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Michael Hollick never thought his big break would come in a video game, but it did and he didn't make millions. Mr. Hollick was paid about $100,000 over roughly 15 months between late 2006 and early this year for all of his voice acting and motion-capture work on the game, with zero royalties or residuals in sight, he said. The article doesn't state how many hours he worked, but $100,000 doesn't seem like he got ripped off. The guild-negotiated rate for actors is around $730 a day. Mr. Hollick said he had been paid about 50 percent more than the standard rate, or about $1,050 a day. That means he made $100,000 in just 95 days! If those were 8 hour days he was making ~$131 an hour! If you don't have Grand Theft Auto IV for the game is awesome and you can snag

“Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity,” Mr. Hollick, 35, said last week over dinner in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, shortly after performing in the aerial theater show “Fuerzabruta” in Union Square. “But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it. I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”

Funcom recently announced that Age of Conan is one of the fastest selling PC games of all time. More than 400,000 gamers have entered Hyboria over the last few days, with almost half coming from the North American market. This amazing figure for a PC game shows that the positive pre-order trend has transferred into actual sales, and people from all over the world are now flocking to the most savage, sexy and brutal MMO ever created. If you haven't picked up a copy yet you can grab one

Over the weekend an astounding amount of concurrent gamers were logged on to the game, making Age of Conan one of the busiest MMOs in the western hemisphere. With stock flying out of several retail chains, Funcom expects the number to increase in the days to come. In addition to the many gamers logging in, there was also substantial traffic to the Age of Conan websites, with more than 2,2 million unique visitors during the last ten days.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced immediate availability of DDR3 SO-DIMMs. This 204-pin module, part number W1333SA1GS, is available now at street prices under $99. Super Talent is now one of the few companies that offers DDR3 Notebook memory modules. Crucial has a 1GB PC3-8500 module with CL7 timings for but keep in mind that the $99 1GB Super Talent kit is PC3-12800 (1333MHz) with CL9 timings. Looks like laptop memory is getting quicker and the price is right!

Super Talent’s new 1GB DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM supports transfer rates up to 10,664 MB/sec. That equates to 66% higher bandwidth than DDR2-800 SO-DIMMs, making this the world’s fastest production DDR3 SO-DIMM. In addition to the faster speed, DDR3 SO-DIMMs require only 1.5V, compared to 1.8V for DDR2, resulting in power savings of up to 20% and less heat output.

Top contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) said on Tuesday it may raise prices for its higher-end chips as rising costs threaten to squeeze profits. Semiconductor makers face higher costs to build state-of-the-art chip plants for most cutting-edge chips, and are also feeling the pain of rising inflation. It should be interesting to see how this impacts companies like NVIDIA who had TSMC make all their GPUs.

"Average selling prices have been falling and profits have been under pressure, and we have to work together to create value," Jason Chen, a company vice president in charge of global sales and marketing, told a TSMC technology symposium. He said price changes would be mostly for chips made by advanced process technology, but would not say how big they would be or when they would occur. He did not say when TSMC last raised prices.

VIA Technologies today introduced the new VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design targeted at the rapidly growing global market for ultra-portable notebooks. The innovative VIA OpenBook Mini-Note Reference Design paves the way for the next generation of ultra-portable notebooks based on the VIA Ultra Mobility Platform.

"The VIA OpenBook builds on the great success of the VIA NanoBook reference design launched last year, which has been widely adopted by numerous customers around the world," commented Richard Brown, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Our unique open approach to case design customization and wireless connectivity flexibility, coupled with the higher levels of performance, further extends VIA's leadership in the global mini-note market."

Rugged 32GB OCZ ATV Flash Drives

With consumers needing more space the 32GB flash drives are a perfect solution for those that always seem to be low on mobile storage space. With this much data on a flash drive it only makes sense to protect it the best you can and for that OCZ designed the ATV family of flash drives as a ruggedized storage solutions for professionals, students, and gamers on the go. They are built to handle whatever rough terrain you encounter. The shock-proof ATV series of flash drives have been around for nearly a year, but only recently has a 32GB version been available and that is what we are looking at today.

The ATV flash drives features a durable and colorful black and blue rubber 'tread' housing, which is a 100% weatherproof storage solution to keep digital files safe in any conditions, even fully submerged or frozen in water. The rubber housing has a nice 'grippy' feel to it and the only downside to it is that dirt and dust like to stick to it. The 32GB OCZ ATV flash drive isn't going to slip out of your hand in a normal situation! The picture above also shows the oval LED activity indicator to the left of the 'ATV' that glows orange when the drive is plugged in and flashes during data transfer.

With the flash drive flipped over, the only difference is the branding on the side, which has the OCZ website listed instead of the product name.

The OCZ ATV flash drive has a cap holder attached to the chain that helps prevent misplacement of the protective USB key cover. The cap simply pushes onto the cap holder when the drive is plugged into a PC or laptop as seen above. A capless design would have been nice, but to each their own. The chain can quickly and easily be fastened to your key ring for better portability.

The business side of the 32GB OCZ ATV flash drive gives you a better look at the USB connector that is usually hidden by the protective cap. The above image also shows how thick the rubber 'tread' housing is. We've used the 32GB OCZ ATV flash drive for a number of months now and as you can tell from the above images we have yet to even scuff or scratch the rubber housing. OCZ claims that the ATV series of flash drives are ruggedized and able to handle abuse and we have confirmed that and then some. If the 32GB OCZ ATV flash drive ever fails, you can sleep easy knowing that it carries an industry leading lifetime warranty, which is rare for flash drives.

Performance Testings and Conclusions

An ASUS S62J 'white box' notebook with a Core Duo T2500 processor was used for testing. The Removable Storage test found in SiSoft Sandra XII was used to get read and write performance numbers.

To test the speed on the 32GB OCZ ATV USB 2.0 Flash Drive we rounded up some of the various USB keys we use in the lab and ended up with six common models that would be interesting to compare to each other. Each of the drives were then formatted and benchmarked with SiSoftware Sandra XII SP1 on an ASUS S62J notebook. All of the drives were plugged into the same USB port and the system was restarted before each set of tests.

The removable storage benchmark in Sandra XII SP1 showed that not all flash drives are created equal. The PNY Attache 2GB drive was by far the slowest with 'Write' speeds that were just 2.74MB/Sec and 'Read' speeds of 13.44MB/Sec. The OCZ Rally2 lead the group with impressive Write speeds of 7.10MB/Sec and the Kingston DataTraveler 400 was the speed champ in the Read test with 28.03MB/Sec. How did the 32GB OCZ ATV flash drive do? It placed second in the Read test and third in the Write test out of the seven USB flash drives we tested. Impressive results for a 32GB drive, but this is just the 256kB file test!

The 64MB file test showed improved performance and the 32GB OCZ ATV USB 2.0 Flash Drive flirted with 30MB/Sec on the Read test and was nearly 12MB/Sec on the Write test. The 32GB OCZ ATV is one fast thumb drive!

VIA Technologies today announced the VIA EPIA M700 Mini-ITX board, the first to feature the VIA VX800 chipset, for sophisticated digital signage and retail display systems. The VIA EPIA M700 is the first board to feature the new VIA VX800 digital media chipset that delivers enhanced video playback, dual display and dual Gigabit LAN.

Featuring a 1.5GHz or a fanless 1.0GHz VIA C7 processor, the VIA EPIA M700 leverages the uncompromising multimedia performance of the VIA VX800 unified chipset with its integrated VIA Chrome9 HC3 integrated graphics core for DirectX 9.0 3D graphics and up to six-channel VIA Vinyl HD Audio rich surround sound, while the VIA Chromotion video engine provides advanced hardware video acceleration and an improved visual experience for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DivX video, plus a VMR capable HD video processor.

Our friends at Kingston Technology have informed us that their 1800MHz HyperX DDR3 Memory module has won Intel XMP Certification. The XMP validation program offers enthusiasts greater memory options and flexability when building high performance systems using Intel X38/X48-series chipsets.

When paired with select Intel X38/X48 series-based motherboards, Kingston HyperX modules increase overall system performance. Designed for both the novice and experienced overclocker, the XMP profile allows for easy overclocking selection through predefined profiles in the BIOS or manual adjustment of Kingston HyperX XMP modules' frequency and timings.

AMD today announced the first commercial implementation of Graphics Double Data Rate, version 5 (GDDR5) memory in its forthcoming next generation of ATI Radeon graphics card products. The high-speed, high-bandwidth GDDR5 technology is expected to become the new memory standard in the industry, and that same performance and bandwidth is a key enabler of The Ultimate Visual Experience, unlocking new GPU capabilities. AMD is working with a number of leading memory providers, including Samsung, Hynix and Qimonda, to bring GDDR5 to market.

Today’s GPU performance is limited by the rate at which data can be moved on and off the graphics chip, which in turn is limited by the memory interface width and die size. The higher data rates supported by GDDR5 – up to 5x that of GDDR3 and 4x that of GDDR4 – enable more bandwidth over a narrower memory interface, which can translate into superior performance delivered from smaller, more cost-effective chips. AMD’s senior engineers worked closely with industry standards body JEDEC in developing the new memory technology and defining the GDDR5 spec.

Corsair announced today that Corsair Labs has set the world record for the highest achieved DDR3 frequency at 2462MHz using a Core 2 Duo E8400 processor and an ASUS P5E3 Premium motherboard (Intel X48 Express Chipset). Corsair didn't say which kit was used to reach this record, but it was likely something new that we will be seeing in the future. To reach a bus speed at 615MHz they also must have used some super CPU cooling also! Congrats to corsair for reaching 2.46Ghz, but why not 2.5GHz and single channel! Only kidding guys!

Verified and validated by CPU-Z, Corsair Labs achieved an astounding speed of 2462MHz at CL=9 with a single-rank 1GB module. This new world record eclipses all previous CPU-Z validated memory benchmarks. This record was set using Corsair’s award winning DOMINATOR DDR3 memory module paired with an Asus P5E3 Premium motherboard based on the Intel X48 chipset. This is now the highest achieved DDR3 frequency of all time.

Kingston Technology today announced it is releasing select system-specific memory SKUs in accordance with the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). Kingston TAA-compliant system-specific memory (designated with a '-G' at the end of the part number) is the perfect solution for government agencies looking to stretch infrastructure IT budgets through the use of virtualization and further population of servers. Compliance with the TAA means that a product has originated from or been substantially transformed in a Federal Trade Agreements (FTA) designated country, defined as a country that currently has a Federal Trade Agreement with the United States. Only a couple companies come to mind for being TAA-compliant (Centon Electronics and Kingston Technology) as not many memory companies have the capacity to fill niche needs.

"Kingston is honored to be the memory of choice for many top corporations and government agencies in the United States, and we saw an opportunity to enhance service to our federal government customers by releasing TAA-compliant SKUs,” said John Holland, vice president U.S. sales, Kingston. "This is the latest step in our ongoing efforts to better accommodate the various server markets that use our products.”

Intel will start shipping a quad-core version of its Itanium processor to system vendors in about six months, with the first servers based on the chip due in early 2009, Intel said Monday. Intel said the new chip, code-named Tukwila, will roughly double the performance of the current, dual-core version of Itanium. Aside from the additional cores, Tukwila includes 30MB of on-chip cache memory -- about 15 percent more than its predecessor -- and Intel's QuickPath Interconnect technology, which should speed data transfer between components. We already know that Tukwila's die size is 21.5x32.5mm2, and the first run of chips will reach speeds of up to 2GHz on 170W of power. The diagram of the die can be seen below.

Intel won't say yet what clock-speeds the chip will be offered at, except that it will launch at up to 2GHz. It will be manufactured using a 65-nanometer process, a step up from the current Itanium. Itanium is designed for high-end servers running large databases, data warehouses, and transaction-heavy business applications. Intel positions it as a substitute for RISC-type processors like IBM's Power and Sun's Sparc, and as a lower-cost alternative to mainframes. Most Itanium servers are sold by Hewlett-Packard, although they are also offered by Fujitsu, NEC, and others.

From the company powering the visual experience of the two most popular gaming consoles in the world today, AMD announces AMD GAME!. This program is designed to help consumers select perfectly suited PCs for high-definition gaming. AMD GAME! platforms combine the powerful balance of multi-core processors, exceptional HD digital media , and next-generation graphics processing power. Industry leaders including Acer, Alienware, Logitech and Microsoft are joining AMD to ensure consumers can easily identify PCs that deliver HD gaming and entertainment experiences out of the box.

AMD GAME! systems combine proven AMD technology including AMD Phenom processors, the upcoming AMD Turion Ultra processors, AMD Athlon processors, ATI Radeon HD 3000 series graphics, and AMD chipsets to deliver an enhanced and simplified mainstream PC gaming experience. AMD GAME! platforms are available immediately on-line from system builders such as Alienware, Cyberpower, iBuypower, Maingear and Velocity Micro; retail availability is expected in the second half of 2008.

The guys over at Thermaltake USA just sent us word that the have announced the ProWater 850i Water Cooler. Notice we didn't say BigWater as Thermaltake is launching a brand new series of DIY liquid cooling systems, the ProWater Series. The first model to be introduced is the new PW850i that incorporates the latest production techniques and technology of the internal liquid cooling segment. The Thermaltake BigWater 760i was a great success as you can see from our review on the unit , so keep your fingers crossed that the ProWater 850i will perform even better.

The P500 Pump used in the PW850i has a maximum high output of 500L per hour to support the liquid cooling system even under heavy load; the hard-wearing ceramic bearing further increases the life span of the pump, users will not need to worry about pump failure even with extended VGA or memory liquid cooling components. The professionally designed inlet and outlet will eliminate the possibility of air blockages. The PW850i also adopts an automotive style radiator with Thermaltake exclusive "Dimple Dimpled Tubes" DDT technology rather than traditional round tubes, and with the adjustable 120mm fan (1300~2400 RPM); CPU heat will be transmitted efficiently in the coordinated system environment.

VIA Technologies today announced the VIA EPIA PX5000EG Pico-ITX board that features the extremely power efficient 500MHz VIA Eden ULV processor, offering embedded developers an uncompromisingly compact, highly integrated board.

“The introduction of the VIA EPIA PX5000EG elevates the VIA EPIA range of innovative embedded solutions to new heights of thermal and energy efficiency in an extremely miniaturized form factor,” said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. “The VIA EPIA Pico-ITX form-factor continues to evolve, addressing the embedded industry’s needs for greater efficiency and miniaturization.” Developed exclusively by VIA, the Pico-ITX form factor squeezes a full feature set into a mere 10cm x 7.2cm. A complete system in the palm of your hand, the VIA EPIA PX5000EG includes both LVDS/DVI and VGA support, integrated 5.1 channel audio, fast 100/10 Ethernet, both IDE and S-ATA drive support and up to six USB ports and a COM port.

Swiss cooling solutions provider ARCTIC COOLING today announced the launch of the Accelero XTREME 9800, a new exceptional cooler of the Accelero Xtreme series for the latest nVIDIA GeForce 9800 series graphics cards. The Accelero XTREME 9800 offers a 6-year limited warranty and is said to be 33% cooler than the stock cooler. It will be available in June 2008. The MSRP is US$53.95 and 34.95€ (excl. VAT).

Designed based on the acclaimed Accelero XTREME 8800, the Accelero XTREME 9800 is an even more powerful cooling solution for enthusiasts. Five 6mm heat pipes and 107 fins dissipate heat from the GeForce 9800 GTX card. Together with three 80mm PWM fans that transfer heat efficiently, the Accelero XTREME 9800 achieves 240 Watt cooling capacity, resulting in a 29°C temperature reduction from the stock cooler. In addition to the outstanding cooling performance, using the Accelero XTREME 9800 will also bring gamers a better overclocking experience and an extended service life of the graphics card.

Research in Motion officially took the wraps off the highly anticipated and much-rumored smartphone, complete with a new name. The "Bold" is in reference to the smartphone's gorgeous display, but it's also bold in that it represents a number of new moves for the company. Pricing will also depend on the carrier, but RIM is guessing it will be in the $300 to $400 range and expected worldwide availability is "this summer."

As we just mentioned, the device gets its name from its screen. The BlackBerry Bold features a half-VGA (480x320 pixel resolution), 65,000-color display, and during some initial product testing, research group participants repeatedly called the screen "bold" and "brilliant." The Brilliant moniker didn't really jive with the company, thus the BlackBerry Bold was born.

Mushkin just announced the launch of a new high performance line of memory modules aimed at the power gamer market. Called Ascent, the new line raises the bar on its Redline and XP premium memory offering by using eVCI (enhanced Vapor Chamber Interface) cooling technology, the current state-of-the-art in heat spreaders. Mushkin says the kits will be available within sixty days through select Mushkin resellers.

At the heart of Mushkin’s eVCI cooling solution are two 123mm x 25mm liquid filled copper vapor chambers developed by Celsia Technologies that are encased on the outer dimensions by high conductivity 6063 aluminum alloy. In direct contact with 95% of the memory chip surface area, the vapor chambers effectively eliminate hot spots on the chip and quickly transfer heat to the aluminum where it is dissipated into the surrounding air. eVCI, Celsia’s unique vapor chamber solution, was exclusively designed for the Mushkin Ascent line of Redline and XP memory modules, and the new line is among the first to use this innovative approach to rapid cooling of high performance chips.

OCZ Technology just announced the world's first 4GB DDR3 memory kit that operates at 2GHz. The PC3-16000 4GB (2x2048MB) DDR3 dual channel kits and are backed by an industry-leading lifetime warranty that overclockers have come to love over the years. Designed to offer the earliest adopting enthusiasts the advantages of high-density memory coupled with the highest speeds available, the OCZ PC3-16000 4GB kits make use of the unbeatable overclocking capabilities of the latest platforms and takes DDR3 to unimaginable performance levels.

“It is no myth that higher memory densities make it harder to push higher clock frequencies,” commented Dr. Michael Schuette, VP of Technology Development at OCZ Technology. “OCZ Technology pulled off this seemingly impossible task with the release of the world’s fastest high-density memory solution. The new OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Platinum Edition kits combine two 2GB modules for 4GB system density running at 9-9-9 latencies and a record-breaking 2GHz data rate. All of this is achieved at only 1.9V which falls well within the voltage tolerances of any DDR3 memory controller currently on the market.”

Noctua just announced its new premium class CPU cooler, the NH-C12P. Being equipped with 6 heat pipes and the award-winning NF-P12 120mm fan, the NH-C12P achieves excellent performance and outstanding quietness of operation. The down-facing c-type design allows for lower height and also provides additional cooling for motherboard components through two Airflow-Gaps. The NH-C12P is available immediately at a recommended price of EUR 59.90 / USD 69.90. Legit Reviews has reviewed the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler once in an updated roundup that showed it to be one of the best coolers on the market. The new NH-C12P should allow for even better performance and it looks great.

Just like the successful NH-U12P, the NH-C12P is equipped with Noctua's NF-P12 premium fan that ensures outstanding cooling performance at minimal noise levels and has received more than 50 recommendations from leading international websites and magazines since its introduction in November. The premium bundle is topped off by Noctua's award-winning NT-H1 high-end thermal compound, making the NH-C12P a total quality package for the highest demands.

After the success of “Armor+ Series” engineers at Thermaltake has worked around the clock to improve and innovate another and better chassis. Armor+ Series was launched at Computex 2007 a super tower allowing consumer to fully utilize the advance graphic technology. Today Thermaltake announced that the “Armor+ MX” a middle tower chassis with countless advance features is ready to enter the market. The Armor Plus MX will be available on the first week of MAY 2008 throughout major retailers and e-tailers, price has been set at $139 MSRP.

The Armor+ MX also come with Four Removable 3.5” HDD Trays, Five 5.25” Optical Bays and Seven Expansion PCI slots – All equipped with “Tool-less” feature. Cooling Capability - oversized 230MM side fan just to overcome your toasty graphic cards, 120MM Blue LED fan in front cools off four HDD and 120MM high performance rear fan exhausting pre-heated air in the chassis. “High-performance line of chassis has long been considered to belong in a full-tower form factor category,” commented David Hwang, President of Thermaltake. “With the introduction of Armor+ MX, the versatility and performance characteristics can now be found in a much smaller and manageable package.”

Kingston Technology today announced the release of high-performance, low-latency 800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered dual-inline memory modules (FB-DIMMs). Designed for system builders creating high-end workstations, servers and extreme gaming systems, the new Kingston HyperX PC2-6400 FB-DIMMs are shipping immediately in 2GB kits. This memory kit should look familiar to our readers as we showed you the prototype heat sink last year at the Intel Developer Forum!

"In a new tradition of expanding the Kingston HyperX product line, we are pleased to introduce HyperX FB-DIMM modules for customers building specialty workstations, servers and performance gaming systems based on the Intel 5400 chipset," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. "Using a specialized dual-phased cooling system to cool the FB-DIMMs' controller IC, this new design will provide optimal temperature conditions. As part of our production process, these new modules have been tested on the Intel Skulltrail platform."