding out AMD's line up of RV7xx based cards for now.

This new model is, like the 4850 and 4870, based on RV770 silicon, but in its tamest form yet. On the 4830, two of the RV770's 10 SIMD units have been disabled, reducing shader power (and likely performance) somewhat. Since those SIMD units are tied to texture management units, the GPU's TMU count has dropped proportionately. The end result: the Radeon HD 4830 has a total of 128 shader execution units—or 640 stream processors, and can filter up to 32 textures per clock.

The 4830 keeps all four of the RV770's render back-ends and associated memory controllers intact, leaving it with an aggregate 256-bit memory interface. The card's GPU core runs at 575MHz, and it comes with 512MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 900MHz (or 1800MT/s).

The Radeon 4830 is probably the least exciting of the 4800 cards being the lowest-end of the 4800 series. That said is still a very solid card and somewhat comparable to a GeForce 8800 or 9800 GT though the two seem to trade off at times. But ATI has lower power consumption and DX 10.1 support which is a bonus. This one isn't quite as clear though as others as a GeForce 9800 GT is a little cheaper than a Radeon 4830. You can pick up a GeForce 9800 GT for $100 after rebate. However, immediately at launch you can get a Radeon 4830 for $120 after rebate.

“The $100-$150 graphics card price band represents the ‘sweet spot’ of the desktop PC graphics market where the consumer gets the most graphics performance per dollar spent,” said Dean McCarron, founder and principal, Mercury Research. “This is where the latest graphics technologies reach the mainstream PC audience, and this is the level that most PC games target.”

The ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card delivers outstanding value to gamers. With the launch of this card, even the most intimidating games that were previously unplayable on a graphics card selling for less than $150 can now be enjoyed at playable frame rates, even when using image enhancements such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. For those gamers looking to get even more performance out of their gaming rigs, ATI Radeon HD 4830 cards support ATI CrossFireX technology allowing gamers to combine as many as four cards in one PC.

Reviews:
AMDZone
AnandTech
Tech Report
Fudzilla
Hexus
Bjorn3D
Techpowerup
Guru3D
PC Games Hardware

Sunday, October 19, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 7th Concert - Osaka

Overall - today's last show is the BEST of all 7, a number of surprises, the guys performances and fan's participation and today's seat was quite good.

Thank U messages:

Ken (spoke in Mandarin): Today's the last show, after today don't know when will be the next time F4 will reunite. I wish the other 3 to have their own successful path and I believe the next time when we reunite, each person will have their own genuine "sky".

Zai (in Japanese and Mandarin): .... Thank U, I would like to thank my 3 other friends. Thank U...

Vann (in English): Thank U Jesus, Thank U Lord... other F3... everybody present... family and friends. He ended saying "F4 Forever".

Jerry (in Mandarin): .... In my heart, the other 3 are the best brothers. No matter what happened before, we are the best. Thank U Ken, Thank U Vanness, Thank U Zai Zai.

News coverage:
UDN Entertainment
Ming Pao
Apple Daily



The F4 along with around 200 staffs, friends and family members hold a celebration party at Imperial Hotel right after the concert.


Zai Zai said he felt very lucky that he escape from the recent stock financial crisis that affected many people, thanks to his financial advisor who recommended him to clear nearly 520 equity funds before the crisis happenned.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 6th Concert - Osaka


Today Taiwan medias wrote a few comments on Zai Zai as they were invited to see F4 Japan Concert at Osaka. Their review are supposed to be on F4 but seems they are targeting on Vic more than other F3...

Ming Pao
UDN Entertainment



On Vic's performance, the reporter wrote:

Zai Zai caught a really bad cold when he returned to Taiwan for a break. Except for his voice sounding coarse for a little while amid the concert because he was trying to hold back coughing, he was very professional. He has broken his limit and did a sexy show and role playing. He played the roles of a night club owner, pilot, and doctor.

Friday, October 17, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 5th Concert - Osaka

TONITE is the first night of F4 Concert in Osaka. Our friends in Osaka, Japan seem so excited now for the last 3 concerts tonight and over the weekends. They're like having a big party in Japan right now for 3 consecutive days. This fan is the 1st to put up the flower basket at Osaka...


Sunday, October 12, 2008

V.I.C website renewal

Zai Zai official fanclub (Vic International Cooperation aka V.I.C) has change their webpage design and layout...


Here is Vic official fanclub link:

http://www.vic-fanclub.com/

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Black & White Trailer

This summer,the most unlucky two policeman ever...
With two totally different values...
But are forced to work together...
One Alfie loves flirting and cares nothing but saving his skin...
The other man who is too aggresive on cases drives everyone crazy...

Three of them who are supposed never get together with...
But were involved by fate...
Tracing one drug deal seems simple...
But bring out a serial breathtaking inside stories...
The real enemies however come from where you've never imagined...
And the brightness of reality is going to emerge from the dark...
The value of abyss between darkness and brightness...
For justice,never give up...



Download link here :
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?z31dilou0zz
http://www.mediafire.com/?k1fybndzzxz
http://www.mediafire.com/?rohnmd2x4za
http://www.rayfile.com/files/5f638528-968b-11dd-9900-0014221b798a/

Synopsis:
Pi Zi and Ying Xiong are two cops who are as different as day and night. One does nothing except for drinking coffee and living a luxurious lifestyle while waiting for information from dubious sources to crack his cases. Another believes law and justice is the pillar of society and is constantly on the street catching criminals… a little overzealously for his superior’s liking. When a case brought these two top crime solvers together, sparks flied and a little light peeked into this dark city where the nation's President is on friendly terms with the local mafia and twins kill people while drinking milkshake.

Cast:
Vic Zhou (周渝民) as Pi Zi
Mark Zhao (趙又廷) as Ying Xiong
Ivy Chen as Chen Lin
Janine Chang as Lan Xi Ying
Xiu Jie Kai as Xiao Ma
Paul Chun as Mob boss Chen
Xu Ai Xin (徐愛心) as Twin sister
Zou Cheng En (鄒承恩) as Twin brother
Tang Guo Zhong (唐國忠)
Kageyama Yukihiko (蔭山征彥)
Kingone Wang
Zhou Xiao An (周孝安)
Wu Zhong Qiang (吳仲強)
Li Lu (李律)

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 4th Concert - Tokyo


Today concert concluded perfectly. The atmosphere was warmer than yesterday, the four member of F4 also have more interactions than yesterday. Nobody sit on their chair. All fans stood up to dance and sang together with F4. The show took time almost 4 hours, yet everything goes smoothly.

Flowers from Da S (Barbie Xu) & Xiao S was so special because she is ex-girlfriend of Zai Zai. Leaflets distributed at the concert to every person. The organizers sure know how to promote other F4 projects.

Today, Angie Chai & the author of Hana Yori Dango - Yoko Kamio was at the concert. Jerry said when introducing them: "Thanks... because without them, F4 will never exist."

You may see the video footage inside the concert, the fans, interview at back stage - posted on YouTube:




News:
Yahoo HK
Liberty Times
UDN Entertainment News
TOA News
Oricon

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Official : AMD Splits

AMD along with Abu Dhabi, has created a joint venture known as "The Foundry Company." This will leave AMD as a design house and will give the newly found company AMD's manufacturing assets - including the Fabs in Germany. Time will tell how this works out. AMD's stock opened $1/share higher today than it closed yesterday.

The new company is planning to launch early next year with 3,000 employees worldwide. The new company is a foundry and appears to be willing to work with more than just Advanced Micro Devices. Additionally, AMD still plans to break ground in New York for Fab 4x.

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 3rd Concert - Tokyo

F4 Japan Tour 2008 heading to Nippon Budokan, Tokyo. Their concert made a realization towards the Japan's Fuji Television Network so a special featured story about the F4 concert will be broadcast on Wednesday, October 8, at Fuji TV station.


NIPPON BUDOKAN entrance photos taken in the afternoon before the concert began. We could clearly see the BIG WELCOME towards F4 judging from the big board put up in front the concert venue.

Flowers were seen from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong.

Flowers basket from Wu Zun (Fahrenheit), Erika Toda and her co-star (Tea Fight) were seen too.

At first, F4 was targeting students but now not only students, people from all ages would love to see F4.


First concert in Tokyo concluded with some unexpected accidents happened to them. During rehearsal, due to the change of the stage, Ken did not realize there were steps when they finished the singing. He walked backwards then fell down to the steps. He was sent to the hospital in Chiyoda. After X-ray examination, the injury was found to be just pulled muscles. Ken only took some pain medication and rushed back to the venue to start the concert on time.


While Zai Zai singing his solo song "Mask/Ma Sai Ke", the raising stage got stuck in the middle of the performance. Zai Zai finished his performance without showing any sign of being disturbed by what was going on. The organizer announced need to stopped the show in order to fix the mechanical problem of the stage. After about 8-10 minutes the problem was solved. Zai Zai did another complete version of "Mask" all over again. On the stage he can't help but laughed quietly during his 2nd time of singing "Mask". Then Jerry tripped down the stairs when he walked down from the stage at 1st Encore. But he did not get hurt.

Media coverage:
Liberty Times
UDN Entertainment News
Barks.jp

Monday, October 6, 2008

Acer Aspire 5530G


Acer Aspire 5530G, which as part of their Aspire line up, features both looks and affordability. Inside this Acer kitty, you'll find that it's powered by AMD's 65nm Turion X2 RM70 (2.0GHz) processor, has 3GB of DDR2 RAM, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 for its graphics chipset. As far as entertainment functions go, the 5530G has what's needed, including Dolby Surround Sound, a 15.4-inch screen for viewing your videos. Let's see what the Aspire 5530G has in store for potential buyers.

Processor and Chipset AMD Turion X2 RM-70 (2.0GHz, 1MB L2) and AMD M780G

Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

System Memory 3GB DDR2, 2 x DDR2 SO-DIMM slots

Video ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 1919MB total available graphics memory, 256MB Dedicated, 1663MB TurboCache (shared system memory)

15.4-inch WXGA widescreen display Native resolution 1280 x 800

HDD 320GB SATA (Western Digital WDC WD3200BEVT) 5400RPM 8MB cache

Audio Dolby Surround Sound 5.1 channel surround sound output HD Audio support 2 x Speakers 1 x Subwoofer


AMD has always played it closer to the lower end of the budget spectrum, offering decent performance at a competitive price, and this is continued in the Acer Aspire 5530G. Acer is moreover quite well known for its competitively priced offerings and this Puma based Acer Aspire 5530G is no different. Retailing at a very affordable S$ 1498, the unit is well worth the cash for its entertainment features, solid build and overall decent (for its specs) performance capability.




Source

Saturday, October 4, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 - 2nd Concert - Yokohama

Today is Day 2 of the F4 Japan Concert in Yokohama. F4 have been receiving many praises and compliments by audiences who went to the concert. Zai Zai gave himself to this concert. He interpreted both very serious and very funny songs and he acted very naturally. He showed a surpirising acrobatics on wires.

YOKOHAMA ARENA - Flowers from Zai Zai's fans (VicPower fansclub), from many different countries:


These were F4 miniature dolls sold at the arena which were said to be SOLD OUT very fast!


Photos during the concert:


News from the media:
Sina
QQ
Video clips from FNN Super News

Friday, October 3, 2008

F4 Japan Tour 2008 Started

Today marked the beginning of fantastic events for F4 fans in Japan, where they will have series of concerts in the F4 Japan Tour 2008.

Seven years ago, a group of young blood, acted in a drama series METEOR GARDEN sparked a massive enthusiasm among young and old, boys and girls. Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Zhu and Vanness Wu quickly become famous overnight. F4 was so hot, they have become the new favorite of advertisers, regardless of what is selling, advertised, as long as they are 4 together, it certainly was panic buying.

Until this day, their fans still existed. Their works still appreciated. Now they are going to show us once again that F4 jiu shi F4 mah!...Viva The Flower 4!

Schedule: (http://www.f408.jp/)

YOKOHAMA 10/3 (FRI) 18:00 OPEN/19:00 START: YOKOHAMA ARENA

YOKOHAMA 10/4 (SAT) 14:00 OPEN/15:00 START: YOKOHAMA ARENA

TOKYO 10/7 (TUE) 17:30 OPEN/18:30 START: NIPPON BUKODAN

TOKYO 10/8 (WED) 17:30 OPEN/18:30 START: NIPPON BUKODAN

OSAKA 10/17 (FRI) 17:30 OPEN/18:30 START: OSAKA-JO HALL

OSAKA 10/18(SAT) 14:00 OPEN/15:00 START: OSAKA-JO HALL

OSAKA 10/19(SUN) 14:00 OPEN/15:00 START: OSAKA-JO HALL

Fans in Japan showed their support by flower basket with F4 dead notice (like in Meteor Garden)


Photo captured by audience on the first day at Yokohama:

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