NVIDIA is spreading the word that its making drivers for its graphics chips used in Notebooks available on its website. It will soon be possible to bypass the middleman, your notebook vendor, and go straight to the source.

Your first download will add NVIDIA’s CUDA functionality notebooks equipped with GeForce 8 and 9-series GPUs or Quadro NVS-equipped notebooks. Gamers sporting any of the GeForce 7, 8, and 9 series and Quadro NVS series notebook GPUs will be covered with WHQL-certified versions early 2009. Read the full article on ExtremeTech for more details.

I’m all for this considering my vendor notebook update is very inconsistent. Chip sets are abandoned frequently so going straight to the manufacturer is ideal.

ExtremeTech has a few suggestions on how to plug the leak in IE for those of you still using it. The tech specialists will walk you through changing your security zone settings to “High,” limiting active scripting and enabling Data Execution Prevention. There’s also IE 8 specific information on how to handle OLEDB32.DLL and disabling data binding.

Each step is illustrated with screenshots to make the process easier. ExtremeTech also includes instructions on how to reverse the whole process when Microsoft issues a patch.

Read the How to Safeguard Against New IE Vulnerability article on ExtremeTech.

A new article on ExtremeTech pits antivirus software against some of the most demanding PC games around. AVG Free, BitDefender (GameDefender edition), Kaspersky and Norton (Gaming Edition) each face off against Crysis, Company of Heroes, Far Cry 2, Supreme Commander and World in Conflict.

ExtremeTech compared the performance of each game on a control system with and without each of the antivirus programs running. Between performance and price points you can get a fairly good idea of which of these software options are best for your gaming PC. Check out the final results from Gaming Performance Versus Antivirus Software on ExtremeTech.

There are at least 8 little known tricks to the Firefox 3.0 web browser that you should know and ExtremeTech is prepared to enlighten you. Resizing tool bars to give you a little extra room to work with is fairly cosmetic, but can make your life easier. There are instructions on how to create smart bookmarks, duplicate tabs and specify your default email service. You can modify or eliminate close tab buttons and change the way Firefox 3.0’s Awesome bar works. The browser also lets you assign smart keywords for any site with a search engine allowing you to search from your address bar.

Number 8 is the biggest trick of all for Firefox 3.0 and a gaping hole in you personal Internet security fortress that should be plugged quickly. Never fear, the solution to this particular security problem can be easily fixed once you know about it.

Read the full Firefox 3: 8 Untold Secrets on ExtremeTech to get in the know.

Extreme has a list of five under-the-radar games that are well worth playing. these games are for Indie developers who have the guts to challenge the conventional and go for the odd and creative. They’re also very easy on the wallet which is great.

The five must have games are Braid, Hinterland, World of Goo, Spectromancer and Castle Crashers. You can get a complete mini-review of each of these gems on Extremetech.

ExtremeTech has overhauled its Bang for the Buck PC Build guide to present gamers with a formula for building a rig that will perform without breaking their budget. What makes this collaborative effort different from past articles is that the article will show you how to a system comprised of bang for the buck components. The results are guidelines for a highly customizable system that includes the latest tech advances like blu-ray and 64 bit computing.

PC titles are not all as demanding on your system as Crysis. However games are still pushing PCs to their limits and beyond at an incredible pace. Brand new gaming rigs go from shiny to holding their own to obsolete so quickly you don’t have the time or money to keep up. With some know how and a modest amount of cash you can have a PC that will give you the performance you crave.

Last year, one PS3 owner made headlines when Sony refused to repair his console because it was dusty. Although his story had a happy ending; if you don’t want to end up in the same fix, ExtremeTech has a guide out covering the proper care and cleaning of your electronics. The guide covers PCs, consoles and peripherals as well as other household electronic like cellphones and televisions.

In some cases, the mess is only superficial: The kids’ fingerprints on the computer monitor from when they were pointing out the new Webkinz goodies won’t harm anything. Sometimes, however, it can be harmful; when dust builds up on the computer motherboard, it can insulate the logic chips and cause them to overheat. Dust in the fans or their filters can also add to the thermal problems.

If you’re not absolutely sure whether you can clean all the gunk out of your keyboard by sticking it in the shower or not, consult Clean Machines: Keeping Your Electronics Spotless on ExtremeTech.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a new phone and one of my first orders of business was to check out the selection of games available. After picking up Doom RPG (I couldn’t resist, it’s just very entertaining), I kept coming across Guitar Hero III Mobile, which Verizon was promoting fairly heavily. I considered buying it for about 10 seconds until I reached the baseless, yet seemingly solid conclusion that the game couldn’t be any good. Guitar Hero on a phone? That’s just not practical.

Well, practical or not, it seems that Hands-On Mobile and Verizon are making a pretty penny off the game — it’s already surpassed the one million downloads mark, which makes it the best selling game on Verizon phones for the first quarter of 2008. With an average of 250,000 songs played a day, it seems like people are really enjoying the game. Either that, or they don’t want to feel ripped off so they’re playing it until they feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth.

“We believe that a successful mobile game doesn’t originate from only gameplay, brand, or PR and marketing, but also from a long-term, community oriented, interactive experience, giving people as much as they can on their device,” said David McCaman, director of marketing for Hands-On.

Looks like I might have to re-evaluate my assumption that the game is a shameless cash-in.

via ExtremeTech

While I’m perfectly happy with running Vista Ultimate on my desktop (that could be due to the fact that I didn’t have to pay for it), it seems like I’m in an extremely small minority of Windows users who actually like Vista.

Windows 7 (that would be the next iteration of Windows) is reportedly in the works and is not as far away as you might think. Given the reception to Vista, Microsoft clearly needs to go about things differently with Windows 7. ExtremeTech put together an article outlining some of the keys to having things turn out a bit better than they have with Vista thus far — namely, limit the number of SKUs and don’t make it so freaken bloated.

Trim the fat. Get rid of everything unnecessary to the average user to increase performance. If power users want to install extras or enable obscure services, let them, but stop assuming that every computer needs every possible service running by default. The same goes with anything running in the background. Be ruthless: If it doesn’t need to be there all the time, make it go away.

I couldn’t agree more with that. By default, every possible thing sans the bare necessities should be disabled. From there, those who actually want the more advanced features could choose to enable them, but for everyone else — i.e. the average user who is unlikely to need many of those features — they shouldn’t be turned on, so as to improve performance.

Check out the full article at ExtremeTech.

The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to investigate Intel over alleged predatory pricing practices. AMD has also received a similar subpoena.

Intel is currently under seige in Europe and Korea for offering rebates and discounts to OEMs to use Intel’s chips exclusively while bidding to provide components below cost. Apparently this is all to prevent AMD from gaining design wins. South Korea’s FTC has already levied a $21 million fine on Intel.

Intel insists that its actions are all within legal bounds.

“The company believes its business practices are well within U.S. law.”

via ExtremeTech