The Steps Backwards It doesn’t take long to figure out that the hardware people at Saitek were way, waaaayyy ahead of the other departments on the project once the unit arrives. It’s as though the hardware developers got their stuff together on making a truly great HOTAS, got the factory humming and filled up the […]
Archive | _technology2
The Trifecta of Flight Sim Peripherals: Page 4
The X52 PRO HOTAS If you read my review of the “old” X52 (SimHQ review link), you know I really like it. Er, make that past tense. I really liked it. Now I’m only sort of fond of it, as I’ve played around with the X52 PRO for a few days. Without covering too much […]
The Trifecta of Flight Sim Peripherals: Page 3
Software Saitek has come a long way in their software, from drivers to their programming utility. Even though it picked up immediately on the pedals, I went ahead and re-installed the software and drivers from the disc. And, as a bit of built in nostalgia, ran into problems. I uninstalled the previous drivers and software […]
The Trifecta of Flight Sim Peripherals: Page 2
Physical Description The Saitek offering is slightly wider than the CHPro pedals and slightly less deep without the supplied additional “feet” extensions to the base. They’re very utilitarian in appearance, and while I appreciate the little LED indicating power, who’s looking at their feet while flying? Here’s a picture of the CHPro and the Saitek […]
The Trifecta of Flight Sim Peripherals: Part 1
by Guest Writer Frank “BA_Dart” Giger Hands-On Stick and Throttle (HOTAS), TrackIR, and a set of rudder pedals. This, IMHO, is the trinity of flight sim goodness that adds far more enjoyment to our little hobby than the sum of its parts. “Dart,” a reader asks, “what is the best set of controllers one can get at a […]
NaturalPoint® TrackClipPRO™ Page 4
Back To Page 3 As I mentioned, the TrackClipPRO is perfect for online play. It simplifies the experience and once it’s in place you will hardly know it’s there. Just don’t drop your headphones onto the hard tile floor! I know that because I did it last night. To my horror, the LED arm […]
NaturalPoint® TrackClipPRO™ Page 3
Back To Page 2 But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Just how does the TrackClipPRO get the power it needs to run those little LED’s? I have seen posts in the forums where people wondered about batteries, USB, solar power or wind power, nuclear (OK, maybe not solar or wind power). Well, […]
NaturalPoint® TrackClipPRO™ Page 2
Back To Page 1 So how does it fasten to the headphones, anyway? It does that with a two-way adjustable clip, seen here: See the hinge? Well, push down and pull (or is it pull down and push?) and it opens up further so that the clip can accommodate different sized headphone bands. Up […]
NaturalPoint® TrackClipPRO™
by Tom “20mm” Hayden The evolution of the TrackIR device from NaturalPoint has been nothing short of remarkable over the last four years. Starting with the original mouse-emulating Track IR, followed by the TrackIR2™, the TrackIR3™ with enhanced mode (lets you use the TrackIR and your mouse cursor at the same time), the introduction of […]
Intel’s Core™ 2 Extreme QX9770 Performance Preview Page 6
Back To Page 5 Conclusions If we were to summarize the test results generated for this performance preview in a few pithy words they would be: memory bandwidth. One of the key advantages AMD’s Athlon™ 64s enjoyed over Intel’s processors was an integrated, on-die memory controller that enabled much higher amounts of bandwidth to the […]
Intel’s Core™ 2 Extreme QX9770 Performance Preview Page 5
Back To Page 4 Test Results – Real World (continued) Crysis was tested by averaging the scores of three separate runs of the included “benchmark_CPU.bat” file found in the title’s Bin32 folder. This was done to even out the variances shown by this particular benchmark. Crysis shows a respectable 10% variance for the QX9650 […]
Intel’s Core™ 2 Extreme QX9770 Performance Preview Page 4
Back To Page 3 Test Results – Real World (continued) GTR2 was tested with a custom recording of a crowded grand prix track. The title’s configuration tool was used to enable its DX9 profile. At the low setting, GTR2’s frame rate soars with higher clock speeds, with a solid 15% performance gain from overclocking […]